Self-tapes and Troll dates

After an unexpectedly family-centric weekend, with very little work getting done, I got back to the grind on Tuesday.

I spent most of my day learning lines and working on some monologues for self-tapes. In one, I had to use an accent, which was definitely interesting, although there was something about the dialogue that gave you a little twang, even if you didn’t mean to. The second one, which consisted of two monologues, was fun to do, but I am not sure I captured their essence of the character, more like my own interpretation of her. Normally, I would stress out about that and try to fix it, which maybe I should have, but then again…I took a risk. Instead of trying to be exactly what they were looking for (or even assuming that I knew what they were looking for) I did me. I let the breakdown and the words influence me, but then I also brought myself to it. So I might not get the part. But if I do, it is because I trusted myself and they like it. Maybe this is what happens when you make business decisions while also trying to empower yourself into being comfortable in your own skin. The acting advice and the self-help books all blend in together to possibly create a beautiful mess. Still, I like the work I sent in. And even if I am not right for this part, I could be just what they need for another one.
After all the self-tapes were done, I went to acting class, where I was early enough to get to talk with my fellow classmates, getting to know the new ones, and also getting a slight push into finally getting a move on filming some of the stuff I have written. I am still not sure if it is scarier to have a complete stranger read what I have written, or someone that I know well. Either way, filming something I wrote is on my to-do list for this year, and I am working on crossing off fears, so it will get done 😉

Our scene was from Man Seeking Woman, and we play a brother and a sister, where I am setting him up with my friend. Who is a troll. The big part of the comedy is from me not seeing anything wrong with my friend’s troll-like behavior (which is most likely fabricated in his imagination) but I focused a lot on that, and making the emotions real (like how I love my brother and want to help him out). Looking over the scene, I think that was an okay choice, but it was a whole lot funnier when I was the manipulative sister who was using some emotions to get my brother to do what I wanted. Not that I didn’t want him to be happy, but I also wanted it to be on my terms. We got about 5 or 6 takes on it, with the last one starting with an improvised conversation, that completely changed how I delivered most of my lines. It was a really fun exercise, and I really enjoyed the scene 🙂
 

“Auditioning is not a numbers game. It’s a matching game. You have to match yourself with the roles that most closely fit you.”

-David Patrick Green