...is a good list to be on. You cannot book every job. In fact, you won't book most. But it is important to aim for a callback each and every time you audition.
Lately, I've found myself on the "short list" -- that shorter stack of headshots that gets re-used for callbacks. This stack has a slightly longer lifespan than the huge stack that gets thrown out or shredded right away. Is it preferable to remaining "on file," destined to stay locked away in a filing cabinet (people still use those?) until there is truly a right role for you? I'm not quite sure.
While printing some headshots recently, I asked the kind and helpful man working with the printing service -- isn't it a little depressing knowing that most of the beautiful, high quality prints you help actors create will ultimately end up in the trash alongside Kate Mantolini lunch takeout? Or at most, in the recycling bin? He had never thought about it that way. Oops. But the truth is, it's completely okay with me if 95 of my prints get thrown out at some point, as long as I'm getting positive feedback along the way.
Recently, I was called back for Jerry Mitchell's production of "Hairspray" which will play at the Hollywood Bowl this summer. Though I didn't book the show (hey, there are only a few "Nicest Kids In Town") I did get to meet and dance with Jerry Mitchell himself. Should our paths cross again in the future, however unlikely, I'll get to say -- remember me?
A couple weeks before, I found myself at the callbacks for the American Idiot First Broadway National Tour. Again, I didn't get the part at the end of the day. But I did have to learn new music quickly, and in the process, added a new song to my repertoire, one of which can be seen and heard here:
I guess what I'm getting at is that callbacks function as the mini affirmations that I'm on the right track. There's no formula or roadmap for succeeding in this career I've chosen to try for awhile. None of this study for the LSAT, go to law school, pass the bar, get a job, etc. I can't check things off a list to make sure I'm doing the right thing. So for now, at least I know I'm doing something right, and am on an acceptable path. On the short list, on the long road, riding on the short bus...wait a second...
It was such a great decade, even if I was only around for the end of it. If you are also an '80's fan, you'll enjoy this music video for the band "Inevitable Backlash." One of my best friends, Jasmine Daghighian (a graduate of the esteemed USC School of Cinema) directed it. Jaz was truly in her element on set!
She even created a lovely backstory for my David Bowie-esque character. See how this character truly manifests in my make up and comes to life in these production skills. I did train at the Moscow Art Theatre, after all.
(Warning: this post contains spoilers for Ke$ha's music video "Blow." But you've probably already seen it.)
Every actor can appreciate the joys (and woes) of background work. As children in youth theatre groups, we're taught that infamous adage: "there are no small parts, only small actors." That phrase has some truth to it; it definitely soothes the sting of not getting the role you felt you deserved. And, in those grand scale musical comedies and classics, an actor truly feels important in the ensemble. The "clapping wallpaper," so to speak, is integral to many scenes. Who would "Professor" Harold Hill convince they were in "terrible, terrible trouble" if his production of "The Music Man" lacked townspeople? How would Val, Mike, Morales, Sheila etc. make the first cut into the Chorus Line without those ensemble dancers during that fab overture (a five, six, seven, eight!)? And don't we love Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?
Well, in film and television, things are a little different. Extra work does not have as much character work behind it as our childhood children's theatre directors would have liked us to believe. It is generally an opportunity to earn a SAG voucher (if you're highly optimistic). Just three pieces of that acting union gold and you might be eligible to buy in! Or, if you've hopped off a Greyhound from who knows where to Hollywood, doing background work can teach you a lot about the ins and outs of being on set (most importantly, where crafty is). Or, in rare cases, an actor might really want to be part of a certain project, even if it means as an extra. Every actor has meditated on (and probably cried over) this topic, and I am no exception. And when I saw a posting to submit for a Ke$ha music video, I simply couldn't resist.
I have a confession. I LIKE Ke$ha's music. Sure, she spells out words in lieu of actual lyrics and seems to believe that repeating the same exact word at the end of two refrains constitutes a rhyme, but her songs are CATCHY. And fun. And why not be part of a music video featuring an artist that I actually know, I thought to myself.
The posting said something about wearing masks and ballgowns. Some kind of masquerade, I thought, and when they called to book me, I didn't think twice about that little stipulation. I was just excited at the notion of being in Ke$ha's presence, even in the role of "Unicorn #14."
The night before the shoot, I notice that the male lead will be played by "James" no last name. When a known actor or artist is on a callsheet, his or her contact information and even last name may not even be disclosed to the rest of the cast and crew.
Hmmm. His name is James? He's doing a Ke$ha video (random/low paying)? It's so obviously James Franco, I think to myself. Who else in Hollywood would do literally ANYTHING and EVERYTHING? Cool. It'll be just like when I used to see him around Columbia campus while he "went" there for grad school. Great. So I brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack and head to bed on time to rise for the early morning shoot.
Cut to me on set. I've been dressed in a ballgown since 8 a.m. It's probably around 8 p.m. now. Maybe. Who knows? My sense of time has completely evaporated since I've been wearing this god forsaken unicorn mask, which I pull off my head in between takes in order to breathe. It still reeks with spray paint fumes. But not to worry! There's a medic on set who's armed with an oxygen tank in case any of us 'corns (that's short for unicorns) passes out. Oh, that's reassuring! Of course, the hipster props mistress who thinks that wearing old jazz shoes as regular street shoes is socially acceptable balks at us "actors" for discussing whether or not wearing these masks under the lights might induce some tinges of anxiety and claustrophobia. Hey, at least she's referring to us as "actors" and not "extras." At this point, even being called an "extra" instead of "unicorn" would suffice. Complain complain complain. Whine whine whine. Where's the union when you really need it to protect you from fumes, masks, Ke$ha's trashy mom who is like an even trashier version of Courtney Love, and hipsters?
But then, he appears. JAMES. No. Not Mr. I Cain't Say No to a Job in this Town Franco. It's James Van Der Beek. No, not some Dutch painter you're trying to remember from Art History class who revolutionized using light as a source within a painting. It's Dawson! Of Dawson's Creek! Oh, if only my middle-school self were here today. If only I could manage to scrunch my mouth to one side and still speak like "Joey" could. These days, Katie Holmes is busy starring in the historically inaccurate miniseries about the Kennedys. Or maybe I should remind him of that wise beyond her years bad girl, "Jen." Michelle Williams is also busy lately, getting nominated for Oscars and such. Suddenly, I feel for James. So many of his Dawson co-stars are tackling their biggest acting roles yet, and here he is with Ke$ha as an acting partner.
That shoot was another reminder of how humbling this business can be. Whether you're trying to breathe through a unicorn mask, or doing a music video opposite Ke$ha to pay the bills, nothing's ever certain for an actor. One day, you're Dawson, and the next, you're Van Der Douche.
So without further adieu, here is the Ke$ha music video that I worked on. I have no idea where I am in this video -- I can't recognize myself. But maybe, just maybe, you can feel my essence as the clapping wallpaper.
