Sunday, December 04, 2011

I Am Not A Waitress... Or A Receptionist

I did something a little bold, a little daring, a teeny, tiny, wee bit exciting this week.


I auditioned for a movie.


Yup.  A real, live movie.  Like with a director & scripts & cameras & everything!  


Tuesday I received a mass email from the provincial theatre organization that our little group in Dodge belongs to ~ a casting call for a movie being filmed right here in good ol' Saskabush.  I looked at it briefly on my phone & didn't see anything that applied to me {hey, I may be young-ish, but I can't pass for 17} & then went back to work.  


When I got home, I decided I better take a good look at that email before I delete it.  Wouldn't you know it, 3 of the female characters they were casting were in my age range!  Point ~ Wilma.
2 of them were for jobs I've actually held in my life! Point ~ Wilma.  1 of them was for a bleached blonde!  Point ~ Wilma.  But the deciding point?  The reason I took the plunge?  The movie is set in the fictional town of "Conrad".  What is my nickname for my mother?  Conrad.  I think I saw clouds part & a bright ray of sun shine down on my head while a chorus of "Hallelujah!" rang out.


I emailed a friend who has some experience.  "Should I phone or email for an audition?  What should I say?  Should I say I have no film experience?"  Her replies were wise & reassuring.  "Email is better.  Tell them what you want & No Way!  They don't need to know you've never done any film."


I composed the email {short, sweet & to the point} clicked SEND & exhaled.


Tuesday night, around 11:30, I got an email back from the casting director, scheduling an audition for Thursday afternoon for 2 of the roles ~ Waitress & Receptionist {no names}.  I crapped my pants a little {at my age, how gauche!} & started to panic.  What the hell was I doing?  & where was I going to get a headshot & acting resume in one day?


I emailed a couple of friends "in the biz" asking for advice on the resume.  I Facebooked a couple of photographer friends pleading for help on short notice.  I crapped my pants again. {It was starting to get embarrassing} 


I slept about 12 minutes.


I WORKED Wednesday morning {for crap's sake - no pun intended} & rushed home to do up my resume.  What roles have I had?  What workshops have I taken?  What acting/characterization/script analysis courses did I do?  Who remembers all that? ACK!  I cobbled it together as best I could.  Thankfully, Jethro was available to take my photo.  I packed in a rush & headed off in The Rocket to Stoon, my hands shaking like I'd just downed a double espresso.


Off to Jethro & Mreen's for headshots.  Then supper {with alcohol thank you jeebus} then bed. & scene analyzing.  & line study.  & line memorizing.  {4 lines}& character development.  & line memorizing.


The audition was in a part of town I'm not familiar with, so I left early {wait.  That doesn't sound like me...} & found the studio with no trouble.  Had 20 minutes to kill, so I spent it in the car doing deep breathing exercises to relax while thinking about my take on the characters.  12 minutes before my audition time, I went in, expecting a room of actors.  


It was empty.  I sat, my heart in my throat, but not as nervous as I thought I should be.  I had spent the last day crapping my pants, after all.  I expected some nausea, mayhaps a little fainting.  I honestly was more nervous the last time I stepped out on stage than I was sitting in that empty room, clutching my newly acquired headshots & fantastic, not last-minute-at-all resume.  Weird.


The casting director came for me.  We entered a little room with a camera and 2 chairs, the camera girl looking remarkably trendy & more than a little bored.  We ran the scenes, 3 times each, & that was that.   I was a little confused when she asked me to take my shirt off, but I'd come this far so what the hell?  All I kept thinking was, "Good thing I didn't wear anything with buttons, cuz they would be so awkward to fumble with right now."  KIDDING!  I kid.  HA!


& that's the story of my first movie audition.  Actually, that's the story of my first audition.  Evah.  I've been involved in theatre for 17 years, had numerous parts, both big & small, & have never had an audition before.  

I didn't get the callback email.  I'd kinda hoped I would, cuz I wanted to know what the next phase would be like, what the process was, but I didn't expect to.   After all, it was only my first audition. 


I really didn't expect it to be SO FUN! 

4 comments:

Belle said...

I would have been terribly nervous too. Pretty exciting! I'm sorry you didn't get the part.

Roan said...

I wish you had gotten the part. That would have been so cool! Now that you have that first audition under your belt, you won't be as nervous next time.

velvis said...

so happy for you friend. Great excitement.

Just one question--were you auditioning for a porn movie? (take your top off?)

love yah
velvis

Carrie said...

Coooooooooooooooooooooooooooool!!!!!