Unscripted - A Blog for Actors - Backstage

Ode to Gary Oldman

I have this fantasy. 

I am on a movie set, lying in a huge bed, draped in taupe, surrounded by a crew, about to shoot an intimate scene with one of the greatest talents and heart throbs of all time...Gary Oldman.

Yes. Gary Oldman: one of the most talented, seamless, versatile, dynamic, brilliant and under-awarded actors of our time.

Gary Oldman.

"True Romance." "The Professional." "Immortal Beloved." Gary Oldman. 

If there is any actor who deserves to be acknowledged as the epitome of stellar acting in its most mind-blowing forms; if only to raise the bar, heighten the standard of what great acting truly is on a universal level, that actor is Gary Oldman.

Personally, I think Gary Oldman is the male Meryl Streep.

Mass Hysteria

Last week I attended an invitation only screening of a new film to be released by Sony Pictures Classics on May 18th.

I was grateful to be invited by one of the film’s executive producers.

Starring Hugh Dancy, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Rupert Everett and Jonathan Pryce, Hysteria, based in the Victorian era, tells the story of how the fictitious female disease, known as hysteria, led to the invention of the vibrator.

The screening room was the size of a small movie theater. The chairs were comfortable and wide.

And instead of showing your ticket at the door, you showed your ID at the gate and a visitor pass at the front desk.

There were no refreshments, no popcorn, and no waiting lines. Just about everyone there knows everyone else and the dress is casual. No red carpet.

The director, Tanya Wexler, made a small announcement in the beginning. She thanked the audience for coming and then left us to the screen.

This is what I learned...

If it's yours...it's yours

Around the third week of March my bike was stolen; out of the laundry room, out of my building and onto the streets of Los Angeles.

This was a new feeling for me. Ten years in New York and not a single break-in, mugging, mail fraud...nothing. Lucky dragon.

This was the bike I bought at the East West Players Gala last year in May at their annual fundraiser.

It was exactly what I wanted; a black, white, and hot pink beach cruiser, a little too heavy and a little too big to go with my west side lifestyle.

That Monday night in March I left for work, checked that my bike's tires were peeking out behind the laundry room door where she was locked up along with four other resident's bikes, "...still there."

But, when I got home there was nothing there but a huge white negative space where my hot girlie bike used to be. Somebody stole my bike!

I was in shock. I started laughing. It was absurd to me that someone would go to that much trouble; pick the lock, plan an escapable time to commit the petty crime, all over my heavy beach cruiser...?!

I told my landlord who was still awake and tried to be more upset as opposed to flabergasted.

But the truth is, ultimately, this was just an inconvenience.

Six Producer Sessions and Counting...

I have now had a total of six producer sessions between two sister episodic television shows.

Six and counting. Pinned on a few, not pinned on a few. Some were co-star parts, some guest star, and/or recurring.

Except for the first appointment, I have gone straight to producers each time.

And aside from the last time where I had a minor line stumble and recovery (which is like an Asian F, but whatever...let it go), each time I've felt great about my work; getting laughs and moments where they were least expected.

Booking the room! But not yet...the job.

Now, I know this happens to a lot of actors and I know what they may be thinking, "When are they finally going to cast me? What are they looking for?!"

And it would be easy to get frustrated at this point.

It would be easy to give up, to stop believing in the possibilities and begin to close off.

It would be easy to focus on what is presently not manifesting and become stuck in that pattern of thought.

But would that actually be easier? In the long run?

Three Year Swim Club and a Nine Year Friendship

When Meryl Streep accepted her third Oscar for The Iron Lady, she wholeheartedly thanked all her friends and colleagues throughout her career.

"...This is such a great honour, but the thing that counts the most with me, is the friendships and the love and the sheer joy we have shared making movies together..." Her speech deserved an Oscar itself. (Click here to watch)

I wept, humbled by Meryl's grace and humility, as did most of the viewers and the people in that room.

That's Meryl, for ya.

And speaking of friends in February, I attended the opening night of a friend's latest artistic project.

