Checking out castings

Some of the descriptions can be informative and helpful in order to help you better understand how to deliver on a role you want to audition for.  Then there are some that can come across rather unbelievable in their description of a character -- it's either very dull, vague or, even worse, insulting.  Some are downright funny.

Here is one that I did a doubletake on today.  Someone's in love with their inventive vocabulary usage.

"(female role) is a famous fashion blogger who loves the internet and post about herself. She is very futile and self-centered, although her goal in life is to be noticed and talked about, she is a pretty and stylish girl."

Now, some would say, "hey I know a girl like that, so the description's not that off.  What is wrong with it?"

I found this to be the doubletake:  "She is very futile..."

Futile is an adjective, but normally not used to describe a person but a person's ACTIONS.  For example, "Resistance is futile" or "The situation is futile", or "In a futile attempt for civility, the President raised his hand to keep the peace."

Unfortunately, this is a very mild version of some of the wilder shit I've seen for female roles.  Perhaps I should post some here in the near future, so you get an idea of what some "typical" casting notices go as these days.

Happy New Year!

A new project is coming into being slowly but surely.  The script (well, scripts in this case, two, and looking to be incorporated somehow with the wizardry of writer/director working with me) is ready, it's a matter of memorizing, working out the details such as what to wear, and we already have the locations for some of it.

I'm hoping that next week I can reach out and let them know I'm ready to start the process.  I asked for some time as it was the holidays and I would get a better idea in a few days.  So it's time to get off my haunches so to speak and start it moving.

I'm pretty excited about it.  As the W/D told me, this would be a showcase for me.  Showcase.  And it's a period piece, so it will be even more exciting and interesting to do.

Will keep tabs here on it.  Just happy to get back on blogger in order to keep my 'diary' of sorts going!

In the past six months, have lost three fellow BG actors

It's been a strange time of loss.  Of people you meet, connect over something you share, and then, they are not there anymore.  That's when you know you've been at something long enough, that you have made some work friendships, and you end up caring and then....the shock of that's it, the end.  Life's so short and precious.  You'd think more people would have an understanding of this, but they let it get lost in the mundane every day of simply trying to survive until tomorrow, next week, next month, next year.  Next year I'll travel, next week I'll start my diet, tomorrow I'll go to bed at a decent hour. 

Well, it's either you do it or you don't.  And if you don't, don't belabor it on your deathbed.  Don't let it be your last thought.  Think of the love you got and the laughs and hugs and tears you shared with those you cared about.  Because in the end, that's all that's going to matter to those who were left behind.

I am in a business where it's seemingly normal to not just grieve but to publicly show how much of a connection you have to someone who has recently passed.  Watching people speculate how close were you to someone.  Then it's your time to orate, to give a lengthy speech as if you are on stage about to read a dramatic piece worthy of Shakespeare, pauses, booming voice, tears and all.

I can't do that.  All I can do is say goodbye good friend and you will be missed.  I can't do the crying thing with all these people, it's just not seemly.  I write my note, say what I need to say, but don't go overboard.  In the end, I only know one part of a person who works this life, and it's the part that actor or actress wants to project, it's not their entire life summed up in one line or role.  So I have to approach like what I am, simply an acquaintance, and not to let my fears of mortality override or bleed in to my condolences and goodbyes.

Well, I've spoken enough on it.  It's awkward, but a part of real natural life that pokes its head in every now and then to let me know like everyone else, that you don't know how much time you got.  Best to do your time doing something you love or doing something that will help get you there while overriding any bumps or hiccups.