The funny thing about Hollywood...

Ok, so there are many things that can be considered funny or odd or just plain strange in Hollywood, or the industry in general.  Today I discovered first hand, how things are not always what they may appear.

So I went to my callback yesterday.  The funny thing about callbacks are that they tell you you should do exactly what you did before.  No major changes in acting or body language, everything just the way it was.  Well, of course, unless they advise you differently.  Same goes with clothing options.  Never forget what you wore to an audition because if you're called back...well, you gotta wear it again.  Great.  So remember how I told you yesterday that I went on a hike up Eaton Canyon?  Well...guess what I wore.  Yep, you betcha...the EXACT clothes I wore to the first audition last week.  At least no one can say I wasn't dressing truthfully for the part, but the bad thing about getting a callback the afternoon before the actual second audition...while at work...you don't really have the luxury of rushing home and doing laundry.  Nope, and, since I stayed up till 3 am writing about the callback rather than realizing I should wash my clothes in preparation...well, let's just say, I wasn't able to convince myself to wake up any earlier than 10 (less sleep = tired looking = nooo bueno) so the clothes went right back on my body dusty and previously sweated in.  Sexy hu?  So I get to the audition right on time, sign in, and the same casting director comes out and talks to the 5 of us that have gathered in the waiting area.  He's quite thorough in explaining what he wants from us, it's actually really nice to know EXACTLY what they are looking for, though I can't help but wonder then where does the creativity and ability to find something unique and good come into play for us?  I mean, they are literally going to get the exact same thing out of everyone...but I guess that's how they want it.  It's pretty much like the last...though this time the guy is sitting on a bench while the girl stretches, then she sits, he asks if she wants the trail mix, she says yes, notices no m&m's etc etc.  Easy right?  Again my new hiking boyfriend and I enter the room (this time I think his name is Sam...and I don't recognize him at all, though in the waiting room I did run into an actor I met at my work (though at first I did not recognize him, he looks different on fb and when I saw him last...) as well as noticed that the Asian guy in the Shell gas commercials seemed to have joined us) and we get ready to slate.  This time there are a number of other people in the room with us, the producers and directors and other important people I'm assuming, three ladies and two guys if I remember correctly all with papers on their laps easily chatting away in the hot audition room (why are they so warm by the way?  I would be so uncomfortable sitting in those audition rooms all day!).  When we went to slate one of the gentlemen told the guy behind the camera (the same guy that had been doing the auditions alone last time) that he had originally made a note on my picture, saying he wanted me for "tomorrow's" callback for "Eve," another Target spot with the same director and producer but through a different add agency.  So then Sam and I do one take of the new sit down hiking scene and then I'm asked to wait outside for a moment and then told that they will contact my agency about the next day's callback.

Crazy hu?  But exciting too!  I mean, it's always a good thing when the director or producer picks you out and wants you to come into an audition that you weren't originally booked for right?  I'll take it...though it was a little nerve wracking to know I'd be coming back to the same studio for a callback that I didn't even audition the first time for...totally not knowing what to expect.  So on the way home I called my agent to let them know to be expecting another call, and then went about my day waiting patiently for my phone to ring.  Then, mid afternooon, I see the familiar 323 number pop up on my caller ID...

"So the callback is at 1:00 at the Kathy Knowles Studios on 5th street (the same place I just came from), wardrobe is pajamas, you're going for the role of...young Hispanic mom."

Wow.

Young Hispanic mom...I laugh, sure I guess.  I mean I know I'm what's considered "ethnically ambiguous" and I'm truly flattered now that I know that my looks can apparently change the director/producer's minds about what type of character or look they want for their spots, but that was the last thing I was expecting to hear.  And on top of that...now I've fallen into the mom category.  I mean I'm not offended or upset about it, I'm just excited that they liked me or my look enough to want to try me out in an entirely different commercial...but it's weird finally looking your age after years of being told you look a good 5 plus years younger.  All those years I hated when people treated me as if I was a naive kid, and now, when looking young could potentially get me work, I am finally my age.  What luck.  But that's beside the point...

So here I am, having returned from my "young Hispanic mom" callback, and I'm sure you're all dying to hear about it, right?  Just humor me and nod your head.  So I get there, and there are a good dozen Hispanic women all dressed in pajamas, some with robes, some with cute little lacy camisoles, messy hair, fresh faces, a couple with beautiful messy curls...and then me.  The half Asian, half white girl, in sweats and a tank, hair just ironed perfect, makeup natural but there...and the same director/camera man comes out and I find out my first details of what the shoot is.  Basically he tells us, come in, messy hair, no makeup (ohhh crap), we're supposed to have just woken up, groggy/hungover/whatever.  Hand through the hair as we walk to the list on the easel, look down the list, look down at ourselves, then back to the list, yawn and cross off "shower" then leave.  Ok I think feeling kinda in a haze, time to hit the restroom and try to lighten the makeup more.  Eventually it's my turn and I enter the familiar audition room, which is cooler today probably due to the overcast nature of the day outside.  So I walk over, hit my mark, look at the list, look at myself, grab the pen, yawn and make cross off lines on top of all the others made by the previous girls.  "Ok, good, now this time try it..." more messy, more groggy, don't cover my mouth when I yawn, yawn saying fuck it as I cross off the "shower" to my long list of things.  Ok, I can do that right?  So I try again, try to be more groggy, sloppy, loose... "Ok, now try it..." crap I picked up the pen BEFORE I looked at the list....look at the list firrrrst.  mess up your hair while you look at the list.  Really say fuck it with the yawn.  By now I'm starting to over think...and the third take feels weird.  I try to act tired, mess up my hair, look at the list...oh crap I looked down at the pen....look at myself, think fuck it, yawn cross off shower, pen down leave.  I look up at the director/producer...silence..."more sloppy?" I ask...he's thinking...finally he says something to the effect of "alright we're good" and I tell them have a good day, and leave thinking unhappily to myself "awe fuck.  I messed that one up."

They always tell you that in auditions you never know what they are looking for.  You never know what they want or not, that you shouldn't beat yourself up too much about them.  They also tell you to have your epiphanies IN the audition room, not leaving them.  The later of which I need to work on.  I should have slowed down, I should have really stumbled groggily up to the easel, I shouldn't have looked down at the pen in that second, I should have taken my time...been more specific with each beat...was all I could think as I got into my car.  They liked me, they had me do 3 takes, they WANTED me to do well with this audition, really wanted me to work...and I messed up...ugh.  Why wasn't I all there, why wasn't I present?  Well, we all have our good days and our bad, the days when we are on point and the days when we're a little...off.  But why did my off day have to be today?  Granted it was my first attempt...but it was callbacks, and I needed to blow them away...perhaps by some stroke of incredibly good luck I'll get the second callback and another chance to really show off my groggy, sleepy, fuck it morning look.  Or, maybe not.

The moral of the story is that you really never do know what to expect...or who may be taking note...I definitely didn't expect to be asked to audition for a role that was nothing I would have ever been submitted for in the first place.  Proof that it's about the right place at the right time...that it only takes one person to see you and like what they see...and that it's a small circle of industry and casting professionals all working on many different projects, so here's to hope, here's to pushing forward, and here's to the unknown...