Unscripted - A Blog for Actors - Backstage

Scamtastic

I can't even write about this subject without seeing red. Predators in the entertainment industry have devised so many ways to bilk money out of the poorest people in the business - new and struggling actors. Everywhere I turn, there are people selling snake oil to actors promising them stardom or at least a leg up for a mere $49, $99, or $249.

It makes me sick.

One popular scam is for self-styled "agents" to offer to represent new talent. Most new actors are only too happy to get their first agent and will sign on any dotted line they are told to. The agent then tells the actor that he or she needs multiple new headshots (photographers charge for each "look" so the more looks an actor does, the more expensive the session). The actor is then steered to a photographer the "agent" has a relationship with for these new headshots. What the actor doesn't realize is that the "agent" gets a kickback for the referral and the agent has no intention of ever actually representing this actor.

Going Through The Motions

Every now and then when the cameras are rolling, I find I lose track of my character, disconnect from the scene, and start "acting." It happened last weekend on a short film when the director had us hopping and skipping around the script with little time to get our heads around where we were in the story.

The film covered some pretty intense emotions (survival, first love, soldier contemplating deployment, and relationship uncertainty) in a short span of time. We were up against a strict time constraint at the location and the director was having us hopscotch around the script in a single take so he could get several bits and pieces he still needed. As an actor it's my job to deliver what's needed when it's needed, but the circumstances were not working in my favor. I knew all the lines without thinking about them, but jumping through the script without pause from scenes of elation to desperation to confusion to frustration killed my connection with the material and my character. I definitely felt myself "acting" at points and that's never a good thing.

And Now We Wait

One of the most nerve wracking parts of being an actor is the wait. You spend hours preparing for an audition: You get your lines down, glean what you can from the context of the script, and put your personal touch on the character and the scene. After all this work, you go in and pour out all that work on the audition room floor in 3-5 minutes and promptly exit. 

And then you wait.

For those of you who aren't actors, once you've auditioned, that's often the last contact you have with the production. It's not like job interviews where they either give you a time frame for when a decision will be made or let you know when they've decided to go with someone else. Every now and then they'll be so kind as to let you know, but more often than not, it's a matter of waiting until it's been long enough that you figure you didn't get the role. All that work and not so much as an email saying "Thank you but you didn't get the part." 

Going Union

No matter what line of work you're in, if there is a workers' union for your job, choosing to join or not join the union is a big decision. In March I reached the point in my acting career where I felt it was the right time to finally join SAG. I had just wrapped my second SAG principal role (which put me at "must join" status), and the SAG-AFTRA merger was being voted on. By joining prior to the merger, I'd save at least $700 (the fee to join the merged union would go up), so I joined sooner rather than later.

I've been eligible to join SAG since May 2011, but had chosen not to because of the cost and because I was getting a lot of nonunion work. I was rather nervous about the effect this would have on my workflow. On the flipside though, I was looking forward to the better treatment and pay union actors receive.

Elemental

This weekend, I had two long shoot days on a western webseries. Being a western, it's mostly shot outdoors, and of course there's an obligatory desert scene. It's cold in the desert in California in late March. The rigors of the shoot reminded me of one I blogged about a year ago (Will Freeze for Work). 

Out in the desert, we were combating relentless winds; ultra-fine dust that worked it's way into eyes, ears, nose, and mouth; and blindingly bright sun exacerbated by reflection off the white desert surface (this being a period western, these cowboys didn't benefit from sunglasses). At least one in three takes was spoiled by someone's hat being blown away. Several of us were running on only a few hours sleep.

Tree of Life

Last week I finally was able to watch Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life. From what I'd seen in the trailers for the film and based on what I know of Malick, I expected it to be a visual masterpiece and I was not disappointed. What I didn't expect was how it would make me feel.

When released, the film caused quite a bit of controversy. At the Cannes premiere, it was both booed and cheered but eventually took the Palme d'Or. In its theatrical release, due to post-screening audience outrage, theater staff members began making announcements before screenings that audience members could not get a refund for the ticket price. Outrage was the last thing I felt after watching.

Webseries Adventures 3: Hitting a Wall

So the webseries has hit a wall. When you ask for feedback on your scripts, you have to prepare yourself for someone saying "it needs to be completely reworked." Sometimes that person is right; sometimes that person isn't. The difficulty is figuring out which it is.

Most of the people who read the scripts like them and had only minor changes. One of the readers, however, suggested that it needed to be totally reworked in order to not confuse the audience. I should point out that both my co-writer and I have a great deal of respect for this person's opinion, so we couldn't just dismiss it out of hand. We decided to try rewriting the series to take into account his suggestion.

