Television, Here I Come! Week 42. 'My FIRST TV ROLE!!!'

Cammy Kinney Photography

Can I just say I HAVE GOT TO BE THE LUCKIEST GIRL IN THE WORLD RIGHT NOW!

I did it!!!  My goal this year as you all know....book a television role.  It took me 42 weeks (technically 41) but, I did it!!!!!!!!!  Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!  40 something weeks of steadily building relationships with casting directors!!!!  

I booked Criminal Minds, Role of Reporter, Co-Star.  

How did it I book it?!  I think I might have an idea.  3 parts.

PART 1

CASTING DIRECTOR WORKSHOP

When I initially decided that television would be my goal this year, I knew I needed a game plan.  I didn't have an agent, I didn't know any casting directors.  What's a girl to do?  

I felt like I was starting from scratch again...but, not.  Because I knew more.  I knew more about what it takes to be an artist, I knew more about what it takes to be a working actress.  So, with all the new knowledge I've accumulated, I just decided that I was going to 'do the work'.  No matter how long it takes, I'm going to 'do the work'.  I like building foundations....strong and solid foundations.  I think if the foundation is there, everything else is a piece of cake.  This is why I had to think differently about casting director workshops.  Believe me, I was the girl that said 'NEVER' to casting director workshops.  For whatever reason(s)...now, I see them as excuses.  One of my new mottos now....'NEVER, EVER SAY NEVER'.  Seriously.  Because Life is funny like that.  Try all things...because you never know.  

Cultivating relationships is not the easiest thing for many of us.  Plus, you have the "professional" boundary with casting directors so it takes more patience and consistency.  I promised myself a year before I started to get frustrated.  I said, "Alex, give yourself a year.  A year from now you'll be glad you did."  And I began to plug away at it, at least 1-2 workshops a month!  I might have snuck in a 3rd one here and there.  ;)  

So, here we are!!!!  CUT TO:

I got called in because of a casting director workshop.  I know this for sure because I received a call directly from Criminal Minds casting about the audition.  And my agent said the role wasn't even out in breakdowns so I couldn't have been submitted for it.  (FYI, their office (April Webster) casts their co-stars from their workshop files).  Criminal Minds was one of my top 3 target shows!!  So, I took Scott David's workshop a couple of months ago.  The workshop was a total of 3 classes.  The first class, he pairs you up and has you improv a scene.  The second class, you bring in a scene of your choice that 'sells' you.  Then the third class, a 'Mock Producer Session' where you are emailed a scene and you come in and read with him as if it was an audition with producers in the room...like a callback.   

How magical that I book my 2nd television audition ever?!  Golly.  Scott's definitely 1/3 of the equation.

Which leads me to the next part.  Now, Scott gets me the audition but, if I didn't knock it out of the ballpark, no booking, right?  So, how did the actual audition go??

PART 2

MARGIE HABER CLASS

This was the fastest audition I have ever been on.  I had one line....."Do you have anything more specific?"

You know how we actors dread these one liners.  Well I used to.  Not anymore!  I've been learning so much from my Margie Haber class that I'm actually excited to audition!  Excited to show them how I roll.  

Here are some things that I learned in Margie Haber that have been extremely helpful for me and my auditioning process

*Read EVERYTHING.  Whether you get one line or multiple lines....read EVERYTHING...not just what's in between "Start" and "End".  Even if they are crossed out, read it.  Why?  Because you gotta know where you are...context wise.  What's going on in the scene???  Who's in the scene with you?  Who isn't in the scene with you?  

*Opening and Closing Beats.  Once you know where you are in the scene and what's going on...you have more to work with.  Use your imagination.  At Margie Haber's, we call a scene a 'slice of life'.  So, take a moment to visualize what you think is happening in this slice of life.  Then you can start the scene with a beat, a moment to show who you are, where you are.....and you can also end the scene to show who you are now, where you are now.  

I think this is what sold it for them (Criminal Minds).  I'm not gonna lie, for a bit, I probably said my line a million different ways to see what sounded good, felt good.  And then once something felt good, I tried doing it again, but, it didn't feel the same...didn't come out sounding the same.  Sound familiar?  I could feel my energy depleting and I could feel anxiety creeping in.  So, in order to take my power back as an actress, I said,  "Screw the line.  The line's gonna come out the way it wants to in that moment.  I can't try to control that.  The one thing I can control is the opening and closing beat."  So, that's what I did.  

The reader had the first line so I didn't have much time to start with a beat but, I ended with one.  My line, "Do you have anything more specific?", and the reader had a couple of lines to answer me.  Now, the audition could have ended there...we each say our lines and be done with it BUT, I saw something. Because I had read EVERYTHING, I saw that someone walks in on us in the scene.  I used it to create suspense, tension.  So, I gave it a moment.  I looked up, off camera to create the feeling of someone walking in on us, then looked back at reader to end the scene.  Now, that's how a professional does it!!!!!!!!!  

*Connect.  It's all about relationship and connecting.  Because of Margie Haber's class, I'm not afraid of not knowing my lines perfectly anymore.  It's never about the lines...it's about your relationship to the other person in the scene.  If you feel "off" in a scene, just stop.  Just stop, breathe, and look at the other person.  Find the connection and go again.  It's ok.  When you lose connection, somewhere inside of you, you panic and all you want to do is just get it over with.  Right?  Next time, just stop and breathe and look at the reader.  And no need to be apologetic.  You're a professional and every professional has his/her own way of working.  And you're a professional who will find the best way in the moment to deliver the goods, without giving up.  Speeding through is a part of you giving up.  Don't give up.  Don't give up on the audition, on the scene, on yourself, on your dream.  Be bold.  Take risks.  You can do it.  :)

  

PART 3

ME and GOD/THE UNIVERSE

And last but not least....MAGIC TIME!  Opportunities are everywhere.  And the more you prepare yourself for what you want, you'll recognize those opportunities more clearly.  And the more you recognize them, the more you'll seize them.  All I had to do was prepare, get ready.  I didn't have to 'make' something happen.  It happened because I was ready for it.  By aligning your actions with what you want, IT WILL COME.  It's the Natural Law!  Prepare NOW for what you want.  

And always remember, 

Get really specific about what you want.  Then do it.  Be of service to others.  Be kind to yourself.  BELIEVE in yourself like nobody's business.  And BE GRATEFUL.  I think this is Life in a nutshell.  Don't you?

Here's the very FIRST post of the "Television, Here I come" series.  I went back to read it because I forgot what I had written and I was curious.  Cried like a baby.  I've come so far.  I really have.  The dreamer in me, the worker in me, the parts of me I helped nurture, the parts of me I resented, they all worked together somehow and carried me here.  Of course, in hindsight I see this.  Still, I love moments when you can look to your past and feel extreme gratefulness and humility.  I am here, in this moment, NOW, because of the grace of God/The Universe.  Thank you.

http://girlwhereyouat.blogspot.com/2011/01/television-here-i-come.html

And for my visual folks, here are more pics, for your perusal, from the shoot last week with Cammy Kinney!

I'm moving this week!!!!!!!  Aaaaaahhhhhhhh!  I'm just gonna focus on the move this and next week.  Be good to myself, my dog, and my new roommate....because with any transition, it takes TLC.  

So, be good to yourself this week.  And remember, MOMENT TO MOMENT.  And BREEEEATHE.  

Have a beautiful week everyone.  And thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading.  I am so thankful.  :)  :)

with LOVE,

Alex