Oh, Irvine, how I loathe the drive, but I came to you today anyways.  Just as I was almost to my Irvine audition, Dan (Casting Director) called me about being their reader today for an audition that went from 1pm to 3pm.  If only my audition wasn’t at 1pm and a hour and a half drive from Hollywood (with traffic) I could have done it.  Bummer!  I hope that doesn’t stop me from being called again for their “reader” position for casting.

What was great about my casting director session (yes, back to that) was that Dan had e-mailed me after telling me that I nailed my scene, and that he is trying to figure out what my age range should be, since he thinks I can play younger and older (which to him, and casting in LA in general, is not necessarily a good thing).   He also really liked my reel… Ok, yeah, that’s great, but how unhelpful if we cannot figure out how to cast me.  They had feedback for every single person in that room, but me…  I know my acting is nowhere near perfect by any means, so please… feedback!

Ok, back to my audition.  My friend Alex rode with me to Irvine, since the drive with traffic is so irritatingly long.  We discussed acting in general (he will be directing some films this fall) and different ways to get an actor to bring out a stellar performance.  We finally arrived into the wonderful city of Irvine (for some reason I was thinking it was before Anaheim, but nope, after) a half hour before my audition time, which according to the lady who booked my audition, said that would be perfectly fine to look over sides, etc. 

How did I forget that this audition was for a college commercial?  Yes, one of those cheesy college commercials.  Why???  Why did I say yes I would drive all the way to Irvine to audition for a cheesy college commercial?  Oh, because it pays $400, plus 20% agency fee and that is more than I am doing right now, right?!  Right!  Plus, ever since that casting director workshop (yes, that again) I think I finally got it through my head that you must COMMIT!  Committing is everything for a role/character, etc.  But for me, it goes further than that, its committing to things in life in general.  Commitment scares me, and honestly I think that is part of the reason that my characters in the past haven’t been as strong.  I take the easy roads, the less strong choice and I don’t follow through with my commitment.  So, since that class (which btw, I made a strong choice and committed), I have gotten it in my mind that I need to start fully committing… to everything.  That means, my relationship (no more wavering on the edge), when I say I will be at an audition I will not cancel (although I am one of those respectful actors that if I decide I can no longer make an audition, I will at least e-mail), when I tell a friend I will do something, I will do it, etc. – commitment.

I was the first of the day to audition – I went in and out of the 4 separate sheets of audition sides, they had me read one sheet and then one line from another sheet.  I gave it my best, no cheese audition that I could (with the badly written CHEESE filled script).  They film the beginning of August… maybe I’ll get it, maybe I won’t, either way, I am okay with it. 

Let me go back to that casting director workshop…  Before I went to that class, I was considering quitting acting and moving strictly into casting/producing/directing.  That class has somehow made acting fun for me again, when for awhile it was just a job, it was starting to get tedious and I felt like I was no longer good.  I went  into that casting workshop with an open mind, and since I feel refreshed, like I somehow get acting now… very odd, but I like it. 

As Alex and I drove back to Hollywood from Irvine we stopped to get some grub.  We had this delicious Mexican lunch and Cold Stone Ice cream to boot (Alex had never been there).  I had almost debated driving another hour and a half to San Diego to pick up J, so he wouldn’t have to take the train, but I didn’t really want to wait nor drive another hour and a half away from where I live (luckily this weekend he is supposed to be buying a new car, yay). 

Thanks Alex for hanging out!  Thank you Casting Director Workshop for making me passionate about acting again!  Thank you Navy Fed for pre-financing J for a car loan so he can now drive himself to see me!  Thank you J for buying me a bike this weekend (supposedly, we’ll see) for my birthday. 

Goodnight!