My First Two LA Auditions!

The good news: I auditioned for a short film yesterday!

The bad news: It’s a student film.

The good news: It was a low pressure setting for my first audition and I felt it went very well.

The bad news: They’re students of the Los Angeles Film School, which sounds impressive but is not the student films I’ve been told to target.

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I’m getting the feeling that the universe is conspiring against me when it comes to getting to my gigs, but I’m pressing on…

In this case, I was on pace to be nice and early, then the zipper on my favorite Calvin Klein sundress broke! It was halfway zipped, right at the narrowest part of my waist where I could no longer get the dress over my hips or modest chest. Of course it did not help that my skin was clammy in the hundred degree apartment! After fussing, tugging and contorting I looked at the clock and resigned myself to the fact I had to cut myself out of one of my most valuable and favorite garments. Those who know me well know that I’m super thrifty, but love nice things, and as a result I love my clothes, remember where most of them came from and take really good care of them. I felt the blades of the scissors in my heart! Fixable but frustrating.

I was now running like five minutes behind, but it was no big deal because the audition was from 3 – 7 p.m. and I said I’d be there “around 5.” I was aggravated nonetheless. My instinct was to reach for the phone and call my boyfriend, but I’ve made a new rule for myself that if I’m going to an audition or job, I will filter whatever I’m feeling into the character instead of calling anyone. It worked well because the role I read yesterday was every emotional, high strung and dramatic.

The LA Film School is a beautiful facility in Hollywood. Slate steps lead you over a water feature to the front doors. In the lobby I had to sign in with a security guard who then used a key to send me up the elevator.

In a small conference room on the fifth floor two super dweeby young guys, the producer and director, were waiting for the woman before me to review the lines (or “sides” as they call them out here).

I walked into the conference room, introduced myself and shook their hands. “Should I sign in somewhere?” I asked. There was a sign in sheet and extra sides on a chair in the hall; they didn’t act as though I had done anything wrong by walking in before signing in, but who knows, perhaps that was a huge indicator that I didn’t really know what I was doing. In my past auditions there has always been a “proctor,” someone running a sign-in table. I sat on a chair in the hall for ten to fifteen minutes while the other woman finished prepping and went in for her read.

When it was my turn they shook my hand again, which highlights their awkwardness! We exchanged pleasantries and I asked for clarification on what had just happened to the character before we read through the script.

One of the guys read the role of my female best friend, an issue you have to expect as an actor. The reader is often the wrong gender, really flat or just bad in a variety of ways. Although I didn’t quite get myself to the point of tears that the script called for, they reacted favorably.

We spoke a bit more about the character and read it again. And that was that… Maybe I’m what they’re looking for, maybe not. I’ll know in a couple weeks and they plan to shot in July.

With a half hour left on my meter I decided to take a walk around the block and see where exactly I was. As I rounded Sunset onto Vine, there before me were the stars, you know, the Walk of Fame, which I had only seen once before from a car window on a rainy day. Half the names I didn’t know and about every other one was blank.

“Will this blank one someday hold my name, or maybe this blank one?” I thought as I strolled down the street. “Ew, not this one, I don’t want to be near Michael Jackson…”

But someday, I’ll be on one of them…

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Today I had another student film audition at the same location, however, my cell phone (which I use as an alarm) died overnight and turned itself off! Yes, I have a real alarm clock, but it’s packed somewhere; and yes, I usually keep an eye on my battery but this one slipped past me… One part irresponsibility, but another example of the universe conspiring against me!

I woke up around 10:30 a.m., which was fine, because I could audition anytime between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

I knew parking would be more difficult today and indeed, a street was closed off for a fair of some sort and there were tourist-types everywhere. I decided to park in a McDonald’s around the block; I purchased a soda so I technically qualified for half hour customer parking!

Once in the LA Film School I discovered the producer had sent out the wrong date! I chatted with the director, who was apologetic and frustrated. I gave him a headshot and resume and he told me of the forty women they called in for the role, I was only the second or third to show up today (and it was like 1:30)!

I could think of a million circumstances under which I would have wanted to kill them! After all, they have our email and phone numbers; he’s damn lucky the other thirty-some women didn’t show up! He was a nice kid though and I was cool about it.