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Month One
I have now been in Toronto for a month (with a few trips home in between) and although I’m assuming this will feel temporary until January at least, I am starting to get my bearings. My last post ended with my parents leaving, but a piece of home remained in the form of Johnny, who I still think of as my cousin’s best friend, but has also been a coworker and a great friend in this whole acting business. Most of the day was spent unpacking and setting things up, until Shiva arrived, making it a Tom Todoroff reunion with the 3 of us and Christie. It was also on…
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The Last Week
Some very interesting things have happened in the few weeks since I last posted. Chronologically, I will start with the last class of the month at Suzanna’s; audition class. We spent the first few minutes discussing how I went from being in class indefinitely, to “I’m moving to Toronto in December.” Suzanna wasn’t ready to lose me to Toronto, and to be honest it didn’t seem real to me yet either. I was apartment hunting and figuring out budgets and finding all kinds of potential roommates, but it still felt like something that wasn’t really going to happen. An old friend from class came in unexpectedly, which was really nice,…
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Bonus class :)
Although I was only supposed to have one class with Suzanna last week, someone wasn’t able to make it to the Tuesday class, so I was called in : ) Originally, I was only going to do a scene from Damages, but someone else was doing the Maggie’s Plan scene I had auditioned the day before, so I got another chance to step into Maggie’s shoes. We did it like a scene, not an audition, and there was something about having done the scene so many times before, and being with someone I have known a while and worked with a bunch of times that made it really…natural. Like a…
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Another CD Audition
My plan for last Friday was to go work at McGill, with one of my favorite scenarios, then go to the Forum to see Keep Calm and Make Art at 4:30, as part of the Montreal World Film Festival. Instead, on Thursday night, I got a call from my agent, for an audition on Friday at 5. It was for not only a real Casting Director, which had been one of my goals, but one of the best here in Montreal. It was for the type of character that terrifies me, and I probably would not have submitted myself for, but since they were asking, I accepted. More than anything,…
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Workshops, Classes and Nursing
I was going to start this post by saying I have been busy this week, but I realized that is also how I started my last post. Obviously, I need to be more creative with my opening lines, but at the same time, I am absolutely loving this state of being busy and doing things that make me feel like I have somewhat of a hold on this unpredictable career I have chosen. On Tuesday, I went to a workshop with L.A. Casting Director Paul Weber. There were a couple of people in the group who were in the French union and taking the workshop to transition to the English…
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Auditioning for a CD
In this case, CD stands for casting director, and is what we call the people who cast projects in the acting industry. They send out breakdowns, pour over submissions, and decide who gets to come in for an audition. Depending on the project, they will often either read with the actor or run the audition, then give suggestions or actually decide who gets to play the part. I have had it on my list for a long time to audition for an actual Casting Director, as opposed to simply someone in charge of casting a student or independent film. Not to dismiss the work they do, or that every audition…
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A Time for Firsts
I believe I mentionned that Carolyne and I decided this would be our year, and things are looking good 🙂 Last Thursday after I finished work, Carolyne and I met up for some menchies and talking about our careers. However, we had a movie to get to, so we definitely need to meet again as soon as somebody stops booking so much work 😉 The movie we went to see was X Men Days of Future Past. Most Montrealers, especially those in the acting industry, know that the movie was filmed here last summer. I was lucky enough to get to spend a bunch of days on set, just absorbing…
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Home Sweet Home
This is the lovely weather I came home to. Nothing like the sun and warm weather of L.A., but it’s good to be home (although if home were in California, my life would be a lot easier 😉 ) It has taken me quite a while to update, partially because I have been busy, but also because there was a lot of uncertainty going on, and I didn’t want to write until I knew what was happening. I was getting ready to come home, making a list of the things I hadn’t gotten to do yet, when I got an email from April Webster, an amazing Casting Director I…
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The Blogger
Since I have now been named “The Blogger” by Margie, I figured I should probably write another post. I find that this week is flying by, which is sad, because it means the end of my time in L.A. is coming soon, but I am also looking forward to Christmastime back home with my family, where there is snow (to look at of course, because I don’t think anyone likes being cold and shoveling…) To pick up where I left off, last Saturday we had a quick immersion into improv with the talented Tim Bagley. I had read an article in Backstage, written by him, the night before, so I…
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Let the Emotion Lead Your Action
This week I discovered how similar acting and dance are. My acting class last night was interesting, to say the least. I am told that there is something about November that makes the students’ and teacher’s brains try to turn off, which leads to fits of giggles and long conversations about the unreachable ideals of Hollywood. I still find we managed to learn a lot, even when we deviated off topic, and really enjoyed it, but I do love the acting as well. I went in there pretty sure I knew my lines, but focusing on saying them more slowly than on connecting with them. Last week I was told…
