Don’t Be Afraid of the Pretty Girls

Porn Star = bad actingThe casting office I intern for, love ‘em!  I had an audition for a feature film, leading role might I add, the female carries the whole entire film, AND it is an action movie.  First off, I have been a lead in a feature before, but not Hollywood feature… Seattle feature, and I have shared the lead with others, I have never been a single lead to carry one whole film.  I also do not have martial arts training, but I do learn fight choreography fast on set, so no worries there, but I do have a disadvantage over the girls who do have martial arts training.

The audition was at my casting office and I was the first female to arrive for the day (which is odd since there were several other females scheduled to come in before me).  Sherrie worked with me a little on the audition before we filmed it.  Dan, Sherrie and Michelle (the reader) were all in the room with me.  They all watched my performance and when I was finished, gave me notes and said I could re-film it once more later (girls were finally starting to pile up in the waiting room).  Dan thought it may be helpful for me to watch other girls audition and help run the camera, so I stayed and watched.

I walked out into the waiting room and saw three pretty girls, uh oh!  I went to move my car, while Sherrie ran the camera and auditioned two of the girls.  When I came back, more pretty girls in the waiting room.  Apparently one of the girls that Sherrie auditioned did really well and the other, not so well.  I took over the camera from Sherrie and auditioned several more girls.  Almost all of the girls were horrible, a handful of girls that were decent and maybe one or two (at most) that were amazing.  The funny part was all the females that were over the top pretty – SUCKED!  Again, I expected better for Los Angeles, but at the same time I was glad that I actually had a chance for this role.

Being in Los Angeles, for some reason I feel like I am at the bottom of the totem pole, acting wise, but really I am not.  I am a decent actor (although I still have a lot of learning to do).  I really expected people in Los Angeles to be trained and at the top of their game, but most are not, most are just wanna-be actors pursing their dreams, going for it with no guidance, no training, no clue.

There was this one girl who came in, looking very much like a porn star – big boobs, tiny little tight outfit made of black leather, super high heels with laces that wrapped around her legs and plump lips with bleach blonde hair.  I was somewhat intimidated by her, but why?  Yes, she was pretty, but she looked like a porn star, not an “actor”.  When she walked in she told us she did not have a headshot or resume, she “just moved” – I hear that a lot, and even when I just moved, I still had my headshots and resume handy, especially when moving to Los Angeles… you are here to act, correct?  Why don’t you have what you need to be ready to act?  She came in to audition – my fears were gone.  I wanted to laugh throughout the whole thing!    As she was reading the script she was making these moaning sounds and high pitched noises.  If she was not already a porn star she should become one, because that is about all she seemed to be perfect for.

After about thirty or so girls, (some that could not even speak with an American accent and the role is an American woman, and several others that looked like they were over 35 and the role was for a 25 year old).  Sherrie came back in, took over and let me re-audition once more before heading home.  The problem was I was no longer in actor mode, but casting director mode.  They gave me three people before I went in… I re-auditioned with Sherrie but it was worse than my first audition.  Luckily, because they love me and I intern for them, she is going to bring me in for the callbacks and pretend like I never even had an audition in the first place.  I love interning for them – coolest casting directors EVER!