March Madness

It's only mid-March, but I feel like I've gotten in a month's worth of stuff already. I've been shooting 3-4 days each week this month on a web series, a few comedy shorts, and a feature film. I've been auditioning as usual. My birthday has already come and gone (thank you Don Julio for bringing me back to tequila). I'm in the process of deciding whether to try to change my own spark plugs. And I've had to create a press kit for the feature I just wrapped filming. Oh, and blogging.

This hasn't left me much time to watch the other March Madness - the one that has destroyed most of my friends' brackets when Duke lost to Lehigh. I feel like I need a vacation. I also somehow feel like I haven't been productive enough.

Z-List Celebrity

This week, I had two new experiences that made me feel (however briefly) like a celebrity - a Z-list celebrity, but a celebrity nonetheless. The first was having my name mentioned in a Variety article about a romantic comedy I'm working on called It's Not You, It's Me. Headlining the film are Vivica Fox (Kill Bill & Independence Day), Ross McCall (Crash & Band of Brothers), and Joelle Carter (Justified). I play one of Carter's love interests. My awesome web designer was actually the first to notify me about the article. It felt good to be mentioned in one of the two biggest industry publications out there.

The second celebrity-esque thing that happened this week occurred this afternoon as I left my gym. I was walking and checking my phone when I hear someone yell, "Hey!" I don't normally pay much attention to people yelling things like that because it's almost never directed at me and if it is, it's from someone I know. I heard "Hey!" again and looked around to see who was yelling at whom and saw a woman looking at me with recognition in her eyes as she was making her way directly towards me. 

Stepping Up My Game

One of many things I looked forward to in moving to LA was stepping up my game as an actor. I knew LA attracted the best actors on the planet and I also knew there would be thousands of them. On average, the talent level here is much higher than most anywhere else, which means I have to work extremely hard to improve every day. 

The good part about the calibre of LA actors is that they tend to take their work more seriously (though some certainly take it too seriously). This means acting classes are more productive, rehearsals are stronger, and shooting goes more smoothly and result in more golden moments. Of course I get busy and want to save time in preparing for roles by not putting my full effort into it, but then I remember that every other actor will bring their A-game and I had better bring mine.

Footage Factor

Every actor who's been doing this for long enough knows how hard it can be to get footage from films you've worked on. Most indie films offer little or no pay but promise the industry-standard "copy" for your reel. Much like a political campaign, promises flow like honey up front but after the lights go out and the shoot is wrapped, no one answers their phone or replies to email. Those sweet promises of footage turn sour. 

I have lost count of the total number of films I've done, but I know I have footage from less than 40% of them. Fortunately, I have done enough films and had enough people follow up on their promises that I've been able to put a solid reel together, but I still don't have some of my best work.

Practice Kindness

"My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness."

I recently saw this quote from the Dalai Lama on a friend's Facebook wall and it stuck with me. It sounds so easy, yet so few practice it.

I strive very hard to be kind. Like most, I fail at this often. I focus on myself, get lost in self-pity, fret about where my next gig will come from, worry about money. It's hard to be kind to others when all your attention is on yourself. I've never been happy when being self-centered.

Living in LA, a notoriously self-indulgent town, makes for a great case study on the relationship between kindness and happiness. Self-absorption is the rule in Hollywood. It's a very competitive town and people give off this vibe that they're constantly measuring themselves against those around them. Not since being a lawyer in a large firm have I witnessed so many unhappy people with so much to be happy about. 

Auditions For Dummies

Lest ye be misled by the title, this blog unfortunately isn't about how to succeed in auditions. This post is geared to Unscripted's non-actor readers and is an attempt to open a small window into what auditioning is like. It's a blog about auditioning for people who haven't experienced it and wonder why people who have hate it so much.

In short, auditioning is like a job interview. 

Even if you've never acted a day in your life, you've probably been on plenty of job interviews. If you're like 95 percent of people, job interviews make you want to throw up. There's lots of pressure, your career is at stake, you don't know what to expect, you wonder if you dressed appropriately, you are paranoid that you don't look the part, you don't know the people you're meeting, and you have no idea what they're looking for. It's the same with auditions.

Prepping For Ugly

This weekend, I'll be shooting a short film in which I'm playing a character analogized to Christian Bale in American Psycho and Mark Wahlberg in Fear. Even though it's the lead role, there isn't much dialogue for my character which means it'll all be in the expressions, or lack thereof.

The film is a snapshot of the life of a workout-obsessed meathead named Chad. For those of you who know what CrossFit is, he's a CrossFit fanatic chasing the ever-elusive perfect body (obviously he hasn't achieved it yet since they cast me). Chad works out like crazy, religiously downs protein shakes, and considers his workout buddy his arch nemesis. He's so singularly focused on his goal that he has little to say; he'd rather save his breath and do another sit-up. 

