A couple of weeks ago, I had my first chance to be a television extra!
I was never briefed as to how much I am allowed to divulge about the process before the episode airs, so I will have to be tragically vague. The photo here is of an outfit that I was never on screen in, so it will have to serve as your hint as to what show it is. (Guess in the comments!)
What I can say about the experience is that I learned a ton!
"The best way out is always through."
- Robert Frost
“If the career you have chosen has some unexpected inconvenience, console yourself by reflecting that no career is without them.”
– Jane Fonda
“You have to be open-minded when those early opportunities present themselves; take advantage of them whether they’re going to make you a lot of money or not.”
- Rachael Ray
I've been told that it's good to take any kind of experience related to the world of acting that falls into my lap. So when opportunity knocks, I try to answer the door. And this week, one door lead to another, which lead to another.
It all started last week when I was asked to videotape some local auditions. I said sure. After all, it's always good to be in audition rooms on the other side of the table. You get to see what other people are bringing. You can learn a little bit about what to do... and a great deal about what NOT to do.
When I got there, the director asked if -- instead of filming -- I could be a Reader (a scene partner for the auditioners).
In grad school, I did a workshop with Carl Forsman (Drama Desk nominated artistic director of Keen Company in NYC). It was both a cold reading workshop and a lesson in how to be a Reader. So even though I've never technically been a Reader before, I felt prepared. And I said yes.
Continue reading "The Circuitous Path to My First Commercial" »
In one week, I have survived an earthquake, a tornado, and a hurricane. (Or more accurately: I didn't notice an earthquake, the tornado ended up being no where near me, and the hurricane didn't even knock out my power.) The trickiest thing I survived? Barista training.
For those unfamiliar with the terminology, a barista is the coffee shop equivalent of a bartender. It's one of the typical actor survivor jobs that I've never had before (in the past I've had less typical survivor jobs, like database processor, dance recital stage manager, and medical records filer). I almost feel like I've joined a special little club. But the strange/awkward/hilarious/sad thing about me going through barista training (aside from feeling vaguely like it's the equivalent of laminating my Master's Degree and using it as placemat) is that I don't like coffee.
"Nothing in the world will take away persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than an unsuccessful man with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."
- Calvin Coolidge
"Act well your part; There all the honor lies."
- Alexander Pope
"Success isn't what you achieve in life, success is what you do every day."
- Colin Powell
When my class had our showcase in NYC in April, I was fortunate. Several agents requested for me to contact them. So I went back to NYC in May to make contact.
While I was there, I met with agents, directors, and friends. And I received various pieces of advice (some of which were in direct conflict with advice I'd already received). I know to take it all with a grain of salt, of course. I thought I'd share it all with you, so that you can do the same.
For the last 11 weeks, I've been on vacation. At some points physically, and at other points just as a state of being.
After graduating, I went off on an adventure to London, England. I would still love to move there, but the road hasn't been rising up to meet me on that particular path. I stayed there for five weeks. I saw some shows. I met with an acting agent. I discussed the possibility of an internship that would require (among other things) me to attempt to teach various American accents to Brits. (As the person I was meeting with put it, I'd teach a "David Mamet" Chicago, an "Arthur Miller" New York, a "Tennessee Williams" southern...) But in the end, I came back home.
"The hardest thing in the world is convincing other people to love the same thing you do. But the fact that it's hard does not diminish your love – it must not. You go on loving that thing because, even if it's naïve, even if it's foolish, even if it's wrong, you believe in the very marrow of your bones that you will be able to convince them, eventually, some time. That certainty, that passion is too valuable to surrender in the face of resistance. You may not have convinced them yet; you will."
- Jason Robert Brown
“Hide not your talents, they for use were made. What’s a sun-dial in the shade?”
- Benjamin Franklin
"If you’re not still learning and growing as an actor, then you have no backbone and no career."
- Kate Winslet
I recently did an interview for The Lynne Show. Lynne Berman is a psychotherapist and author who is doing a series of interviews with artists. Her goal is to discover what gives artists the passion and patience to do what we do.
You can download the podcast (I'm the first half hour, and my classmate Will is the second half hour) here: Interviews with Angela Sauer and Will Little
I was having a conversation with Natalie Portman and Jennifer Garner about whether I should change my name. Natalie argued that changing her last name from Hershlag to Portman had opened up a lot of roles for her, and was a better brand. Jennifer said that you are more important than your name, and that her plain name had never stood in her way.
And then I woke up.
Yes, I had a dream in which my subconscious debated whether I should change my name using celebrities as the angel and devil on my shoulders.