My very good friend Keo Woolford made his Los Angeles director debut in East West Player's current theatrical production of Three Year Swim Club. 

Three Year Swim Club, currently in its last week of performaces, is an LA Times Critics Choice.

As someone who knows the director personally, Three Year Swim Club is just as Keo is; mesmerizing, clever, honest, uplifting, courageous, compassionate and truthful.

Morning (SAG-AFTRA) Merger Wake Up Call

Wednesday morning. Leap day. No appointment hopping today. Just the usual writing sessions, networking, and gym ratting.

Yes, I am a gym rat again. Yay. But this morning, this Wednesday morning, I can sleep in for a change, right?

WRONG!

8:02AM the phone rings. Ugh. Why?! Please, God! It better be someone on the West Coast with important news.

No. It's an 855 area code. I don't know this area code. Oh, dear. Trouble with the law. Joking.

I answer just to stop the phone ringing. I manage a faint, "Hello?".

I hear a loud female voice on the other end, "Is this Ann Hu?"

I answer, "Yes..?", in my froggy, half-brained, still have earplugs in my ears, morning voice.

LIN - FEVER!!!

I am not a sports fan. I am not. I have great respect for the journey of the athlete, respect for the game, and the discipline needed in sports, which often mirrors the discipline needed in the performing arts.

Occassionally I watch ice hockey, gymnastics, and soccer. But I have never found an emotional hook towards any sports game or team.

I did have a crush on Joe Montana, of the San Francisco 49ers when I was around 9, but that's because the guy on my cereal box was hot.

Recently, however, I have caught...LIN-FEVER!!!!

I'VE GOT LIN FEVER BABY, YEAH!!! AND IT FEELS...LIN-MAZING!!!

Finally! Jeremy Lin has arrived! A superb athlete, who is jaw-dropping, who is Asian American (Taiwan-Chinese) and who is as tall as all of my cousins!

Finally! People will stop calling me a liar, just because they're too small-minded to entertain anything but stereotypes, when I tell them my cousins are 6', 6'3", and 6'7" respectively. Really?!

As if Yao Ming wasn't enough proof! And do you really think we could have built the Great Wall at only 5' tall?

I jest. But. Finally! The attention of the sports world is whiplashed by an athlete of Asian descent born and raised in America. Not that it really matters, but let me explain why I differentiate.

The Greatest Love of All

I was at work when a friend told me, two hours after, that Whitney Houston had passed away.

I think my ears went numb and it was a good long minute until I understood. What?!

I don't understand. I don't understand why Whitney Houston died. I don't understand it. It doesn't make sense to me. How could this have happened?

I did not cry when Kurt Cobain died. I did not cry when Amy Winehouse died. I did not even cry when Michael Jackson died.

It seemed that Michael had been suffering for so long. And for some reason, I just felt relief that somehow he was relieved.

I did cry for Michael's children. It's not that I wasn't sad those other times, I just didn't cry.

However, I have been crying since the news of Whitney Houston's death. Her passing is hitting home on a very personal level for me and for many of my friends who grew up with her music.

And the only way I know how to deal with this surprising amount of grief, for someone I have never actually met but felt close to, is to write about it. And I have been trying not to.

Friday Play by Play

8am, Friday. I force myself out of bed. Laptop in hand, music on, walk to the kitchen and turn the kettle on. Water boils.

I take a shower. I take a 10 minute shower while the water is boiling. I bring the laptop into the bathroom with me to play music to wake up the nerves. Vocal warm-ups in the shower.

Then I get dressed, hair wet and tied up in a swirl. The kettle whistles. I pour boiling water into my French Press for my morning cup of coffee.

I like my coffee with cayenne pepper and almond milk. Then I make breakfast.

Goat Yogurt, blueberries, dash of granola, and whole flax seeds. Mix, eat, and yum.

8:30AM. I pick out outfits for appointments for the day and then work at night. Pack all audition clothes and work clothes in a bag. Thank goodness I have a car.

Getting Pinned

I got pinned. Again.