Be Passionate

As 2011 came to a close, I reflected on the year gone by and asked myself where I wanted to direct my focus in 2012. The first thing that popped into my mind was, “Be Passionate.”

This seemed like a no-brainer. Of course I’m passionate, that’s why I’m an actor! And most of us (unfortunately) aren’t doing this because the money is right, but because we love it. However, pursing an acting career isn’t always the best chicken soup for the soul and often feels like an abusive relationship. For most actors, it’s hand-to-mouth. We try to put as many irons in the fire as possible to make ends meet and hopefully get some kind of career traction.

Under these circumstances, it’s easy to lose sight of why we got into this profession in the first place. In chasing the next project, we often let our inspiration take a back seat. 2011 was a hard year, and naturally, I wasn’t enthralled with everything I worked on (this isn’t to say I wasn’t grateful for every opportunity), but I did identify a few roles that really struck a chord with me, roles that reminded me why I love what I do.

Putting Yourself Out There

Last week I wrote a blog about branding in which I asked readers to tell me what they think my brand is based on my website, reel, Facebook fan page, and a video of me being me. I promised to do a follow-up with the results, which I'll get to in a moment. But first, some thoughts on how difficult it was for me to do this.

Some actors love to put themselves out there; others do not. I fall into the latter category. I am a pretty private person (though less so than in years past) and I am also not the kind of person who is comfortable advertising myself. I think many actors have qualms about marketing themselves, but we all know it's necessary in this business. The trick is walking that fine line between getting your name out there and not annoying people with self-promotion. I tend to err on the side of not annoying people at the risk of falling below the radar.

Producing Ulcers

I'm currently producing two things: my webseries and a commercial for an upstart, internet-based business launched a month ago. So far, the thing I've produced most of is ulcers.

Well, that may be an exaggeration. As far as I know, I don't actually have any ulcers yet, but I am sure they are developing. Production on the webseries is currently at a lull because it's out to a few readers to get their impressions and suggestions. There will be lots of rewriting in the near future, followed by pitches to directors and much scrambling to find the gear needed to shoot it (not to mention trying to juggle the schedules of about 15 people). But for now, that craziness hasn't begun in earnest.

The commercial, however, is currently charging ahead full steam. Of course it's underfunded (the company did, after all, only just start operations so they aren't flush with cash...yet) and the production is only going to come together by the charity of several talented people. The benefit to those people won't be monetary this time, but they will have a say in the creative direction of the commercial - everyone gets a voice in what we do. As beautifully democratic as that is, it becomes my job to try and herd all of these creative cats into the same ring.

Brand Me

"If we aren't branding ourselves, others are branding us anyway." - Jodie Bentley

I've been talking with my PR folks and trying to come up with what makes sense for my "brand" as an actor. Not just my type (leading man, character actor, etc.), but my brand. In the words of Kevin Urban, knowing your brand is "being able to tell people what you do" as an actor (e.g., bumbling, lovable dufus character actor who can play both funny and sad). Brand takes into account your personality and your strengths, what you as a person bring to the acting table.

One of the keys to finding your brand is understanding how you are perceived in the world. This is often very different from how you perceive yourself. Therefore, it's crucial to get insight on how you're perceived from people who don't know you well.

This is where you come in. I want you to brand me. Below I've posted a short video of me telling a story about something that happened recently. I'm wearing something I would normally wear and telling it as though I'm talking to someone I know, but not someone I've known for a long time. Watch it, then take a look at the links below to my website and Facebook fan page and let me know:

Webseries Adventures 2: Writing = Re-Writing

We are now on Draft 6 of the first iteration of the final episode of the webseries. (I'll pause for a second and let that sink in.)

Of course I didn't think we'd nail it all on the first draft, so I was prepared to rewrite some or all of what we initially came up with. Episodes 1-5 went pretty smoothly, with maybe 1-2 full rewrites (so far) and some minor edits on top of that. Episode 6 (the final episode), however, is not being so cooperative.

The Importance Of An Entourage

Not until moving to LA did I understand why celebrities have an entourage. I always thought it was a vanity thing, some demonstration of how important a person is (and for many celebrities, that is what they use it for). Sycophants and friends "in name only" abound in LA, and if you don't surround yourself with the right people, you'll be surrounded by those types. Don't get me wrong, there are some really awesome, quality folks here too, but they tend to have jobs and lives and can't be around 24/7.

Enter the entourage.

Most entourages seem to be made up of lifelong friends, friends who've known the person since middle school or high school, friends who aren't afraid to speak their mind and who are fiercely loyal. These friends aren't there for business or career advice, but the moral support and honesty they provide are just as important in this town.