Unscripted - A Blog for Actors - Backstage

[Damn the] "Series Regular" Phonecall.

Naturally.  The evening before I officially move to Los Angeles (er.... again), I get The Call.  Actors who have finally cracked the glass ceiling of network pilot auditions know what call I'm talking about.

The Series Regular Call.

Warner Brothers.  Awesome character.  Specific skill (which I have).

Series regular.

12 Hours Till I Move to Los Angeles. Again.

12 hours (roughly) until I drag my two small and perpetually spacebagged suitcases -- which weigh, mind you, approximately 76 pounds each -- down the maniacally waxed floors of the Jetblue terminal of JFK.  

I'm moving to Los Angeles.  Again.

Back in May, I decided to make The Move (the big one -- i.e., the first) and within a matter of mind-bogglingly but determined weeks threw the entirety of my life in storage, sans two (larger) suitcases to check -- and took off for the second massive concrete jungle I've experienced in my career thus far.  Hollywood.

Hilarious Nature of "The Booker".

I find agents funny, as I've previously expressed.  I'm going to keep this post short and exceptionally vague, as to protect the identity of the person I'm going to be taking a verbal (and for the most part, comical) stab at. 

Two years ago I grudgingly did a few print and fashion gigs to ward off the minions at ConEdison, and wracked up quite a decently sized egg of money-to-be-paid at an agency that eventually went bankrupt.

One of the gigs -- sigh, I can't believe I'm going to admit this in published word -- was for National Underwear day.  An extremely high-energy runway show put on by Freshpair and Diesel Jeans, that is exactly what you're thinking.  A runway show comprised entirely by models in their skivvies.

Lemon's Lurve List: Mary Oliver

On opening night in Denver, I got a present from one of my cast mates, Paul.  It was a book: Blue Pastures by Mary Oliver.  When I went to thank him, Paul said, "You mentioned one day, you like poetry...She's a great poet!  I think you'll like her."

The book wasn't familiar to me and I've been busy with other projects, like learning guitar and exploring LA, so I held off diving in until just recently.  And boy did I dive deep!  Her writings are beautiful, and honest, and fierce, and not "cute."  When I pick up the book, I can't seem to put it down without tagging a page or underlining something I want to remember or share with someone else.  

Vicarious Living

I started my career at the Jenny Wiley Theatre in 1998.  I had always loved dancing, but I got interested in being in plays because a girl from my church performed in JWT's youth company.  Brit convinced me I should audition, I was cast, and we were friends from that point on.  Brit was gorgeous.  She had thick blonde hair like a Barbie doll and ran cross country.  She was the sweetest girl you'd ever meet, equally friendly to the popular crowd and the 'weird' kids.  And she was truly talented.  She had this charisma that just drew you to her.

Jinan

A nautious mix of excitement and nerves controlled my psyche Thursday morning. I would finally be getting approved in my understudy role. All I had to do was not screw up.

Obviously I can't be too specific about the details (that whole Disney Magic thing again), so I will just skip to the part where I proudly inform you that I was approved with flying colors! It was my first time performing in such a capacity, if you follow. It feels really great to tack another notch in my Winnie the Pooh belt of accomplishments. I believe I will place this one in-between my notches for tumbling and juggling.

Welcome to my land of Arithanea!

As I was driving to Beverly Hills, struggling to staple my headshot to my resume among other tasks, such as conversing with my mom on my cell and changing shirts, a guy in  a gorgeous Mercedes (my dream car) looks over and gives a thumbs up with this cheesy smile plastered on his face. Caught off guard, I sighed deeply and gave him a I'm-trying-so-hard-you-don't-even-know shrug. I was on my way to three auditions after a long weekend of filming a short in Monterey called Arithanea. Yes that is a name of a fictional land where I am a princess that can cast spells and carries a staff, kind of like Moses in The Ten Commandments. Now, let me tell you why this was such a challenge for me...

