"The label you give yourself cannot impact external forces that are not motivated by your own psychology or influenced by a third party's pre-existing consciousness of you. We are all presented with reasons to struggle which come from completely external forces; to pretend that one is not struggling is either arrogance or an admission of defeat. To admit that one is struggling is a sign and a source of strength." - Evan A. Baker

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Gifts for Actors

Sometimes a loved one will ask him or herself, "What should I get my Struggling Actress friend/family member?" Here are some very useful tips, ranging in the super cheap to the pricey. Happy Gift Giving!

A Gas gift card.
We drive all around the city to get to our auditions and callbacks and gas is not cheap. Some companies will even let you reload it. If you'd like, you can do what my dad did as a graduation gift: he gave me a Chevron credit card so that gas was on him for my first year in LA. It was way better than a watch.

Visa/Mastercard gift cards.
We also take cash!

A Smart Phone.
Hopefully in this day and age, every actor has one, but man, what a difference it has made in my life as an actress. If I'm waiting my turn at an audition, I can go online and submit myself for other projects! Great for researching too. Maybe the actor in your life needs an upgrade?

A black and white laser printer.
We go through pages of sides for auditions, for classes, we print call sheets and maps. I have a very nice color ink jet printer, but buying ink over and over again was hurting my pocketbook. It felt like every two weeks I needed more ink, and I was practically searching under couch cushions to find enough money to keep purchasing them. I bought a laser printer (it was cheaper than buying the ink jet ink I needed!) and freaking LOVE it. I used to go to copy centers to print my resumes, but so few casting people are taking resumes anymore (commercials pretty much don't) so if I need to print my resume, I can do it at home, saving me a trip and money.
You can also buy them replacement ink too.

Printer paper.
See above.

Highlighters and pens.
We go through them. It'd be nice to get a bulk pack. It's a thoughtful cheap gift.

Offer to pay for a month of acting classes.
I recommend going to this guy.  

A subscription to Entertainment Weekly.
It's research!

And my dear readers, please help with other gift suggestions too!

Monday, December 5, 2011

You Keep On

I wish I could tell you that I got that audition. That someone saw my tape and said, "Yes! This is exactly what we want!"

That the calls from my reps were answered.

That the call from the other cd who vouched for me was returned, and I was talked about.

That my taped audition was seen and something came of it.

But I can't tell you that.

And when a Struggling Actress has SO much going for her, has so many people on her side, rooting, cheering, and yet, still, nothing happens, a Struggling Actress is going to ask herself, "What is enough? What is freaking enough to get attention? To get an audition? What is enough to get my foot in the door?"

I don't know. I don't know what is enough.

But I do know one thing:
I have to keep on keeping on.

I had auditioned for a music video two years ago but didn't book it. The musician left me a lovely email then about how he thought I was lovely and although I didn't book the role, he had hoped to use me for something in the future. A month ago, I got another email from him. Would I be interested in starring in his new music video? Of course!

So Saturday, after a week of telling myself to keep on keeping on, I was on set of music video, with my own dressing room.


And I won't lie, seeing my name on a dressing room door NEVER gets old. It doesn't.

So I'm going to keep on keeping on, because people do like me. People do remember me.

Eventually, my time will come.

And so will yours.

xoxo