The long-awaited 15th

So I got my first industrial audition this past Wednesday. It was a lot less nerve-wrecking than I thought. I got the script two days ago on Monday, but I didn't really get the chance to look at it until Tuesday night. The project is a sexual harassment prevention video aimed for college freshman and I was auditioning for the "intervener", the person who talked about what happened and what he thought about sexual harassment/assaults. The part was good because it naturally has a "depth", and all I needed to do was to find out who this person was. I employed the technique we used in class, and I asked myself the questions about the character that made me go deeper and really find out who he was. I ended up with a sort of mini biography and I was satisfied; I felt good, but I know that I'm doing it to make the part feel real to me, not just to please the people in the room.

The audition itself went along fine, but I was too confident about my memorization that I didn't have the script in my hand when they were filming it, and I got stuck. Thankfully the casting director was very considerate and allowed me to go through it again. Lesson: you can never be too careful. "Your over-confidence is your weakness". Sayeth Luke Skywalker.

The casting director - Vicky - seemed thrilled and pleased to find out that I'm a graduate acting student; she also seemed really satisfied with my work and said to me that I would get more opportunities than I might think. That, to me, was such a great encouragement. Besides the "talent" and "technique", I'm thrilled that I did my audition as best as I can and I leave a good impression to the people who auditioned me. After all, network is one of the most essential surviving tools for actors. I need to keep being positive, keep the working mentality, and keep moving on. Namaste.

13+1

Sometimes you just never know the outcome when you're into it. Fran said to me one time that your greatest performance often feels like you haven't done anything in particular at all, that there's always going to be a simplicity to it. Not to say that my work on Monday is particularly impressive, but I think it worked - especially the second try when I went with it without questioning - because I'd found the truth and kept the simplicity.

I've been regurgitating on this thing about simplicity when I'm teaching my acting class. I always ask them to stop working so hard to show that "I'm acting", but to start looking at the monologues in the simplest, most direct way: what am I saying? Once an actor accepts his lines as "truth", then whatever comes out will be truthful. It might not be what the director wants specifically, but without the truth we can't go anywhere. Always starts with the truth, and don't worry about what's the "right" thing to do. It takes me a long time to realize that as well.

Nonetheless, Mondays script was still very odd to me. Thankfully it worked because I tried to find the truth in it and not to question it too much, but it did reminded me that that's what I have to do every single time. No matter how ridiculous or illogical or whatever about the script, the actor's Jon is to find his own version of truth and embrace it. After all, I have to believe in what I say, don't I?

Looking forward to Wednesday. Hopefully something fun.

The number that should not be named

I forgot the simplest things on this last class. I got too comfortable with this format that I forgot to ask myself the simplest and the most important questions. Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing? What is my job? That's why my performance was not specific. The accent might had made me interesting, but I could have done much better. I forgot to do the exact thing I said I was going to do in the previous blog entries. Don't be lazy. Can't be lazy. Don't take anything for granted. Ask all the questions. Read the damn script. From beginning to end. That's the most important thing. Read every word and make sure you ask the questions.

That's all I've got so far. Seven week had passed. It's roughly half of a semester left until the showcase in Los Angeles, the convocation, and the showcase in the Big Apple. I'd just posted a message on Facebook asking to meet people in New York City if they're available during the week of the showcase. I can't imagine how I'll feel when that comes around. It's a scary thing that I've never step outside of school and have a job and live a "normal" life. It's odd. It's a bit scary. But I have a lot of hope now. I have faith that everything is going to be just fine. I'm still here. I'm still loving it. I'm getting some opportunities. I can't ask for more. Although when more's coming, I'll grab them before anyone else notices it.