Within the last year, I've had several people mention to me that I should consider changing my name. Often, they suggest that I should change it to something more Italian (I'm half Italian and half Austrian, but I look more Italian than anything else). I've been advised that having a more Italian name might help me to brand myself better. My middle name, Ferrante, might do just the trick.
As of Monday, I have now officially earned my MFA in Acting. So did the nine people standing with me in the photo (my classmate's baby is not an MFA holder, but was put in the photo to add to our cuteness). We have trained to become masters of our craft.
As our program is three years long, we joked that each year, we earned another letter. Our first year, we proudly exclaimed that we'd earned our "M", and the second year our "F". And I think I can go a step further than that...
The actor has to develop his body. The actor has to work on his voice. But the most important thing the actor has to work on is his mind.
— Stella Adler
“When you’re hurt or angry, let go by tapping into your humbleness. You want people to remember you for your grace.”
— Stevie Nicks
“I think it would be advice that I would certainly pass on to any aspiring young actor, and it’s that if you want to be an actor, don’t. But if you need to be an actor, do, because you will always regret not giving it a go. It might not work for you — it often doesn’t — but it has to be a need, it has to be a visceral gut need. You have to think of life isn’t life without acting. It’s vocational. You have to need with your heart and soul to be an actor and to be prepared to face the unfairness of the profession.”
- Derek Jacobi
Showcase went well, and it was a blast! I was happy just to be there, doing what I love with people I love.
As an added bonus, I got several bites from agents and directors in the audience. So now I'm in the follow-up process. Calling them back. Emailing to introduce myself. Sending thank you notes (because seriously, I'm grateful to everyone who was able to attend -- especially the day after a holiday).
I was lucky to have people interested in me. And now my job is to work hard to keep that luck alive.
Today is the day of our NYC Showcase! I'm geeked! (In that picture of my class, don't we look like the cast of a hot new television show? I'm in blue, and am clearly the quirky neighbor/comic relief.)
If you (or any agents, managers, or casting directors you know *wink*) are in NYC today, stop by Theatre Row at 1:00pm or 7:00pm to see the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training class of 2011, AND the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park Acting Intern Company perform a double-bill showcase! (For more information, visit the FSU/Asolo Class of 2011 Showcase Website.)
I am lucky. I have acquired all the EMC weeks necessary to join the Actors' Equity Association as part of my graduate school experience. (My time in grad school has also added eight professional regional theatre credits to my résumé. My school rocks.)
And I have about two days to decide whether I want to become Equity right now (so that I can write "AEA" on my résumé for our Showcase), or wait it out (and leave my Showcase résumé saying "AEA Eligible").
In less than a week, I'll be in New York City. My class will be performing in a showcase.
If you're in NYC and feel like stopping by, all the information can be found on our FSU/Asolo Conservatory Showcase website.
"If you're going to stand on a stage, be projected on a motion picture screen, or go into people's homes on their television, then you have a responsibility - not just to entertain. They're going to be inspired and touched by the things that you do and the things that you say, and there's a responsibility that comes with that."
- Stella Adler
"I love storytelling and I love just relating directly to an audience. That's why we do theatre, it's because we love contact with the audience. We love the fact that the audience will change us. The way the audience responds makes us change our performance."
- Simon Callow
"There is no vanity in comedy."
- Keenen Ivory Wayans
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
- Theodore Roosevelt
I love working in a repertory theatre. I like that some days we perform one show at the matinee and another show at night. I love that I'm in one show and rehearsing another. It's fun.
But it is not without challenges. There's the fact that you have to keep all the shows straight in your head. The fact that you don't have a regular schedule, and it's hard to know what day it is. The fact that it's often difficult to remember to go grocery shopping on your dinner break, and then you have no food the following day when you have no time to get any.
But the hardest part of running in Rep -- for me at least -- are the gaps between when you perform the same show. Like this past week, when we had nine days between performances of Boeing Boeing.
I have a problem, and I'm terrified that it's going to hurt my career.
My name is Angela Sauer, and I am a yawner.
Over the summer, I studied with one of my idols in London. I was thrilled to be in the class, and paid careful attention to everything she did and said. One day, while she was working with one of my classmates, she stopped everything, and turned to me with a venom-filled gaze. "Angela," she scolded, "Do you realize you have just yawned, again? And that you have, in fact, yawned at every class session we have had thus far? Do you have any idea how rude that is? If Sir Ian McKellan saw you yawning, he'd have you thrown out of the rehearsal room!"
