Casting Workshops in July: Part 1.

This past month I've been kept busy with Acting stuff and that makes me so happy.  As an Actor you go through spurts, or really slow times in your career, and sometimes when it rains it pours.  I love those moments and that's how I've felt this month.

I had three weeks of Casting Workshops that I took this month at Act Now.  My first was with Erica Silverman (Bream) who most recently was working on Revolution and has also cast for Criminal Minds, Workaholics, House of Lies, and Law & Order.  This workshop was an all day intensive with her and the class had received our scenes on Friday for our Sunday workshop.  Mine was from Revolution and I was nervous and excited to perform in class.  After meeting her and answering some questions about the casting process, what she's looking for in a headshot, and on a resume, we got started with One-Liners and then had a Mock Producer Session for each group that was performing.  Basically, there were a couple of us assigned to decide who the role would go to after they had performed the one line they were given.  It was interesting to see each actor make a completely different choice than the other and what was more difficult was deciding who would get the role.  The few of us that were deciding made choices based on certain parts of their performance while other times it was easier and one actor stood out or just fit the role perfectly.  

Erica looks for a headshot that looks like you
(makes sense) and is natural!

Next up, we did Jargon Roles where each of us got cast as a Doctor, Paramedic, Lawyer, or in my case, Pharmacist.  This was also a great opportunity to practice this type of role, even if in typical casting, I might be a little too young-looking to play this type of role.  I had a lot of fun doing these Mock Producer Sessions and thought it was a great addition to the Workshop experience.  Although, it would have been really beneficial to find out why we didn't get cast over someone else so we could improve on something, if that was the case.  

Our last part of the afternoon was performing our assigned scenes, which we did on camera, and then Erica gave each of us a re-direct and we got to perform again.  I really like when we get assigned a scene because then you see what a Casting Director sees when they look at you, and the types of roles you could play.  I played my scene like a typical reporter:  Excited, asking questions, being a little bit of a know it all, but at the end of the day, searching for answers.  She re-directed me saying I was over my job, burnt out, and it was definitely more work than it was fun.  I loved the differences in playing each side, made strong choices for both, and was happy with my re-direct!

I was really happy to meet Erica and spend the day learning about different roles that come up in nearly every Television show and get to perform them in front of such an encouraging CD.  Not only did I have a fun day at this Workshop but I felt like I learned a lot too!

Casting Workshops in July: Part 2.

After my Intensive with Erica I was very excited about my next Workshop which was two weeks with two different Casting Director's from the same Casting Office.  The CD's I had targeted this month were for Drama and I felt it was good for me to change it up and try something different.

The first week was with Marlo Tiede who is currently casting Grimm.  She has also cast Necessary Roughness, Ghost Whisperer, the new Beverly Hills 90210, and Castle.  After doing an initial Q&A she talked about the Casting process for Grimm.  She looks for mostly guys because it is a more men-heavy show and also character actors since most of the roles transition from human to animal throughout the episode.  She paired us with a scene partner and assigned us scenes that we were able to rehearse for about 10 minutes.  I liked my scene but my scene partner proved a little bit difficult because I couldn't connect with her and felt like we were on opposite pages.  The scene was from Grimm and there was some major crazy terminology but my scene partner was trying to memorize and changing the lines every time she did them so I couldn't be off script because she wasn't consistent.  She was playing the mother role and I was the younger daughter-in-law role and as soon as we performed and were finished the CD had said there was no connection or chemistry with us.  I couldn't have agreed with her more!  She also said we weren't listening and made the wrong choices; I needed to play my side more sympathetic and understanding while she needed to come off more over-bearing and bitchy.  I made my adjustments but my partner read almost exactly the same way she read the first time so I just listened and responded as best I could.  I felt defeated when we were finished.  I knew I did the best I could and made the changes she had asked for (which she did notice) but I couldn't help but feel frustrated with the whole situation.  

The face and smile of Determination!

 Last week Monday was my workshop with Kendra Castleberry who currently casts Castle but has also cast for Wildfire, October Road, Life on Mars, and The O.C.  She was very direct and said she was looking for someone who could bring it on the first read or audition.  She treated the Workshop like an audition and we had one opportunity to impress her.  Kendra had sent out scenes to the class a week earlier so I had chosen one from Ghost Whisperer that gave me the opportunity to play a bunch of emotions.  I'm glad I had my scene memorized since she had mentioned it was important to come to auditions prepared and since we were given a week to do so, the class really had no excuse.  We all performed only once but she did give feedback to each of us and mine was that I gave it too much, the scene was more subtle, and didn't need all the emotion.  That surprised me since I had rehearsed the scene with Kristina and Neil, and both had thought the scene was emotionally full and gave me the ability to portray so many emotions.  We could have been completely wrong but I would rather hear I gave too much rather than not enough, because it's that much harder to bring it than to tone it down.  Once again, I felt a little disappointed but proud in my decision to play the role the way I thought it was written and didn't waiver.  I made a choice and even if it was wrong, I stuck to it.

You can't create chemistry, nor can you make someone listen to you (in real life or acting), or even be exactly what the casting director is looking for because you just don't know.  But you can be open to the process, positive and understanding in receiving feedback, and hard-working and determined with the material.  Every Workshop is a lesson and practice for an audition, day on set, or real-life experience and you just need to make strong choices and be optimistic in your life.  If you gave your all just know the only thing you need to be is the best version of yourself :)

Casting Workshop at ACT Now!

This weekend I finished up my two week Casting Workshop with Melanie Crescenz from CFB Casting and they work on a bunch of shows while her main focus is "New Girl", a couple shows on Adult Swim, and she's finishing up a movie with Cameron Diaz that's filming in Boston.

Fun & Quirky Lyndsey

The first week we brought in our own scenes and after a Q&A we each got a few minutes with her while we performed our scene with a Reader.  I performed a scene from "Sex & The City" as Carrie called 'The Good Fight' which Carrie and Aidan argue about his stuff being all over the apartment after Pete (Aidan's Dog) chews up one of Carrie's fancy shoes.  It's a fun scene that has comedic undertones but is honest and real.  Melanie laughed throughout the scene and said it was a very real fight that most couples have at some point and if I hadn't talked about Carrie and Aidan she wouldn't have known it was from "Sex & The City" which I think is good because I don't want it to be recognizable or be compared to Sarah Jessica Parker, because she is the perfect Carrie.

This past week was Cold Reading so after chatting about the shows and answering a couple questions from people in the room we were given our scenes with 15 minutes to prepare and then read in front of the other actors.  My scene was from "Newsreaders," in fact, the entire episode, so I picked a few different scenes that I felt flowed together well and although the script was a little daunting, I felt like I was making good and honest choices.  Joseph Pearlman gave me some great advice when I had taken an Intensive with him; make choices that excite and motivate you, find the danger, and then let the words come off the page, but really listen to your Reader.  I made sure to put all those techniques into my Read and was pleasantly surprised when Melanie said that I was more prepared in my Cold Reading than some of the actors who had 2-3 days to prepare this when they auditioned with it.  She said I chose the meatiest parts of the script and that brought out my best side.  YAY!

Each Workshop I take is a learning experience and an opportunity for me to perfect and hone my craft.  It's another time to perform a Cold Read in front of a Casting Director as well as a room full of actors (whom are all talented, Act Now does a great job with that) and also see what you would be cast as.  My character was carrying the show, a beautiful but annoyingly quirky girl, a Host type, that was fun and just a tad bit strange.  I like that Melanie challenged me with something interesting!  Now if "New Girl" would give me a chance to meet with them, you'd see an even happier girl ;)