No, this has nothing to do with dating a high school athlete. I dated college boys when I was in high school anyway.  

But getting pinned happens a lot in Hollywood. I think it's more an LA thing, than a NYC thing.

I thought I was the only who had never heard of the term until I had lunch with a friend the other day.

"I keep getting pinned," I exclaimed over a carafe of red sangria, grilled calamari, and pot de creme under the warm Santa Monica sun.

"I guess eventually another one will stick," I said.

"Are you talking about online dating?," he asked. That's when I figured it was worth writing about.

Getting 'pinned' for a theatrical job is the same as being put on 'hold' or put on 'first refusal' for a commercial job.

It doesn't guarantee you'll get the job, but it does mean you are one of the top choices.

Kind of makes you wonder, should you jump for joy or hold your breath. I think maybe both, yes?

A Week with Iron Ladies...

One sunny, (January) Saturday afternoon, I went to see a noon screening of The Iron Lady. I wanted to experience it alone on the big screen.

I couldn't wait to see Meryl's work! I could not wait to see, what I knew would be a soulful, mind-blowing performance.

I wasn't the only one alone in the theater. At one point, it felt as if I was at a Margaret Thatcher look-a-like party.

I'm not trying to be ironic, for lack of a better word, but being an iron lady is not a choice for many women who have no choice but to face the later stages in life alone.

With the SAG Awards coming up I've been cramming in as many films as I can.

What a week with so many Iron Ladies! The rebel, the revolutionary, the heroic outcasts, and the romantics.  

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Iron Lady, The Help, Albert Nobbs, Bridesmaids and My Week with Marilyn, all consistently fantastic performances in an array of diverse portrayals of strong, significant women.

What an inspiration! What a relief!

I think I was in grade school when Thatcher was in the later stages of her career. I remember my parents discussing her politics over the dining room table.

There was controversy in those conversations, of course. There was also and firstly, admiration for someone who was up against all odds (status and sex), and rose to power in the Western world by the strength of her character and conviction.

She just happend to be a woman. Why is it that men are considered leaders, while women are called controversial?

The Same Difference

It was less scary the seventh time around as far as forcing myself to get on stage and 'stand up'. I actually had fun.

It's not like performing a blocked, directed show that you plow through no matter how the audience reacts or doesn't react. You have to roll with the punches or else.

I knew my set, was ready with a few new jokes that I had tested out with comic buddies, and was warmed up from participating in a pre-show workshop led by one of the hosts of the evening, Adam Barnhardt.

In the workshop Adam let each of us go on stage and rant. We ranted about our day, our lives, our perspectives, all in the attempt to find our individual platform on life, death, and all the 'funny' in between.

I found a few new premises that I as an 'individual' know the 'funny' in very well, not solely as an 'Asian' individual. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

Apparently, I fear an artistic death more than a physical death. When my turn in the workshop was over, I sat on stage and asked Adam in front of the group,

    "What do a preacher, a rockstar and a comedian all have in common?" This was not a joke. This was an earnest question.

The C-LOSER

Before the New Year, I went to dinner with my long time friend CJ. We had 'protein salads' and organic fruic juice.

That's how we roll here in Los Angeles; we have protein salads for dinner. I'm trying to keep up with the Joneses and down with their waistlines...just kidding.

CJ and I have known each other since our NYU days. She works in advertising.

We were discussing New Year's resolutions; why people make them in the first place, the power in 'No', and the allowing in 'Yes'.

We wrestled with the usual transformative thought processes that people argue will lead to creating the lives they desire in the New Year, every year.

Bleeding into 2012

I'm doing it again. I'm forcing myself, even if I bleed to death.

On January 4th, 2012 at 7:30pm in the Main Room at The Comedy Store, I will be 'Standing-Up'...again.

I'm freaked out of my mind and I think it's going to be a blast!

This will be lucky number 7th time going up...fingers crossed.

Please come support! I promise, if I don't make you laugh...I'll be the one crying!

