Geez, TGIM! Yeah, Thank God it’s Monday. Why do I say that? Because my “Monday” is like a normal person’s Saturday. I’m tired. After working 5 overnight/graveyard shifts in a row, for who knows how many weeks back-to-back, I’m in need of some downtime. So I get home around 5:30 am, talk to my little brother back in Virginia and get in the bed around 6am in an attempt to catch up on the weeks’ sleep…which rarely works.
See, the thing is that I don’t really have a “weekend”. My “night job/server/Sunset Blvd babysitter” weekend is Monday/Tuesday and my acting weekend is Saturday/Sunday. Often times I feel like as though I’m on-call 24 hours a day. Plus, sometimes I have employee meetings on my day off and weekend auditions.
I’m often asked, “How I do it”. At times, I ask myself the same thing.
Honestly, I’m not sure how I do it and/or have done it for such a long time. My body isn’t sure either. The physical toll it takes on me is evident…mentally and socially too. Part of me has to live in a state of denial and associate certain things with certain things. Another part of me feels that it’s highly unlikely that I can work as hard and as smart as I have for as long as I have and not get to where I’m trying to get to.
What keeps me going? For one thing I still have a burning desire to act professionally…I love being on-set. Another thing is that I feel like I am “right there” at the point where real career building jobs will fill my resume. Still, another reason is that I’ve come a long way from Virginia Beach and it just makes sense to continue on the journey. I'm not at all complaining or even venting; I'm just talking about my situation. I'm quite fortunate to have two jobs that I earn money at.
I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was offered a promotion at the night gig, but after seriously considering it for a week or so I respectfully declined the offer. It would have included a bump in pay, but I’m just not prepared to take on the extra responsibility. I also didn’t want to accept the position and have it put me over the “tipping point” of my sanity…it’s such a tough job. Not tough like digging ditches, but tough nonetheless. The greatest part of the whole thing is that I put myself in a position to being able to decline the offer. I’ve used the job to place myself in the driver’s seat vs. the passenger position and THAT feels great. Three years ago I might have HAD to accept the position.
CUT TO: 10:33 this morning, I’m in a deep sleep – Phone ringing.
It’s my commercial agency. I let the call go to voicemail, but right away it’s ringing again. It must be a same-day call so I answer it. Sure enough, it’s a callback for 12 noon, in 87 minutes in Santa Monica. I was so tempted to roll over and grab just 5 more minutes of rest, but I thought better of it and got up, in the shower and on my way.
When I got in the room I immediately recognized the director, David Shane. He directed the “KY Brand” commercial I did in New York last year…unfortunately it never ran, but it was still not a bad financial experience, plus I got a trip to New York out of the deal. The audition went well so we’ll see what happens.
After the audition, and since I was way out in Santa Monica, I figured I might as well drop-off some photos…even though I really wanted to go back to sleep. Gotta keep on…keeping on.
This is where something really inspiring happened. I stopped by one place on my list and there was an empty drop-off box. I didn’t want to put my headshot in there because it was raining a little and the box didn’t look active to me. So, I paused, and then opened the door to the office not knowing what I would find. I knew whom I might see because I knew who the casting associate was, but you never know what might happen. My style of drops is to stick and move, but I’m extremely calculating at the same time.
When I opened the door, I saw, at the very back of the office the associate in question. I waved and just said I wanted to drop a photo for their files and she politely motioned that she was on the phone. With that, I was on my way…I’m always careful to not be a burden while being a pleasure to deal with.
Twenty minutes later I received an email on my phone from her and it read:
hi nice to see you for a moment today
sorry i couldn’t come say hi
we cast the role in XXXXX but i will hang on to your pic for future stuff
signed XXXXX
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Actually, I didn’t even know there was a role I was right for in the project. I was just doing a general drop-off to remind them that I’m still here, available and ready to work on whatever they are casting
It was such a boost to validate all of the effort it takes to drive around this city for as many years as I have. That includes countless miles, hours, photos and a few parking tickets along the way beginning in August ‘98. This same associate, years ago, as an assistant at a different office, received my postcard, called me in and booked me on a popular dramedy a few years after arriving from New York!
There has been a lot of question of whether or not it’s worth to do drop-offs; especially the way the casting process has changed. I think it’s worth it.
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