Casting Calls and Booking Jobs :)

Two very interesting things have happened since my last post. 

On Saturday, I got up very early so that Carolyne and I could drive to Ottawa for a casting call. We got there less than an hour after it started, and were given a call time of 3 pm, which is when the casting directors were supposed to leave. We went to run lines and have lunch, then came back for 2, just in case we could be taken in early. It was a good thing we did, because Carolyne was called not long after we got there. They were going through the list and having the ACTRA members and those who were sent by their agent go first, but I had neither. 

If I had gone to Ottawa on my own, I would have been so crushed that I had driven all that way and wouldn’t get a chance to audition, but at that moment, when it seemed incredibly unlikely that I would get my chance, I was okay. I already considered the day a success, because though it would have been easier to just go to a coffee shop in Montreal, I got to spend the day with someone who has been going through the same things I have, who has had so many experiences I can learn from, but who is equally interested in my experiences…I spent more time with Carolyne in that one day, alone in a car with her for quite some time, than I had spent with her since I met her, but it was the most interesting conversation ever, and there were barely any silences. When I dropped her off at the end of the night, I kind of wished we lived further, so we could keep talking 🙂

My trip had been worth it, either way, but the casting director decided to stay until everybody got a chance to go through, so Carolyne waited hours after her audition so I could be seen. I had been worried when I went in, that the casting director would be so tired and annoyed that she had to stay hours after she planned on leaving, but they were so nice. They apologized for making us wait so long, were touched that we had driven all the way from Montreal, and took the time to explain what the point of the casting call was.

I knew my lines, going in, but when the reader said the first line, I blanked. The old me would have freaked out at this point, and probably wouldn’t have been able to finish, but we started over, and I went through it without a stitch. She even gave me some direction so I could redo part of it differently, which makes me feel better, because she cared enough to coach me, instead of just crossing me off her list. Definitely happy I got to actually be seen by the casting directors, and that I got to hang out and talk with all the other actors in the line. You hear stories about actors being all for themselves, or being really mean in the waiting rooms, but everyone there was so supportive and we all clapped when someone who had been waiting a long time got to go in.

I got home around 9:30, a lot later than the 5 o’clock I had told my parents, but I was really happy with myself and my day in general. I was so proud that I had gone, and ready to go on some more auditions, when I checked my phone and saw I had an email for the self-tape I had sent in on Friday. Fear and excitement welled up as I took my time getting to the email, reading all the others first, before finally seeing that I GOT THE PART!!!

I have done school plays before, and went to a drama camp, but this is my first real job since I did commercials as a little kid. I can’t wait to act and be on set and be a part of it all! To be totally honest, I waited until today to share the news, partially because I was terrified they would change their mind and decide to go with someone else, but we start filming this weekend!

Until my next post, you can stay updated on the filming, and maybe get to see a few behind-the-scenes pictures on my Facebook page, at  https://www.facebook.com/AmandaLynnPetrin .

“Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be?”

-Marianne Williamson