In reality, I can't really revel in Fridays as much as I once did. But maybe I can...I'll get to that later. Graduating from college means a lot of things, but specifically in regards to this post, it means that my life is no longer broken up into tangible pieces of time like semesters, summers, winter and spring breaks, and school-nights and weekends. Well, maybe pilot/episodic seasons, but not entirely. But I mean, what really is "time" anyway? It's merely a construct once dictated by the rhythm of the seasons and then by religion. It's an abstract concept that we've attempted to compartmentalize into pieces, and each culture does so on its own terms...oh wait, hold the phone -- graduating from college also means I can no longer talk like that and have it be socially acceptable or be assured that anyone is even listening. I'm no longer taking out loans to pay for a professor and my peers to argue with me and listen to me philosophize about this in a seminar setting around a round table meant to symbolically eliminate any inclination that hierarchy exists within academia. Oops.
When I first left my 9 to 5 (or let's be real, my "9 to whenever we're done and by the way we're working through lunch" job) to pursue acting full time, I didn't really treat it like a job or like running my own business, and after all, this is called show business. Rather than structuring my career in a balanced way, I felt like I should be working all the time. Instead of strategically allocating my energy where it needed to go, I wanted to be spinning my wheels all the time. Somewhere along the line, that changed -- well, not completely; it's a work in progress -- for the better. It changed when I started taking acting class again.
When I first moved home to LA, I confess that I somewhat subconsciously resisted taking acting class for the usual reasons -- I had already taken so many scene study classes in college and in conservatory, I wanted to spend time auditioning -- not in class, it was expensive, etc. etc. and so forth. But somewhere along the line, I caved in. I'm a lifelong student -- I love being in school. I am actually shocked that I'm surviving without being in school. Plus, the "business" side of show business was taking over, and the time I that I was actually "acting" paled in comparison to the amount of time I was spending on the other necessary aspects of my career (note: doing theatre also helps this feeling).
The time I now spend in class keeps me fresh and "in shape" for auditions and you know, those times when I'm actually doing what I want to be doing -- acting on set/stage/in front of a camera! Lawyers have to attend seminars and learn about new laws, right? Would you trust a surgeon to cut you open if they weren't constantly learning about the latest OR technologies? Ok, I'm not comparing myself to a surgeon. I don't save lives -- in fact, I had a 20-minute long completely serious conversation with a fellow actor the other day about how much commercial work he books when he has his full beard versus when he shaves it, at which point he was like, "somewhere in the world at this very a moment a surgeon is having a conversation with his nurses about saving a patient who is having open-heart surgery and this is what we're talking about?!" True, but, I mean, still. You get the picture. If I don't take myself seriously, who will?? And for the record, we both booked the commercial we were auditioning for together last week and they made him shave his beard. Surgeons/Actors? Pota-toe/Pot-ah-to!
Anyhow, being back in class has helped me allocate my energy where it needs to go, and has helped me restructure my life and time into as feasible of a work week as I can create. As an actor and freelancer, this has improved my quality of life immensely. It also gives me somewhere to go and something to rehearse for on those days when I don't have auditions. I've met some amazing people in class and feel like I'm finally a member of a community of actors, and that has really been the missing piece in the puzzle for me.
In April and May, I took a fantastic comedy intensive with the amazing Mary Lou Belli. A veteran sitcom director, Mary Lou's class will equip you with unbelievably valuable tools to act for the multi or single-cam sitcom. Plus, she brings in knowledgeable guests from the industry each and every class. Actors, writers, directors -- you must take this class! Like her on Facebook HERE to stay up to date on when she's teaching, because she is a prolific director and does not always have time to teach! Her book, The Sitcom Career Book, is literally the only one of its kind and is an asset to the aspiring actor, writer, director, script supervisor, art director -- basically anyone who wants to work on a sitcom in any capacity. You can buy it HERE.
I am also absolutely obsessingly in love with my classes at Lesly Kahn & Co. but I cannot give away any of the brilliant secrets that make it soooo good on the inter-web so if you're an actor, check it and see for yourself, if you know what's good for you!
Speaking of strict no-social-media policies -- which totally make sense and I completely understand; I used to work in PR, after all -- I may or may not have been working on a super exciting commercial campaign with this guy last week:
But I'm not officially saying anything here so we're all good, capiche?
In the meantime, check out this commercial SPOT I was in for Official.fm directed by Danny Lee.
I guess I should go enjoy my Friday night, now that I've preached about having normal work week...it just gets hard to delineate between what's work and what's play!
- Gilli
