| What
does it mean to be an actor? How do actors do what they do? How do
they deal with the frustrations and rejections? This is the story
of my personal experiences in Los Angeles. Along the way I'll share what
I've learned.
A Real Art
I had an audition yesterday for a national window company commercial and my call time was 12:08pm. Not noon. Not 12:15pm. 12:08pm. Now, I'm sure I was given that particular time for a specific reason -- they probably had a bunch (dozen/hundred/million) of people to audition and carefully calculated how much time each person would take. Still, it struck both my agent and me rather funny. As it turned out, the audition was well-run and smoothly enough (I had one line while relaxing in a chair) and I was in and out before 12:07pm. That was extra nice since I had a (previously-scheduled) 1pm session with my acting coach across town. I made it with no problem. Thank you to the all-powerful LA traffic gods. This appointment brought to mind one of the skills that actors must master in this town; scheduling. Do I have enough time between these two auditions? Have I left enough time to sit in the mandatory 45 minutes of traffic on the 101 before my call? Can I do both of these projects? Right now, I am scheduled to start a film in the Spring/early part of Summer. I'm really looking forward to it and feel blessed to have the project on the horizon. The scheduling challenge occurs when I'm submitting and auditioning for other projects. I have to look very carefully at the prospective project's rehearsal and shoot dates so that I don't accidentally over-commit myself. That would be a bad thing and producers/directors really hate it -- especially if they've cast you as part of a couple or a family unit. Because my next project is a few months away, scheduling isn't really an issue yet but soon will be. I've run into this enough times with plays and other projects. As an actor who's always looking for work (and who spends much of his time being "theatrically-unemployed"), it's hard not to jump on every opportunity I find. But sometimes, you just have to just relax and acknowledge that your "dance card" is (mostly) full for the moment and that's all you can do. Hmmm. Everybody wants to direct but the real art to master in this town is "scheduling."
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As the mother of five I know about scheduling. I am the schedule queen.
Posted by: Madie | February 21, 2006 09:01 AMThere should be a class on scheduling for actors--how to use PDA's and common sense. And yes, those call times are awesome
Posted by: Nicholas | February 21, 2006 09:01 AMYeah, nothing challenges your scheduling skills like being a parent -- but of five...whoah! You've got your hands full! My hat is off to you Madie!
As they say Nicholas, if only common sense were more common!
Posted by: Trevor | February 21, 2006 09:02 AMYep five! 5 to 19 years old. I have two in college, 1 in high school, 1 in middle school and 1 in kindergarten and a husband of 20 years in the Air force. Scheduling is my middle name.
Posted by: Madie | February 21, 2006 09:02 AM