KREATING KARLOFF

I was lucky enough to be asked to star alongside actor Conor Timmis in a Boris Karloff biopic-style, screen test documentary titled, “Kreating Karloff.” The DVD is officially released today, November 18th, hence my posting a day early, and is currently available at popular on-line stores like Amazon.com, Target.com, and Oldies.com, as well as other retail movie locations. The project also has a very “personal” connection, which is explained below.

This film is directed by Vatche Arabian and recreates, in black and white, famous scenes from two of Boris Karloff’s biggest films “Frankenstein” (1931) and “The Mummy” (1932). It matches the costumes, make-up, sets, blocking, lighting, and style of the time.

In true documentary style, it follows the cast and crew behind the scenes through the entire process, including highly skilled and talented make-up artist Norman Bryn (Saturday Night Live). As well as the re-created scenes themselves accurately filmed by director of photography, Scott Sniffen, it includes interviews with the project participants, and captures the many raw moments that happen in between “action” and “cut.”

The film made its way around the film festival circuit and took home the award for Best Experimental Film at the Honolulu International Film Festival last year, among others, all of which was very exciting. The project also gained the support of Sara Karloff, Boris Karloff’s daughter, who added a truly touching endorsement on the cover of the DVD:

“I know how flattered and amazed my father, Boris Karloff, would be, that after so many years someone of Conor Timmis’ talent would put the time, energy and devotion into such a project as Kreating Karloff.

Conor gathered around him people of like mind and talent for this project and, as my father would have said: “The proof is in the pudding.” From start to finish, the script, the makeup and the acting are a real tribute to both my father and to Conor’s determination to see the film through to its first rate conclusion.

Again, in my father’s words, “Full Marks” to all involved in Kreating Karloff. The fans are in for a real treat.” – Sara Karloff

Above all else, I was honored to get to play the classic role of Helen Grosvenor in the recreation scenes of “The Mummy.” A role originated by Zita Johann in 1932. This gave me an opportunity to play in the acting style of the time and to showcase something different. But there was a more important, personal reason, as well. I am, in fact, Ms. Johann’s cousin. My Aunt Jane has been able to work out the exact relationship on our family tree and, with this and much personal research at the New York Performing Arts Library, we have been able to learn a great deal about my famous cousin.

Ms. Johann, who was once married to actor/producer John Houseman, is best known for her starring role as Helen Grosvenor / Princess Anck-es-en-Amon opposite Boris Karloff in “The Mummy.” Although she acted in a few other films, including “Tiger Shark” with Edward G. Robinson, she openly preferred the theatre to Hollywood films. She gained the most fulfillment acting on Broadway, which she did from the late 20’s into the early 40’s. Her role in “Machinal” placed her on stage alongside Clark Gable, an unknown at the time, and later paired her with Orson Welles, co-founder of Mercury Theatre.

I continue trying to find out more about her, and am often pleasantly surprised by the number of things she and I share in common. These Include my love for children and a strong desire within to work with children with special needs and to open my own children’s charity foundation. This is something I have found Zita was able to do during her lifetime, after acting. I have been contacted, through my website, by so many who knew Zita personally; even a few of those children, grown up today, whom she taught.

The thing I hear most often from Zita’s fans and those who knew her, is how much I look like her and that we share the same eyes. They openly tell me how she was someone who truly touched them, through her work or in life, and who had a spirit that they have never forgotten. This is something one of her dearest friends, Rick Atkins, whom I mentioned in my blog about Carla Laemle’s 99th birthday, also expressed. It is through him that I have been able to get to know Zita Johann as well as I have, since our family, unfortunately, had lost track of her until after she passed away in 1993 in Nyack, NY, not too far from where we were living at the time.

Today, I act because I truly love it and the ability it gives me to go places I would never go in real life. It provides me an outlet to layer qualities, personalities, and emotions I don’t personally exhibit. However, I also act for Zita with the hope that I would have made her proud. She was one of those who paved the way for me, and future actors, like myself, during a time when there was no acting union, and it was far more difficult to follow one’s acting dream than it is today.

