Unscripted - A Blog for Actors - Backstage

The Reader

Being a reader in other people's auditions comes with a lot of pressure. Everyone prepares differently, and everyone walks into the room with different expectations. I have had so many weird reader experiences that I never want to recreate for another actor. There are those times when the reader is completely flat and affect-less during the audition. The times when it is clear that the reader cannot,

Her Lips Said No But Her Heart Said YES.

During dress rehearsal for my last show, while at intermission, the artistic director for the theatre announced to some of the actors who would also be in the next show that they needed to replace 1 cast member.  Immediately everyone started thinking of friends they knew could fill the role.  One actor had a friend who'd actually auditioned for the theatre and the AD had liked her, but wasn't able to use her at the time.  So this actor called his friend as we all looked on with a mix of some anxiety - would the role get filled in time? - and joy - what fun to witness, from the other end, an actor receiving a job (especially one that originally passed them by).

Leave The House!

There really aren't that many secrets to success - no matter what the infomercials tell you. One of the most consistent pieces of advice is "Show up" - variations are; be present, be available. You can find this in a book called 'The Four Fold Way' - and I've always thought that 'Showing up' is an actor's most important job. So much of what we do relies entirely on us just being there.. In New York that usually means - 'Get out of your god damn apartment and go somewhere.'

The Importance of Surroundings

I was in the home of an actor I greatly respect recently. He works steadily, but hasn't gotten anything huge and life changing as of yet. His home, however, is beautiful. Not the usual, thrown together, tiny hovel most struggling actors live in, but beautifully put together, well kept and lovely. It was not an enormous apartment, in fact it was a studio, but once in it, I felt as though I was in a two bedroom.

Rain, Wet Hamsters, and "Words Like Music"

Hurrah for feeling a bit like a wet hamster all day due to the deluge of Manhattan rain.  I could have made reference to something far more elegant when sopping wet... like a mink, or a... er... I don't know, osprey?  But I felt a touch like all my attempted fluff had been thrown into the large proverbial washing machine of look-remotely-presentable death.

A short I did a few months ago just hit Vimeo.  Interesting, figured I'd post:

A Lover's Tale: Words Like Music from Nelson George on Vimeo.

-- Ashley Avis

Do Good Work

I am briefly on the "other side of the table" lately helping to cast a film in which I play the lead. This is great for me because I get to suggest all the hard working, talented and wonderful people that I have met over the years. There is nothing better than knowing that whoever ends up getting the part, chances are they will not only be great actors, but great people as well. The not great part is that some of these people are incredibly good friends-- I am rooting for them, but can't (for the sake of the work) show them any preference.

I Can Rock This Hair

Boy, have I been neglecting my blogging responsibilities!!  I'm a blogger slacker.  At least I'm not a boring blogger, like Shawn.  Teeheehee!  (Now I'm a blog bully...trying to start blog fights!  Just kidding!!)

I am a blogger slacker, but I have a great excuse.  The excuse is that for the last week, I have been busy rehearsing and tech rehearsing the most amazing show on the planet and in the few hours between rehearsals in the last week, I have been busy putting my things into storage, having goodbyes with friends and agents, fitting in one last voice lesson, packing, flying to Denver, getting set up in a new apartment, getting internet set up in apartment,...and this morning before another day of tech, getting my hair cut.  

The Return To Kings County

Brooklyn, in other words. Got in on Monday afternoon.  Drove down with one other actress from my show - who was also in the previous show.  It was nice, leisurely.  So happy I didn't have to take the train or bus which would have added hours and potentially creepy seatmates to the trip.  And now that experience is officially over and I'm back into my regular life... and strangely it's been rather easy.  Which is good and bad.  I feel like I'm caught between a rock and a hard place.

Back on the Home Turf

I’m in New York for the next week. I’m not around my computer for most of the day, nor do I have a phone with internet (which becomes my enemy when I’m lost in L.A. without any access to mapquest or a navigation system.)

I return home to check my email. 60 new messages! All from L.A. Casting with audition notices. To look or not to look? I do the unthinkable and delete all the messages.

Narcissus' Noodle Dribblings.

In between exceptionally random save-money bus rides, copious amounts of varying styles of alcohol, absolutely no internet access, and one entirely float-about-in-the-shitter network audition, I had a touch of a revelation this week.

Breakfast with Berto

Every year when it's my birthday I begin my "Things-I-have-done-this-year-in-my-life-that-I-have-never-done-before-List." I like to keep track of the newness and spontaneity in my life.

Of course, being that I moved to Los Angeles last year, there were lots of things I have been able to add to my list that I hadn't done before;

1 - Moved to another city, 2 - Pool parties on Mulholland Drive, 3 - biked up and down the PCH and most recently #39 - Made breakfast for Welterweight Championship Boxer, Andre Berto and his brother Cleveland.

My friend Niksma's husband is in sports management, a real Jerry Maguire type. He represents Berto.

I was house and cat sitting for her when they were out of town for the weekend. I had no idea who Andre Berto is, nor did I know that he is a current boxing/sports celebrity in the making.

So when Niksma calls me to say, "Oh, by the way, my husband's client Andre is staying there one night before getting on a plane the next day to Vegas, I hope you don't mind. He's a boxer." I'm thinking, who?

Good-bye City Life, Hello Sweet Tea

Last night was my last night in L.A.  My last night to sleep on my mattress on the floor, last night of Pinkberry, exit ramps, and sushi.  I'm going back to Kentucky, where I can splash in the lake, walk around barefoot, and see stars in the sky.  It's a bittersweet good-bye/hello.  Right now I feel very ready to leave (especially since I'm all packed up - which was uber complicated because I drove out here and I'm flying home), but I know in a couple days I'll be missing being able to see movies at times besides 7:00 and 9:00.

