Please give me money for racing for actual life! No racing for minor illnesses and injuries for me, I race so that others may live. I say race, I will amble for life.
But seriously, the Race for Life is the event in support of Cancer Research. It's a very important cause and I would really appreciate your support. Please follow this link to my online sponsorship page. As ever, I am leaving it to the last minute but you can still donate even after the event, which will take place on Sunday.
Thank you!
Friday, May 30, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Acting
Is a funny old malarkey and no mistake. I have been ruminating and cogitating since my course and the play about what exactly I want from it. The showcase day was quite interesting, in that it was very long and a real break from any kind of norm. Spending hours and hours doing nothing with people you don't know at all well is quite bizarre. I told the mad South African woman that I loved her, because she laughs at everything (and also told me that the mad Method woman had singled me out as "an actress", some people have it apparently), I ended up quite liking Doubling Girl after finding her hugely annoying for weeks, I rolled my eyes endlessly at the procession of beautiful girls singling out flaws on their perfect skin, I posed in the mirror with my scene partner as we tried to be as unattractive as hugely possible.
I was quite fascinated, after watching the scenes of the morning group during a period of nothing to do, by how much I had lucked out in the scene department. I had grizzled and groused about the fact that I had received a scene where I was playing an older woman, complained that all the other girls got to be ingenues and femme fatales. However, the fact that I was doing a Pinter play and what turned out to be a very funny little scene from The Birthday Party meant that I stood out as I was almost the only person who got to play an actual character. Everyone else just went on stage and played a version of themselves. I do feel that I did well and definitely was one of, if not, the best of the night. However, I had one agent approach me at the end and she then went round and spoke to several other members of the group. She was part of a co-op agency which means that she is as desperate for actors as actors are for agents. I've since heard that several of the other members of the group who are nice people and hands down, drop-dead, gorgeous but quite frankly rubbish have been picked up by actual proper agencies. And that really makes me wonder what the point is. It really isn't how good you are at acting, that's probably the least important thing, it's how lucky, how good you look, who you know, how ambitious and confident you are, with how good you are coming in in last place.
It's interesting because it has made me re-evaluate what I'm doing and why I'm doing it again. After Bronte, which I found to be a hugely satisfying artistic experience, I re-evaluated again. Having spoken to someone recently with no experience of acting and tried to explain why I do it, despite being shy and awkward (I know, I know, difficult to believe), I could only describe it as a different way of being shy, a different way of putting up a barrier between myself and the world. When I assume a character it's with relief because I don't have to be me any more. It was summed up beautifully for me as "hiding in plain sight".
I was quite fascinated, after watching the scenes of the morning group during a period of nothing to do, by how much I had lucked out in the scene department. I had grizzled and groused about the fact that I had received a scene where I was playing an older woman, complained that all the other girls got to be ingenues and femme fatales. However, the fact that I was doing a Pinter play and what turned out to be a very funny little scene from The Birthday Party meant that I stood out as I was almost the only person who got to play an actual character. Everyone else just went on stage and played a version of themselves. I do feel that I did well and definitely was one of, if not, the best of the night. However, I had one agent approach me at the end and she then went round and spoke to several other members of the group. She was part of a co-op agency which means that she is as desperate for actors as actors are for agents. I've since heard that several of the other members of the group who are nice people and hands down, drop-dead, gorgeous but quite frankly rubbish have been picked up by actual proper agencies. And that really makes me wonder what the point is. It really isn't how good you are at acting, that's probably the least important thing, it's how lucky, how good you look, who you know, how ambitious and confident you are, with how good you are coming in in last place.
It's interesting because it has made me re-evaluate what I'm doing and why I'm doing it again. After Bronte, which I found to be a hugely satisfying artistic experience, I re-evaluated again. Having spoken to someone recently with no experience of acting and tried to explain why I do it, despite being shy and awkward (I know, I know, difficult to believe), I could only describe it as a different way of being shy, a different way of putting up a barrier between myself and the world. When I assume a character it's with relief because I don't have to be me any more. It was summed up beautifully for me as "hiding in plain sight".
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