Zita Johann truly believed in people, just as I do, and never let this industry change her morals or who she was, something I have stuck to since day one. I personally feel I have been given a chance to carry on where she left off, and hope I can do so with as much honestly, style, and class as possible. Though I will never get to meet her, I did get to be closer to her than I would have ever thought possible, thanks to people like Rick, and opportunities like “Kreating Karloff.”

“Worth the price of admission!” – Dave Colton (USA Today) “Kreating Karloff” Review

“I treat children as equals. I work hard to gain their trust and in a sense, offer to build a bridge between us if they will meet me halfway. I listen to them…and I love them. I will always love them for being so fresh and alive and full of hope.” – Zita Johann

BUZZZZZ

This week I am buzzing by with just a quick update, since I am a busy bee, hence the buzzing. I am working with the Broadway musical team of “In The Heights,” which won the Tony Award for Best Musical this year. They are out in LA from my beloved Big Apple casting with the well-seasoned Telsey & Company casting. I am lucky enough to be working with them this week to help make sure the process goes smoothly, while standing by as a reader, pa, or anything in between, and keeping a friendly smile on my face.

It is always a pleasure working with the different Broadway teams and those who work as a part of their casting team. Especially seeing that I am a big Broadway fan and miss so much of that scene being out here in LA. I truly admire what so many of these multi-talented actors, singers, and dancers do and can’t express the boost I get from simply being around them, and the energy many of us actors seem to radiate.

Needless to say, I am having a blast and look forward to each opportunity I am given to be a part of the process. So, till my next blog, I am off to return to work and to indirectly soak up a little bit of Broadway and New York City, in hopes that it will tide me over ’till I am back in NYC, sitting in a theatre, and happily taking in another Broadway show this holiday season!

Buzzzzz…

“”In The Heights” is the rare case of a musical that finds its warmth without winking, its open-heartedness without irony, and its optimism without embarrassment. Its pleasures and its messages may be simple, but they’re always genuine.” – Review by Matthew Murray

TURNING DREAMS INTO HISTORY

Last night history was made. Since I blog on Wednesdays, I wanted to touch upon what has been such an exciting, yet heated, election year filled with so many firsts for our nation.

Regardless for whom you placed your vote, it was exciting to witness the fire and enthusiasm in the youth to simply get out there and use the very right we are so lucky to have. Seeing just how many people, young and old, who were passionate about this election, be it for McCain or Obama, and who went out and voted, resulting in a turnout that has not been seen since 1908, was an accomplishment in and of itself.

I personally felt some anxiety mixed with the true excitement over this election, and whether I placed my vote for the Republicans or the Democrats, since I am registered Independent, doesn’t really matter. What was truly incredible and touching, at least for me, was to see just how far we have come over the years, especially in the last century. I couldn’t help but smile from the inside out!

I found myself thinking back to all that I had learned in school, especially in American History classes, growing up, and I realized that I was suddenly living the history that my kids, if I have them, and future generations would be learning in their classrooms.

I personally felt proud to be a part of it, to be around to witness such a big step forward for African Americans, and to see Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech, given on August 28, 1963, come true. I knew we would see this day of equality come about one day, although I did not think it would be so soon. I am beyond overjoyed that it has come sooner, rather than later, and look forward to seeing what other gaps we bridge over in the years ahead.

It saddens me that there ever was, and still is today, a lack of complete equality for all people, for example, those restricted by Proposition 8 here in California. Nevertheless, I think that in electing Barack Obama as President last night the United States of America is showing real movement in a positive direction, not only for African Americans, but for all its citizens, and is making progress turning dreams into history.

“I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”…I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.” – Martin Luther King King - Lincoln Memorial, 1963

99 YEARS AND COUNTING

Since 2006, when the week of October 20th rolls around each year I look forward to a very special birthday lunch to celebrate the talented, genuine, funny, full of youth, and beautiful (inside and out) Carla Laemmle. For the past 3 years, she and good friend Rick, who celebrates his Birthday on October 21st and who is just finishing a book on Carla’s life (see below), have met up with me at a well-known and favorite restaurant of Carla’s in LA, that has been around since 1931. This year marked her 99th Birthday, a very young 99 as you can see in the picture of us from our lunch.