Nantong

 

Plagued with internet issues , but blessed with amazing shows, Winnie the Pooh successfully trudges along through China.

Nantong had one extreme advantage to anywhere we had been so far: A sky! Yes, you could distinguish the blue of the sky with the white puffy clouds without even squinting. A miracle? Or just the city's convenient location near the ocean? Doesn't matter.

The Meeting I Almost Had

Yesterday I was supposed to have a meeting with my manager - as our two-month trial period is coming to a close. I initiated the meeting, because they haven't really gotten me anything to speak of, or been quite as responsive as I'd expect to my e-mails asking them to submit for specific parts I see in the breakdowns. The meeting was postponed a week, which is probably better, it'll give me some more time to prepare. Here are my points:

- Should I continue sending you roles I would like to be submitted for? Is there someone else in the office i should loop into that e-mail?
- Do you need another copy of my list of Agent who know/love/like me and would be open to a meeting if you pushed them?
- What's your strategy with me? Are you just going to push me for representation or are you also going to submit me for work?

Not So Reformed...

I am slightly embarrassed to say, but I have been spending my extra time doing some extra work for extra money. It's really a great part time gig for a few days a week. And during this slow and very weird time in the industry, why not walk off set with a decent pay check, feeling well fed, and some new friends to hang out with?

I got to work on the set of Paramount, which I arrived early to so I could stroll around and explore. I finally arrived to the stage, where they were filming a new show about a group of kids in a high school choir. So they brought in about eight of us to play a group of reformed school girls. Well there must have been some mis-communication some where because ALL eight of us looked like we belonged in an after school chess club or like we were about to go to church camp. I'm not kidding, we were the purest looking girls in LA!

After several hours had passed the producers and director lined us up and stared each one of us in the eye with slightly confused expressions. We stood there in our baggy khakis and over-sized navy polo shirts staring back at them wondering what they were all thinking. An hour passed and they did the same thing again!! 

We all ended up bonding over the silly fact that the casting people had made a HUGE mistake!   They must have thought reform meant private school and therefore we should be wearing preppy school girl uniforms and then therefore we must have an innocent and preppy look? We joked about it and even proposed the idea to write a movie about reform students!

At the end of the day, we saw six girls get rush called. They looked a tiny bit more tough and "reformed" than we did. I walked away with out ever stepping on set! Ah sigh, to get paid for making new friends. How fun.

--Heather Tocquigny

When FORD Models Goes Bankrupt

If you took the blob, stuck in a can of pickles... a To-The-Networks! pilot... and a teeth-gnashing gremlin, you'd get my state of mind right about now.

A few delights before I write the evening away with misled wonder.  Impromptu-post Pilot shoot this weekend in Fort Green, Brooklyn.  We entitle it :  When Ford Models Goes Bankrupt.  Enjoy! 

-- Ashley Avis

The residual shuffle

So, yeah, we have chosen a tough profession. I get that. Yeah, no one is going to hand us anything, I get that too. But why, oh why, is it SO difficult to get basic things that have been promised (sometimes in contracts). Example, I did a non-union commercial many many months ago, and they told my agents that they were sending out residuals many many months ago and despite the maneuverings of my agents and myself I have yet to see the money. I am begging and pleading and wheedling to get paid for work I did after agreeing on the amount and how long it would take in a contract that I signed. 

Sometimes I Fib

I believe that the occasional white lie is sometimes necessary in this business.  Some people might call it a "fib" while others might see it as straight up lyin' and cheatin', but either way it isn't exactly the truth.  I'm not a liar by nature, and even if I wanted to be I'd probably fail because my red face and smirky smile are dead giveaways that I'm not telling the whole story.  Thank God for email.  heh heh

There was this acting book I read many moons ago that detailed the career choices of five successful actors.  One of the stories was about a recent NYU grad who believed that her career had taken off because she never said "no" to an acting opportunity for two years.  She jumped at any chance to flex her acting muscles no matter how much work or how little pay or how good or bad the script, and eventually those experiences and connections began to pay off--never mind that she rarely slept.  I actually think that her advice is really smart and, to a degree, I was inspired to follow suit.  The idea here is that work begets work.  

But eventually, a girl has to get a little more picky and choosey, you know?  And sometimes she ends up auditioning for things that end up being a total waste of time.  And sometimes the waste of time project wants her to get involved and sometimes...she forces herself to fib.  Maybe says she's booked something else.  Maybe says she has to go out of town that weekend.  Egos stay intact.  Crisis is averted.  Time isn't wasted. 

My worst nightmare

I've been spending hours on You Tube listening to English accents for research, mostly Keira Knightley and the Harry Potter kids. I stumbled upon my worst nightmare of what I might end up sounding like (sorry, B):

Putting On The Producer Hat...Again

Maybe I'm meant to be a producer.  I don't know.  I seem to like putting the pieces of the puzzle together, watching them create magic and then seeing others appreciate that magic.  Of course, if the puzzle pieces don't match the picture on the box, that's my problem too and I must accept full responsibility for it.  There is no room for blaming a "bad scene partner" or "lack of rehearsal process" or "bizarre direction."  That is actor-speak.  But if the puzzle pieces meld as one to create something compelling and interesting?  Well, I'm like a proud mama who wants nothing more than to see her talented "children" receive acknowledgment and praise while she peaks out from behind a curtain to watch.  I guess I'm realizing that I crave the spotlight a little less than I thought I did, or, perhaps more accurately, the longer I pursue this craft the more I feel like an artist and less like a pawn in a game of chess.

I don't think I'd ever want to "just" be a producer, because I love acting too much--and writing too, for that matter!  But I've been hesitant to embrace my perfectionist organizational producer-like skills because I hate the production end of the business.  Hate it.  With a passion.  Or at least I thought I did...until last week.