Generally I am used to playing contemporary roles that are typically not far from myself. This is of course not including the roles I played in theater years and years ago. Film is different. I was going over my lines with my boyfriend, who I drug along to the shoot this past weekend, and I was laughing so hard on the drive up the coast. How can I say, "draw the sword of heroes and prove that you are truly the chosen one," and not crack up at myself!  I seriously had these long speeches of this fantasy video game like dialog that I was trying to make some sense of.

 Luckily, it was a low budget short film and when I broke a scene cracking up laughing because a fly landed on my nose (because we were out in the forest in the heat of the day) I didn't feel too too bad because there was not millions of dollars on the line! I got to cast spells, put myself magically into a light green bubble (post production obviously) and carry a real sword. I felt a little like Link from Zelda, and it was totally awesome.

--Heather Tocquigny

The Code

This is a great reminder to all actors: set in 1945 it was a code written and signed by all actors working at Circle stage. As relevant today as it was then. Thanks to Nicky Brooks for showing me this, the original story was published by Janet Thielke at http://www.lastageblog.com/2009/08/11/a-1945-code-of-ethics-for-theatre-workers-surfaces/.

The Wrench

I have giant eyes. They have taken me a long time to get used to in my career. I was once nicknamed crazy eyes on a commercial shoot. Over the last year or so I have learned how to negotiate them with the demands of camera work and stage work, how to keep from looking like something you of a horror film while avoiding the Renee Zellweiger squint.

A Challenge

Two things. I've started posting weekly videos of my web project here: http://www.youtube.com/user/lovereception

AND, seeing as though I've been attempting write more, I've decided to propose a challenge to myself, to write a short film each week.

Now we could all just propose challenges to ourselves willy-nilly, and never live up to them, and who would be the wiser? hmm? Who? NO ONE. That's why I am telling all of you out there in internet-blog-land. If I don't post a script 3-20 pages long by Sunday at Midnight for the next 3 months, you need to e-stalk me so hard that you all show up at my door. (Don't actually show up at my door, please) Capice?

Now I'm going to get to work. And you're going to make sure I do my work. It's like I'm back in high school, but you're all my teachers. Which was always your secret dream anyway. I know. Don't try to hide it. 

Let's get cracking!

-- Shawn Dempewolff

Tianjin

In preparation for the Japanese portion of our tour of Asia in early 2010, I was able to film my first professional commercial!

Opening Night Party

Is two months into a tour too late to finally have your opening night party? Nonsense! After 64 performances in China, Winnie the Pooh celebrated the kick-off of the 2009-2010 Asian tour.

The Audience and the Actor

I’m sitting in bed thinking about last nights show – The Girls of Summer. Only one more show left. Our show was sold out for the first time and we received a standing ovation. We had to open the doors at 7:10 for a 7:30 show – people were getting anxious and the lobby is small!

There’s something so great about having a generous audience. It feels so supportive and as an actor, makes it so much fun to play with them. There’s one scene I’m in that is particularly fun to see how the audience is going along for the ride. The play is about an all female, African American baseball team in the 1940’s. A few weeks before they play their rival white team, the coach is found dead.

Drawing the Line

As I mentioned briefly in my last post, I am currently trying to determine what I am and am not comfortable doing in the name of art.

In undergrad, I was rather opposed to any sort of swearing on stage. I remember one of my professors talked with me about it, saying that I had to determine whether it was due to fear and discomfort, or a sense of personal morality. If it was fear or discomfort, I needed to get over it. If it was a sense of personal morality, then I needed to know that about myself and just not audition for, say, David Mamet plays.

Oh Man, Do I Have To Stir Up Trouble Again?

You know those little pop-up reminders you can create for yourself on Outlook to keep you in touch with your schedule?  I literally have a pop-up that has been popping onto my screen with that annoying "reminder ding" every day for five months.  I refuse to discard it because I haven't completed the task yet, but I have also refused to take my precious reminder as seriously as I had hoped five (and probably longer) months ago.  You know what that pop-up says?