Some of you, especially those in the entertainment industry, might be familiar with the last name Laemmle. Carla happens to be the niece of Carl Laemmle, the founder of Universal Pictures. Carla was born Rebekah Isabelle Laemmle in Chicago, IL in 1909, but soon took Carla as her professional name. One of the many things for which she is known is speaking the first line in Carl’s classic 1931 horror film “Dracula,” starring Bela Lugosi. She can still recite that line today…“Among the rugged peaks that frown down upon the Borgo Pass are found crumbling castles of a bygone age.”

She spent her youth living in a bungalow by the New York Street set on the Universal Pictures lot, which was common in those days, and is where she collected a number of fascinating stories about what I refer to as the classy years of Hollywood. I simply love hearing about those times and her accounts of the wonderful memories she holds to this day from that very special time, on which she looks back very fondly. These include stories of Marilyn Monroe, Lon Chaney, the filming of the famous tower scene in 1939’s “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”, being a dancer at the age of 16 in 1925’s “The Phantom of The Opera”, and much, much more.

While Carla’s history is very exciting, it is her friendship I value most. I receive the most touching, kind, heart felt, and lovely cards in the mail from her and truly enjoy our old-fashioned correspondence. I am someone who to this day loves to send cards and letters in the mail, even for no apparent reason, and truly enjoys keeping this classic form of writing alive today. It is something my marvelous mother taught me at a young age, along with the importance of hand-written thank-you notes, and I plan to carry on the tradition as best I can, just as Carla and my mother do.

Carla truly is an inspiration to me, and one can’t help but smile after hearing from her whether in person, on the phone, or through her wonderful words in a card. She exudes warmth, positivity, and classic grace, and never misses a beat with her spot-on mind and memory, which are far sharper than mine…and I am 70 years younger! I can only hope to be a tiny fraction as influential as she is when I get to be her age, if I make it that far! I feel honored to simply know her and be a part of her life, and what a life it is!

In fact, Rick just finished working with Carla on her autobiography, “Among the Rugged Peaks–An Intimate Biography of Carla Laemmle.” I got to see the cover, straight from the publishers, while at our lunch last week and I am looking forward to reading the final product and seeing the many historic photographs. That said, I am sure there will be many more stories and adventures to come in her long, yet “forever young and ageless,” life of 99 years and counting!

“Thank you so much for your lovely card and ever so glowing words – I am totally overwhelmed by your ever so lavish compliments. I found it most difficult not reacting to them like my beautiful Persian cat, Mimi, lapping up a bowl of heavy cream! I did so enjoy meeting you and was truly impressed by your charm and both outer and inner beauty. While it is true I am 97 in earth years, I assure you my inner being is forever young and ageless.” - A few of Carla Laemmle’s always eloquent words in a card to me after we first met in 2006.

With Rick and Carla Laemmle at her 99th Birthday lunch on 10-24-08.

BRIEFER THAN BRIEF

Last week I posted a shorter blog, at least for me, but this week is going to win on the being brief front. Things have been really busy for me, but pretty much everything in my life continues to move forward in a positive direction.

Overall, it has been a bit surreal being at CBS and on the set of “The Young and the Restless,” seeing that I have watched it since I was 14 and so many of the characters are still on the show. The pace is quick and efficient and I can honestly say the cast, crew, and everyone in between are truly a pleasure to work with. It is rare to find such a friendly, outgoing, and positive group of people on a set, but each does their part to make you feel instantly right at home.

My scenes take place at the “Restless Style” magazine office with the character Phyllis, played by Emmy-Award winning actor Michelle Stafford, since I am her personal assistant. She has the perfect combination of beauty, talent, wit, personality, and genuine kindness, so she makes my job very easy.

I have a number of things in my life that link back to “Y&R” in some form, through a number of actors on the show, over the years, and I plan to bring you some of those fun little stories as soon as I have some time on my hands. Until then, I want to thank everyone for welcoming me on set, and to Genoa City, for making my experience a very beneficial one.

You see, I told you it would be short, and this was briefer than brief!