(photos courtesy of the World Famous Comedy Store Mainroom)

Yours Truly -- Ann Hu

 

A Hollywood Holiday Moment...

Christmas is one week away?! It's too warm here!

The holidays could pass me by like a Honda Civic on the freeway and I wouldn't even notice.

I had hoped to be in London right now. Guess everything happens for a reason. Trust.

A college girlfriend of mine recently reminded me of this quote we were given post-graduation, (in so many words),

    "Leave New York before you get too hard; Leave Los Angeles before you get too soft."

Whenever things get slow, on either coast, I want to move faster.

I walked out of an audition yesterday, with no jacket, onto the studio lot and had what I consider a Hollywood Holiday moment.

On my way back to my car, I heard another actress, walking behind me, rehearsing the lines over and over again to herself.

Boy, haven't we all been there before.

The Speed of Sound

It's December 6th, a Tuesday. I can't believe it's almost the end of another year! What have I accomplished this year? What have I done?

How am I now further ahead than I was a year ago? In all areas of my life?

Where am I going to be this time next year? Hopefully further than where I am now, right?

Sometimes I loathe the holidays for none other than the very reason that they give us time to pause and contemplate...or brood.

Well, I'm not brooding that much.

I'm lying in bed, doing my usual 7AM early morning writing routine, reading news articles online on my laptop, when I come across Forbes Top Ten Most Powerful Celebrity list.

There is a picture of Lady Gaga placed as No. 1. She's probably already shot another music video this morning.

I need to get up earlier!

My Picture Blog #21

During one of my post-turkey feast bike rides around Los Angeles I came across a very sleek, very sheik, modern looking furniture store.

I like sleek. I like sheik, and I like natural clean cut lines and clever uses of space.

Mash Studios designs  have all of the above.

I peeked in and found several pieces of striking furniture and one in particular that looked awfully familiar to me. 

Can you figure it out? Come on, take a wild guess?

Yup!

This is thee bed that Edward and Bella Cullen not-so-delicately exercised their wedding nuptials on in the latest Twilight Saga; Breaking Dawn Part 1.

And you know what? It's really f---ing sturdy.

(photos courtesy of Mash Studios)

Yours Truly -- Ann Hu

 

Thank You for the Music...

It's Thanksgiving again. And I'm making my homemade vodka cranberry sauce; a recipe I got from a potluck years ago in the Hamptons in New York. 

I started to write another blog about things to be thankful for when I realized that in all my years in New York, I never once saw the Thanksgiving day parade.

And it turns out, this year in New York, a very special New Yorker is giving thanks for many blessings she has received from her hometown and around the world; Lady Gaga.

A few months ago, I caught the tail end of the VMAs, and like everyone else, was blown away by both Jo Calderone and Beyonce's performances. Gaga, not only performed in drag, she was Jo Calderone.

My Picture Blog #20

It's 11/11/11 today. And as soon as I finish this article I'm hitting a bike ride along the west side highway.

I've been staying at the 'cat house', what I call my friends' place in downtown Manhattan.

I am spoiled here. And yes, so are the cats.

My week in New York has been disciplined, filled with artistic glee, intellectual conversations, feeling nostalgic and 'new' at the same time.

Guess What...?

The last time I was on an airplane it was this past July. I had just moved the rest of my furniture out of my New York apartment and was now permanently a Los Angeleno.

So long 307...

It had taken two years of being bi-coastal, one season of being back in New York doing a play, and the final cutting of the apartment umbilical cord to ultimately commit myself to my life in Los Angeles.

And things have been very good here. I can't complain.

I am very grateful for the opportunities that have presented themselves, for my friends, my representation, my teachers and my life here.

And when I got off that plane in Los Angeles, after my last trip to New York, I swore to myself that the next time I got a plane the destination would be to somewhere I had never been before.

My headspace was clear and ready for new adventure. I figured I'd head towards Barbados? Or Mexico? Costa Rica? Vancouver? Key West? Paris? China? Egypt?

My biggest dream, next to becoming a superstar actress/singer/writer, was to travel the world.

Well, guess what?