new, planning to move to LA, advice? - Page 2 - Actors Forum is the Community to Talk, Learn and Study Acting.

The actress · 11-04-2006, 10:16 AM

see the thing about that tho is i have a family to take care of, i would love to do acting as well as keep modeling but i need to get paid too, my fiancee pays most of the bills but i have to help out he isnt rich. and i dont want to be stuck with a child and no career one day i know my man loves me but you never know about the future. i thought i could take some classes do some extra work and some commercials. of course later on i would try for a movie or a tv show or soap opera etc... but right now i just want to do some commercials and some extra work to be around the business. is acting really that tough? why? thank you all for your responses by the way its great this forum is so active.

Russjns · 11-04-2006, 10:33 AM

Acting is tough. Doing extra work is not. You just register with a couple of the services, and you get called in. Some people make a profession out of being extras. Commercials, while they pay the bills and are great when you book them, are unreliable at best. I've been doing commercials for the past 5 years (VERY fortunate), but there are times when I can go for MONTHS without even getting a call back. It all goes in waves.

Think of it like this (and I don't mean to sound harsh, I think you deserve the reality of the situation): EVERYBODY in Los Angeles wants what I(you, everybody else) want. They want to be a financially successful actor. But when I go into an audition, I am not the only ME there....there are 20+ people that look JUST like me trying out for the same part. And that's just WHILE I'M THERE. Initial castings can last for a few days....so there are HUNDREDS of actors JUST as qualified, if not more so, than myself. And even if I'm the best actor there, I may not get the job because my hairstyle doesn't work, or my clothes reminded the producer of the clothes an ex lover once wore....it's THAT superficial sometimes.

I, too, have a family. I have a very young child (6 months), and my wife and I are both really concerned about this particular lifestyle. It's not something to just jump in and try. It has to be your life.

Hope that helps.

CosmicD · 11-04-2006, 10:50 AM

Quoting: "I may not get the job because my hairstyle doesn't work, or my clothes reminded the producer of the clothes an ex lover once wore....it's THAT superficial sometimes."

Then why not see or phone them before your appointment, and ask, "What dress-style, hair-color, hair-style, shoes, jewelery, colors, etc.. would best compliment and suit this particular casting-call?"..
That would be a lot better than going in blindly and unprepared, and improper, desperately trying to figure, "where is the needle in the hay stack"..
only hoping, out of hundreds of options, that you have actually picked the best combination for their today's tastes and personal quirkies...
Maybe it's a good plan to research and study those who run those casting-calls.. to predetermine their personal tastes and quirks, to give yourself a bit of an edge...

Russjns · 11-04-2006, 05:44 PM

I don't think I explained myself right. Everything you said is perfect. That's exactly what I do...or rather, that's what your agent does....it's not appropriate to personally call the casting director and ask them that stuff. But what I was trying to say, when I was referring to the superficial stuff, is that there is NO way to know what little thing (that has NOTHING to do with the role) is going to either get you, or lose you, the part. You can LITERALLY get a job because you LOOK like somebodies best friend. And you can lose a job because your nose looks like an ex lovers that cheated on them.

You could never research these things, because nobody talks about them. You will never know WHY you didn't get the role. But if you take workshops with these casting directors, they will tell you that things like this happen.

If you have had a different experience, then that's one thing. I'm just sharing my personal experience in the matter. It's different for everyone.

The actress · 11-04-2006, 07:10 PM

well i heard that you cant go in trying to be what they want cuz sometimes they dont even know what they want.

CosmicD · 11-04-2006, 07:10 PM

True.. you could never research those things.. so you simply give up in that area.. and charge in blindly... Well not totally blind.. you do have an idea what the part requires, and what you are capable of.. and what your agent discovered for you about the project and part...

And then, given that you have nothing else in this area, and have done nothing in this area, and have some spare time.. it can't hurt to seek yet another option... Explore the life of the casting director, and those around him or her who assist in making the decisions that lead to his or her final decision... Run an in depth Internet research on him or her... Talk to others who have done calls with those people... Find out why they did, or didn't get the part... Check out those who work in the casting director's team... Find out where they live, if you can... Study their homes from a distance, to get a feel for their lifestyles... Do a little research on their company name... Know where your steps are taking you... There is always another option and path... Nothing is ever over till you give up... The more you get, the better you know where you're going, and how you're going... There is always another step, even if you can't find it.. so you assemble all of you, and add that one percent more that you didn't know you had.. and the next option glows before you, like a peach ripe for the picking...