“I shall be so brief that I have already finished.” - Salvador Dali

UNIQUE SIMPLICITY

This week’s blog is going to be what they refer to as short and sweet, relatively speaking. I know, I know, you might be asking yourself, short? Yes, I will admit that I tend to write some novel-length blogs, but it seems to be that way in most writing aspects of my life. Just ask those who know me, and they will tell you that my e-mails and letters, covered in stickers, tend to get that way too. But what is a girl to do?

Last week, I had the privilege of attending the “Stars for Stars” red carpet charity event that benefits Tiny Stars, an agency that funds a network of undercover operatives to track most wanted child predators. It was a fun night out at trendy Les Deux restaurant in Hollywood, with mostly down to earth people in the entertainment industry, including a few stars, hence Stars for Stars. It was nice to attend an event where I could meet and mingle with people, while giving back. Donating to causes like these is truly fulfilling for me and even teaches me a few things about charity foundations in general, which I hope to be able to use with my own children’s charity foundation one day.

Overall, things have been going really well for me in pretty much every aspect of my life. Although I am usually happy on a daily basis, possibly overly so to some, I am cheerfully chipper and happily hopeful in the most genuine form these days. In fact, I have begun discovering new, what I refer to as unique, simplicities in my life.

Speaking of unique simplicity, I was driving back to my apartment at 4:30AM Tuesday morning, when I was struck by the refreshing silence surrounding me. I was traveling on the usually hip, busy, and oh so popular Melrose, but at a time when there was almost no traffic, an endless row of soothing green traffic lights, and a quiet calm in all directions. Just the mere thought that in a couple hours the sun would be rising and the streets would once again be filled with disrupting noise and infamous morning traffic brought a new appreciation for unique moments like this. Suddenly, simply driving down a street I use often took on a new, refreshing quality.

I think there is growth to be found in such moments for anyone, but especially actors, because it allows you to clear your mind and therefore think more clearly, which is crucial to be able to do. Being able to think about and absorb the lives of other characters, which is what acting is ultimately about, starts with having a free sense of yourself and letting go to the best of your ability, in order to openly welcome the character you are playing, and to take on each personality, as fully as possible.

So, as I get ready to do just that and have some fun over at CBS on the Y&R set, while making the most of the experience itself, I plan to continue trying to actually see beauty in the simple things. My experience driving down Melrose and my photographing things, aside from people, over the last couple years (some of which you can see below) have taught and helped me to do just that.

I feel I have a lot to look forward to, for which I am consistently thankful. I am going to sit back and enjoy this hopeful time in my life, while encouraging you to try finding your own unique simplicity.

 
“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.” - Hans Hofman

Picture Locations (from left to right)

Top Row: High-rise Through Tree - Downtown LA / Haunted Woods Trail - Prince Edward Island / Green Gables Berry Bush - Prince Edward Island

Middle Row: Lantern Shadowed Window - Hollywood Hills, CA / Pumpkins - Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island / Railroad Track - Kensington, Prince Edward Island

Bottom Row: St. Patrick’s Cathedral - NYC / Red Wood Trees - Muir Woods, CA / Single Rose - Brentwood, CA

YOUNG AND RESTLESS

It seems that October 1st is upon us, which means my favorite time of year has snuck up on me, once again. However, as the holiday season picks up and my beloved cooler, scarf-wearing weather moves in, the acting and audition front often begins to slow down, cooling off a bit itself.

Honestly, I had another blog written and ready to post about the slowness on the acting front for me this year, and how I have always had a bit of an odd personal superstition where I don’t like to tell others about auditions or talk about acting opportunities until something certain develops from them. Of Course, certainty and this industry rarely go hand in hand. Strange as it may sound, I almost feel as though it is bad luck to say anything about auditions, either before or after they have happened.

In my original blog, I explained how blogging each week makes that superstition somewhat hard to follow, especially since I am “The Actor” on this wonderful and inventive FIB site. I questioned if my blogging weekly could be the reason my year as an actor had been so slow? Well, the fact is that it would be rather silly if I thought it did, especially knowing that it is due to this fabulous outlet on the World Wide Web that I have obtained some of the opportunities I have had this year. It would have been far slower had I not been doing what I love to do so much, which is to express myself through writing, in this case, blogging, alongside my fellow Film Industry Bloggers.

