That’s a Wrap :)

I am now back home, after the bittersweet wrap of my character in the movie. It is really good to be home, and to get back to the hustle, but I definitely miss getting up every day and acting.

Last Saturday I had the Tom Todoroff workshop. Emilie and I practiced extensively on Friday, putting so much effort into the blocking and using everything Tom has ever told me or anyone else at a workshop. Every movement had to be motivated, the scene had to go somewhere, we had to remember the time period…It was a lot of fun and we got there on Saturday, me with Carolyne and her with her cousin, ready to get up there and do what we love!

I couldn’t participate as fully as I wanted in the warm up exercises, due to my neck, but the theater games and the excitement of being quizzed on the guideposts is always fun. The group going first was already chosen ahead of time, but Tom gets to choose who goes next for the rest of the day, and I knew, before he called it, that it would be me and Emilie. Although I was expecting it, I was still nervous. I rushed to put the finishing touches on my costume, and to set up the stage for us, but then, once the stage was ready and so were we, the nerves kind of went away. Tom is right when he says that directions =relaxation. We worked on the scene with Tom after, and definitely made it more emotional. This was the first time that Tom’s note for me (or at least one of them) was that my voice was improving. I have this horrible tendency to give up on things when they aren’t working, instead of trying harder to make them work, so being told that the voice sessions and nearly daily practice are paying off definitely makes me want to up my game and work harder 🙂

We had to leave early, so I didn’t get to see everyone’s performances, but the ones I did see were amazing, especially the change from the first performance to the second. When I got home, I had an email from the conservatory saying that I was accepted for next year. Although I love Tom and the workshops and the intensive in New York, I knew in my heart that I can’t go. I love watching the Broadway shows, and Tom has a way of making you fall in love with theater and New York (the city does a pretty good job of that as well), but ultimately, my dream is still Los Angeles, and for now, my place is here in Montreal. For both personal and professional reasons. Risa Bramon Garcia recently published an article in Backstage about ways to get ‘discovered’. People who want the how-to on breaking into acting without working for it will be disappointed though, because the article lists things such as training like an athlete for 5 years and being respected by agents, managers and casting directors. I have been training for a year now, and am finally starting to feel like I know a little bit about the acting world here in Montreal. Another four years of figuring it out might seem daunting, but I can’t wait to become familiar with everything and everyone the Montreal acting community has to offer 🙂

On Sunday, I drove back to Quebec to film more scenes for the horror movie. I was very excited that some of them were inside, in clean clothes, where I just had to sit and talk, as opposed to the ones in the woods, covered in mud where I have to fight for my life. I really don’t want to give away anything that happens in the movie, but I did get to meet some more talented actors, said goodbye to some friends who wrapped before I did, and drove home with more experience, an expanded acting community, and intense anticipation for the finished product 🙂

I also felt overwhelmed, in a good way, about how everything seems to happen at once, when you aren’t thinking about it. Very often this summer, I sat at home, submitting myself, joining facebook groups, and not getting much in return. This week, I was far from home, without a computer, working on lines instead of promoting or submitting myself, and yet I got booked for 3 days of extra work. I will never look down on background performers, as I see it as a survival job that brings you closer to your dream job. Not to mention, it brings me closer to potentially becoming an ACTRA Background Performer, which isn’t quite ACTRA, but gives you more opportunities as an extra.

To finish this post, I am going to go back to sharing lists of what I hope to accomplish. Here are some things I was hoping to accomplish in September:

-Start Stunt Stage again

-Read 5 plays

-Call UDA and find out if I am still a member

-Learn a monologue

-Finish filming horror movie CHECK 🙂

-Write 20 pages of my book

-Set up my website

-Do an Agent Sendout

-Fix my Resume to include new developments CHECK 😉

-Go on an audition

I have a little more than half the month to cross off the rest of the items 🙂

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”

-Eleanor Roosevelt