I learned this little trick, after I got my spinal cord severed in an accident... I knew I was a goner, and that I was totally out of options... I was totally paralyzed from my chest, down.. and my lungs weren't working... I decided to explore my last option, being to test my now mental condition by spelling a word... Ironically I chose the word "was"... I thought, "double you, hah! double me".. The next letter I couldn't figure out.. I knew it was made of a circle and a little stick, but I didn't know what it was.. I tried placing the stick on the circle every which way... The third letter ran on and on like a snake.. I didn't know what it was... I was really short on oxygen... That told me that I had to get some air circulating NOW!... I managed tiny breaths by flexing my shoulders to the limit, till the muscles overheated, twitched a few times, and stopped responding... All I had left was to pick a dried weed flower, and squish a fistful of snow around it, and slam it to the ground as my deathbed's flower... It tipped over, and I didn't have the strength to upright it.. I didn't have the strength to raise an arm... All I had was to wait for death... As a last final surge of pure raw willpower, I summoned ALL of me, and that little bit more of me, that I didn't know I had, showed.. and I saw more that I hadn't seen ever before... I saw another option, to remain among the living... I did what was needed to do the required mind to repair my severed spinal cord.. is why I say, there is always another option.. There is always one more thing to find and do.. even after you have done all there is, and have totally given up... I got my spinal cord reattached, 15-degrees rotated at the break-site... I had to instruct my legs in what I wanted in them taking a step... I crawled up a hill, and crawled across a railway bridge between trains.. and barely managed to walk the five miles home, walking past two hospitals... A voice inside me said they wouldn't have a clue about what had happened to my spine, and would probably wreck things... I got home, and slept for 43-hours straight... and woke, seeing extreme auras, and vapor-trails behind living moving things, and huge auras surrounding trees, with six animate things in each tree aura... Now I was seeing too much... I had beaten death yet another time...

Always look for the more.. and you will always find more... Live by that, and you will find life, creativity, and success.. where others are finding only death, destruction, and failure...

The actress · 11-04-2006, 07:16 PM

thanx dont worry i wont be offended i want the truth. im sick of people telling me "oh you can do whatever you put your little heart to" screw you! im 26 i have alot of ideas and interests but they will not all work out. so please tell me the rough parts of acting. i think its too difficult for me right now from the research i have done so far. im going to take some theatre classes at the local college and maybe some acting classes here and there (if that is possible) and continue modeling and hopefully by then i will have more free time to pursue it, and more training. what do you think russ?

The actress · 11-04-2006, 07:17 PM

wow good imagination cosmic.

Russjns · 11-04-2006, 07:41 PM

Sounds perfect!

You sound like someone who knows what they want, and when they want it, and you like to know what you are getting into. I'm the same way. I need to know what my options are before I go headlong into something.

The rough part: As far as acting goes, to make it work, last, and be financially lucritive, you will have to invest in classes, invest in QUALITY headshots, invest a lot of your free time, and sacrifice some of your personal life. That's the minimum. It seems extreme, but if you truly enjoy it, you can do it. You can make the time. I'm not sure if I mentioned this earlier, but I am married, I have a 6 month old baby, and things are extremely difficult in terms of auditioning and working the acting. But I'm still auditioning, and I just booked a role in the Jane Austin Book Club. So it CAN happen. But this wonderful opportunity, being in a movie....will get me $500-ish. Not enough to support the family.

If acting is something you want to do, then you can do it (very cliche, but true). And if you want to pursue it in LA or NY, then you can do it. Just love the process or you'll go crazy...and know that luck is VERY much a part of it.

That was long winded, but hopefully it helps.

CosmicD · 11-04-2006, 08:27 PM

Quoting: "I need to know what my options are before I go headlong into something."

That's a good plan... but sometimes you get yourself into a final one way event, that requires you establish a flow of spontaneous decisions be implemented in sequence as they present... like the airplane is crashing.. the boat is sinking.. you are falling.. The ladder is slipping sideways.. the car's brakes have failed at 60mph down a steep hill.. you've just hit black-ice at 60mph, and the vehicle you're in is spinning.. a fist, knife, or bullet is coming your way... There are thousands more possibilities in life that you can get yourself into, and the only way out is to take the options as quick as they appear....

Know your options, and your limitations... And know that you can ride the crest, when you find yourself riding the crest...

It's like when I was prospecting in Northern Canada for gold and uranium... I was resting on a hill, leisurely scraping my pick into the strange soil, when I discovered a biological that science has never met... One tiny sniff rendered me unconscious, and I regained consciousness tumbling down that little rocky hill... A heck of a rude way to wake up... I was bashing into rocks all over me... All I had was to spread out my arms and legs to stop me... I was covered in bruises, and laughing...
Turns out that this biological has a degree of sentience.. and would more than replace the now extinct "perfume nut"... I wafted a tiny sniff of it from six feet away.. closed my eyes and dove into trance, and determined 33 layers in its bouquet of distinct spice-scents, till at the 34th, it rendered me unconscious again... I just couldn't bring myself to harm it for money... I suspect it is the ancestor to all plants on this planet... I returned it to its home, exactly as I found it, and sprinkled a dilute solution of fruit sugar around its perimeter as a treat...

Sometimes you are going headlong into something whether you want to or not... Shid happens...