That said, things suddenly changed, and the blog I had written for this week is now filed under “not used.”

On Monday afternoon I received calls from my agent and manager saying I had been booked for the CBS soap opera “The Young and the Restless.” Consistent with my practice of not mentioning auditions until the outcome is known, I can now report that last week I had gone in to read for the show. A casting director for whom I had read 3 years earlier, at an “NCIS” audition and callback, had called me in. Although I didn’t book the NCIS job, it turns out she is now casting “Y&R,” remembered me, and had me come in to audition for it. This time they liked me, but not for the role I read. They hired me for a different part, that of the new assistant at “Y&R’s” “Restless Style Magazine.”

To make a long blogging story short, which, at this point, is pretty much too late to do, and keeping in mind that I had not mentioned this audition in any of my blogs or to anyone, the unfolding of these events stays in line with my superstition to say nothing about my auditions until their results are known. No one, that is, aside from my parents, who send me a cute and colorful “Break-A-Leg” message before each and every audition.

This leads me to two important things to remember as an actor. One, your current situation can turn on a dime, as they say, and it can happen with only one audition. Two, you have to do your best at each and every audition, always remembering that, although you might not be right for one role, you never know when a casting director or other person at the audition might remember you and have you back later for another role, for which you might be more suited.

In my case it happened to be THREE years later for “The Young and the Restless,” which also happens to have been the favorite soap opera of my really good friend Jen and me since we were 14. Incidentally, we started watching because of Michael Damian, who played Danny Romalotti, on the show. I personally fell in “love” with him when he was playing Joseph in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” on Broadway, in NYC. I had to know who he was, found out he was on “Y&R,” and so the watching began…Jen still records it daily!

I will write more on all of this in next week’s blog and my coming full circle where the show is concerned. ‘Till then, I am off to attend the Stars for Stars red carpet charity event in Hollywood and to prepare for my temporary move to Genoa City, where I get to be young and restless!

“You don’t just luck into things…you build step by step.” – Barbara Bush

A TRULY VIBRANT AND MAGICAL WONDER

Vibrant, friendly, simplistic, peaceful, refreshing, calming, clean, and inviting are just a few words that instantly entered my mind while visiting the natural wonder of Prince Edward Island. PEI is one of the four Atlantic Provinces located on the east coast of Canada, between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and is the setting for the well-known novel “Anne of Green Gables,” penned 100 years ago by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery, in 1908.

The book and island are positively recognized around the world, bringing hopeful inspiration and imagination, to people of all ages and backgrounds, much like that held by its title character, Anne Shirley. In fact, one of its biggest draws is with the Japanese. More than 10,000 a year venture to the small island of 138,000 people to visit all the places mentioned in the widely celebrated book.

I was unaware of PEI, Anne, and Green Gables until friends of mine introduced me to the “Anne of Green Gables” movie, based on the book, starring the perfectly cast Megan Follows. It was huge while they were growing up, but I spent a lot of my childhood overseas, something I wouldn’t change for the world, and, therefore, was not familiar with it. So, while being an old discovery for my friends, it was a new one for me, and one reason for our most recent travel destination.

We just spent a very memorable and relaxing week there, renting a beautiful home by the water in Valley Victoria, a remote area about 30 minutes outside of the city of Summerside, and an hour and half from the island’s biggest city, Charlottetown. There we found ourselves amongst some of the nicest and most patient people I have come across since San Francisco. It seems they all wear a welcoming smile daily, which made me happily fit right in.

Our adventure began at LAX where we caught the red-eye that took us to Halifax via Dulles before hopping in our rent-a-car for an hour and a half drive to Caribou, where we boarded the ferry for the hour trip to Woods Island, PEI. The ferry was, until 10 years ago, the only way to get to the island, aside from flying in a small plane, but you can now take the 8 mile long Confederation Bridge across, as well, which we did when leaving the island to head back to LAX via Newark.