GET YOUR IMDB CREDITS

Seriously, where are they and why can't I get them on my currently lame-o IMDB page?  I've done some pretty cool projects with some pretty great people and yet you and the rest of the world would never know it based on the fact that I CAN'T GET THEM ON MY IMDB PAGE.  Believe me, I've tried.  

Oooh, I'm sorry.  Did I shout?  I'm just frustrated.  And maybe it's the frustration of hitting a brick wall over and over and over every time I pursue this issue that has kept me from throwing my energies into it again.  But isn't it important?  Yes.  In Hollywood?  Very important.  You've gotta have an IMDB page.

'Big Bookers'

    I was at a callback some time ago for a supermarket commercial, chatting we another actor. We did the callback together, and when we came out, the CD told me that he was a 'Big Booker.' I've met, auditioned with, and heard about these guys and gals before. But the mystique remains. I mean I get more than my far share of callbacks and holds, and even book a bit but I would never describe myself as a Big Booker:  someone who books something every week or two. But every time I do book something, like last week, I hold hope alive that it'll be the begining of a roll of sorts, that some of that booking mojo will rub off on me.

Taking the Job : Venice, Italy

Admist the consumption of one very large cajun seitan sandwich two evenings ago during a content vegetarian dinner at Blossom on Columbus Ave (note: I am not vegetarian), I received an exceptionally intriguing call.

"Ashley, this is Bonnie from To Sea with T calling..." began the chipper voice on the other end of the line.  "We'd like to make you an offer."

About two weeks ago, I turned down an opportunity to do a two week cruise from Singapore to Sydney -- where myself and my ballroom dancing partner (even though we're technically both retired) were offered short-term performance contracts on.  I adore cruises, and I've always wanted to dance on one... though likely would go completely ballistic if it was for any more than two weeks (six months on a ship?  Absolutely not).  

However, Fabulous Manager has several things lined up for the first two weeks of October post my return to Los Angeles, so I turned it down.  And suddenly -- as I was making my way through a gigantic plate of sweet potato -- here they were, calling again.

It's My DVR, And I'll DVR What I Want To (Which Is Everything)

So I moved, and now the DVR is mine all mine which 1. forced me to figure out how to actually use it given my aversion to technology and 2. freed up space for me to DVR whatever the heck I want to DVR.  So guess what?  I'm DVRing everything.  At least once.  

I took this class two years ago, and mid-way through the session the casting director asked who had watched at least one episode of Grey's Anatomy.  At the time, I hadn't, and she looked at me with a look that made me want to curl up and die and then she posed this question:  If you want to work in TV, why haven't you watched at least one episode of one of the most popular shows on television right now?  It's a good question.  So, I watched an episode which confirmed why I didn't really want to watch it every week (summary:  He's hot, she's hot, everybody is hot, can we move on now?) but I now understand what the show is, how it should be played in an audition, and where I might fit on the show in relation to the current cast.  

As actors, it's our job to watch every show on TV at least once, I've just never done it before.  Slap me on the wrist with a ruler!

The (Near Perfect) Actor's Reel : A Totally Subjective Opinion.

I was recently "tagged" (yes, grudgingly making a freakin' Facebook reference here) in a friend's video... which, upon opening up, turned out to be a friend's 2009 Comedy Reel.  We worked together about a year ago on a delightfully absurd short called Nightmare BFF (found in totality here on YouTube), which this innovative actor-buddy of mine named Raymond McAnally had written and produced -- A) for a grand amount of fun, and B) to essentially give him a special facet to his reel that he felt was missing.  Smart dude.  He's booking stuff all over the place.

Thus, as I'm always curious and attempting to polish my reel (as we all do) -- I thought this was a great example of a compilation of strong work that does the job extremely well.  BFF is at the end.  Enjoy.  -- Ashley Avis

Remember My Name

As I sat in a theater with a few people watching FAME. I realized that a dream can be deferred by others decisions. When i was in 8th grade and getting ready to attend the performing arts school in Harrisburg, I was informed that it would be closing and we had to either attend the regular high school or the vocational technical high school.

That wasn't a part of what I wanted. I wanted to attend Riverside and study acting and