Free(lance) Life: Part Two

I want to be an Actor.

For me, this doesn't even necessarily mean being able to support myself as one (I would be perfectly happy to make my money writing) but it does mean that I want to be involved to the extent of always doing it. A few weeks off here and there are very welcome, but going for months at a time with no acting job makes my soul hurt.

I have separated my acting life into two sections; the "Industry" a.k.a. "I-don't-know-if-this-will-ever-work-out-but-there's-no-harm-in-trying" and the "Community" a.k.a. "I-have-awesome-amazingly-talented-friends-with-BFAs-we-are-smart-enough-to-do-this-on-our-own."

Going to NYU was amazing for many reasons, but I think the power you take away from a school like that is in the connections you make. Teachers ALWAYS say how you have to look at the person next to you and remember them because they are going to be the next Martin Scorcese or Meryl Streep or whatever. I think in the moment you are usually too busy thinking about what great thing you are going to be, but I am starting to believe that no one ever really does it alone. I mean, have you seen The Social Network?

To keep chipping away at the Industry, I am taking classes at One on One Studios which is great in terms of learning more about on-camera technique and why I seem to turn into an anti-human as soon as I walk into an audition room.

In the meantime, however, I am determined to make something happen on my own.

One of my friends wrote a great play. Another friend is an amazing director. Yet another is one of those people that has a mind for the whole producing side of things and through connections with a theater company he is helping to build, will aid us in getting funding, space and publicity. Needless to say, we have no lack of actors. Lucky for me, there is a part that I can play.

The play (for now) is called "Percival's Big Night". The language is astonishingly clever and filthy (move over Apatow boys) and somehow naked. It always makes me want to weep. We had our first rehearsal yesterday and I could not be more excited. I realized that it has been a year since I was given a real character to work on. And there is something incredibly satisfying about this being entirely ours. It's in our hands (Look Ma, no agents!) I feel very lucky.

Next on the agenda: Learning. More on that in the next post.

P.S. I will be haunted-housing tonight. The stairwell chronicles continue!

--Sarah Wharton