During our time there, we were off exploring all that this quiet island has to offer, including seeing the musical “Anne and Gilbert” at the Harbourfront Jubilee Theatre. We wanted to see what acting opportunities and actors exist in the area, since those on the trip were all in the entertainment industry in some form, be it acting or casting.

The weather was simply beautiful, with crisp, breezy and cooler temperatures at night and later in the week, giving it the fall feel we were looking forward to. In LA things stay relatively the same with few clouds and an often barely visible skyline, clouded over by the thicker, gray air called the “marine layer.” Plus, there are no seasons, so our taking in the fresh, clean, wide-open landscape and varying nature PEI has to offer was a true sight to see. Our bonus was that it was also the start of autumn, with the leaves changing.

Speaking of sights, Prince Edward Island has some of the most vibrant colors I have ever seen! These varied from the apricot oranges and rusty, terra cotta reds of the roads and sands to the bright, emerald, forest green trees and lime, harlequin green grass, stretching all the way out to the shining cobalt waters, covered with crystal clear, azure blue skies.

Unique to the area is what is referred to as “magic hour,” adored by filmmakers on the island, which is a small time frame where the light is truly magical, hence magic hour, and beyond picture perfect. The sun reflects golden beams of light off the water, down onto the trees and across the endless fields, leading into the most gorgeous sunsets of periwinkle, coral, amethyst and persimmon!

It was all refreshing, to say the least, and sometimes a get-away with friends is what one needs to recharge oneself, which is exactly what this trip did. I truly enjoyed my mini-beak from cell phones, the Internet, traffic, and smog, among others things. I did not miss any of it, in fact, it slightly pained me to have to turn my cell phone back on, check e-mail, and get back to the reality of LA, when I returned.

All in all, if you have not gotten a chance to visit the area, I highly recommend it and believe you will not be disappointed, but inspired. Those who know me know that I take lots and lots of pictures and like to document my adventures, big or small. This outing was no exception, so, there was no lack of picture taking and I have what I refer to as a picture explosion, with over a 1,000 taken on this trip alone.

My multitude of pictures now can instantly transport us to tranquil Prince Edward Island anytime. They allow me to visually go back to PEI, until I get the chance to drop in again in person. ‘Till then, and until you get the opportunity to visit the island and experience it yourself, I shall leave you will a few of the pictures I took, including some from “magic hour,” which were captured surprisingly well on my new, oh so fabulous Cannon PowerShot SD 1100 Digital Elph.

I hope you too will one day be able enjoy Prince Edward Island…a truly vibrant and magical wonder!

“You never know what peace is until you walk on the shores or in the fields or along the winding red roads of Prince Edward Island in a summer twilight when the dew is falling and the old stars are peeping out and the sea keeps its mighty tryst with the little land it loves. You find your soul then. You realize that youth is not a vanished thing but something that dwells forever in the heart.” - Lucy Maud Montgomery

TEMPORARILY UNPLUGGED

I am beginning to wonder if there are still 7 days in a week these days, since every time I turn around I feel as though another week has snuck up on me, yet again. Anywho, this past week I spent some time playing Galinda, Elphaba, Boq and Nessa from the Broadway musical WICKED at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. I was the reader at the callbacks along side some multi-talented actors, some of whom have now become friendly faces.

In doing so I got to explore the world behind and underneath the famous stage and along its many winding paths that are filled with so much character and history, dating back to 1930. Since WICKED is based on Gregory Maguire’s “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West” inspired by the very popular classic “The Wizard of Oz” by L. Frank Baum, you are actually creatively instructed and guided to “follow the yellow brick road” in order to get to different areas behind the scenes. Sure enough there are yellow brick-like marks painted on the floor and throughout the many narrow corridors, which make your journey a little more fun.

Simply being at the theatre brought back the magic that exists within it for me, since I got my start acting on stage. Theatres are places where the energy runs high with the anticipation that goes hand in hand with each day being a new show with a new audience. Theatre holds the exciting, slight uncertainty of not knowing exactly what will happen while you are also fully aware that “the show must go on,” no matter what.

Overall, it was a pleasure working with the creative team, yet again, while meeting some new key players who have helped make WICKED the success that it is today and surely will continue doing so long into the future. I always look forward to any work I may get in the future working on any aspect of the show, and I know that it will be full of fun and adventure no matter whenever I am given the chance.

