New Jobs and Toronto Meetings

Guys, it is August 2nd. Where did the summer go? I can’t believe that in 2 days I will be flying to New York for the Tom Todoroff Intensive I thought was so far away…but I digress, this post is about those 2 exciting things that have happened to me in the past few days 🙂

First, after my last post, I headed to Montreal for an orientation. Back when I wanted to be a doctor, there was a presentation I attended on going Pre-Med at McGill and they had this simulation lab that looked amazing. I have never not been interested in acting, so even then, it seemed like the coolest thing to have people pretend to be patients so that Med students could practice their interview and diagnostic skills. The doctor dream died some time ago (though I would love to play one on tv), but when a friend told me she had applied, I decided to try my luck as well. It turns out the orientation wasn’t like an interview or an information session, it was actually to show us around and have us fill out the paperwork so we could start working  🙂

I haven’t started being a Standardized Patient yet (that’s what they call us), but I really feel like this is the most amazing day job an actor could have. They expect to be hiring actors, so they understand that we have auditions and classes and days on set, and it isn’t a problem for them. Not to mention, although it isn’t exactly in the entertainment industry, we are paid to act! I am so excited about this, and I would even participate if it was all on a volunteer basis. And in a way, it’s kind of like preparation for a guest spot on Grey’s Anatomy, Saving Hope or whatever new doctor show will come out 🙂

As if this new job wasn’t incredible enough, on Wednesday, Carolyne and I flew to Toronto to meet with an agent who had been referred to me by a guy on set. We got a baby plane, which surprisingly had a lot of leg room, but very few people. I like to think of it as the first step towards private jets 😉

We didn’t want to be late in case of delays, so although the meeting was at 4, we got there around lunchtime and ate with a friend of Carolyne’s, then walked around the city before arriving at our meeting.

We had both been burned before, so were approaching the meeting with both excitement, and reserve. We had discussed beforehand what we were worried about, and had a list of questions. In telling us about the agency, she answered a few questions we wanted to know the answer to but didn’t really want to ask, and she had pretty good answers for every question we did ask. She took the time to go over our resumes and ask us questions about skills and languages and the projects we had worked on. She didn’t make promises we knew she couldn’t keep, she didn’t sugarcoat the fact that we live in Montreal and the agency is based in Toronto…She was honest, professional and nice. At the end, she talked to us like we were in, but she did mention having to discuss it with her colleagues first (one of them who had been there too). We should know for sure within a week or so 🙂

This was an incredible week for me, even if the agency doesn’t work out, and even though I didn’t get to go on set yesterday. I now have a survival job that lets me act. I had a professional acting meeting in Toronto. A Toronto agent saw my headshot and resume and decided they wanted to meet with me. A big part of me wants to start planning everything. If I get signed and have lots of auditions and roles I’ll be driving to Toronto so often that I’ll probably have to move there. Then I think I might drive there for auditions but never get roles and end up broke. Then I overanalyze everything and forget that the meeting itself was a success. If I get sent the contract, that will be another success. The auditions and roles will be the icing on the cake of another milestone that I will have achieved. So I have decided to stop thinking about it and trying to plan. If I get the contract, I will read it over and decide if I want to sign. I will give my 110% to my classes and auditions and I will let the universe decide the rest. Looking back on my previous post, I have to say that in order to see the rainbow, you have to live through the rain, and it is definitely a sight worth seeing 🙂

“Just keep swimming.”

-Dory (yes, from Finding Nemo)