With WICKED behind me for now, I am gearing up to head out of the country, where I will be unplugged, so to speak, which means unreachable and offline for an entire week. Therefore, I will be unable to post next week, but will fully update you upon my return to the US, complete with some pictures, I hope. As a result of traveling without my computer, for once, I realize this means coming back to a mass of e-mails. However, I think it will be refreshing to be out of contact for a bit and worth being briefly on overload, when I get back.

Until then I hope you all enjoy your start to the fall season, which happens to be one of my favorites, and I will be back with a new blog as soon as I recharge myself and get plugged back in, after being temporarily unplugged.

 

“I find it refreshing to unplug from it for a while. You kind of forget how deeply you get embedded in it.” – Will Wright

Side Note: I will be thinking of and sending extra smiles to everyone who has come into my life thus far, whether they stayed for a short or long time, and whether or not they are still in it or not, on September 11th. It is a day that hits me in a strange way each and every year it comes around, as I am sure it does everyone, since I was living in NYC and in the middle of it all back in 2001. Thank you for touching my life and know that, good or bad, you have contributed to the person I am today and I wish you the best, always!

THE R-E-E-L DEAL

Some of you may have been wondering where I was last week, since I did not post a blog. Well, the answer would be stuck at Washington Dullas International Airport, during what turned into a long and event-filled Jet Blue adventure, en route to Burbank, CA.

When I finally arrived back at my apartment on the west coast, my Internet was not working for reasons my cable and Internet provider could not understand. So, on top of being a bit overwhelmed with people in town visiting, mini trips around Los Angeles and as far as Santa Barbara, celebrating Birthdays and my parent’s 35th wedding anniversary, I was unable to get online to post. Fear not, because I am now not only back in LA, but back on the World Wide Web as well…what ever did we do before it!

Since my last FIB post, something that came in handy for me as an actor was having an acting reel. That is a short DVD that showcases a variety of moments from your work as an actor that can be used to show to those in the industry when they want to know more and see you in action, so to speak. As an actor, you really never know when someone out there might become aware of you and make a simple call to your agent inquiring about you. With a reel, your agent quickly can show them more.

There was such a request for my acting reel that happened while I was on my way to Washington D.C. So, with the help of my amazing dad, I put together one with my most recent work on it and overnighted it to my agent in LA, so she could get it to casting as soon as possible. In this case, a simple, short, but catchy reel, paid off. From it casting was interested in seeing me for two different series regular roles in a new HBO series pilot. Next thing you know, I was reading the creative and entertaining script for the pilot episode. This allowed me to familiarize myself with the show and characters, before learning my sides for each character.

As I always say, it is so important as an actor to take each opportunity presented to you, be as prepared as possible, and then simply do the best you can. You really never know when that one role that fits may find you; and, in this industry, often it only takes one. You just have to be persistent and keep as positive an attitude as possible, while also realizing the reality of it all, because some things are truly out of your hands. That is the name of the game in this wonderful biz called show!

In this case, I was given the opportunity to choose between two characters for which to audition. I personally related to both, their style and even to the location, in some ways, but to one more so than the other. For that one, I found the words of the writer easily flowing from the page to my mouth. I honestly think she has the ability to grow and gain even more layers than she already has been given, if the show becomes successful and moves forward. That would be so exciting to take on as an actor and something most, if not all of us, dream of one day having the chance do.

I realize that either character would be big shoes to fill for someone who is as relatively unknown as myself, and I am well aware of the “ins and outs” of the industry, the odds, etc. The fact is that both roles have most likely already been offered to a known name out there or will be before all is said and done. Either way, it is a chance to meet new casting directors, act and be seen, even if it ends up being for just those few minutes.

In the end, each successful actor has had that one audition that changed his or her career. Therefore, each audition we are lucky enough to get has the potential to be that “one audition” for us. It was my acting reel that opened the door to this audition itself, and perhaps it will be the audition we as actors wait for that becomes the REEL deal…you simply never know!

 

“I will prepare and some day my chance will come.” - Abraham Lincoln

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