Good grooming

It's Superbowl Sunday.  Like the AFL Grand Final, there is much hullaballoo, party planning, beer consumption and team-theme-decorated junk food produced for this event.  It's all Greek to me, but this year the New Orleans Saints won and everyone seems pretty pleased about it.  My day, however, consisted of a sleep-in, a workout and a late lunch with my roommate Gina and her sister, who also lives in the building.

Backtrack to Tuesday and I met with Katherine, an Australian actress who moved to Los Angeles with her TV-director husband four years ago.  Through a Facebook group for Aussie actors in L.A., she offered her services as an adviser to newly arrived Aussies, helping us plug into the industry here.  She was a delightful font of information and practical advice, who thoroughly checked me out before our meeting - finding the Baggage website and via that to my resume and reel.  With which she was impressed.  Confident of my credentials and experience, she offered to refer me to her Commercial agent (unlike Oz, where we have one agent for every type of gig, in L.A. the industry is so large and the quantity of - well, everything - so great that most actors have separate agents representing them for Commercials and TV/film (confusingly called Theatrical).  A referral is a BIG help in separating one from the hundreds of other unrepresented hopefuls flooding an agency's mailbox.  Aside from directly acting-related advice - such as headshots, recommended classes and casting websites - Katherine also gave me tips on health insurance and the name of her eyebrow technician. 

Grooming - from hair and make-up to eyebrow shaping and manicures - is very important here; even non-actors tend to place a higher priority on nail maintenance than the average Aussie woman.  Of course, these services tend to be cheaper here, too, which helps.  I'm going to take the plunge and have my eyebrows shaped - nothing drastic, but a little sleeker.  Photos will be posted in due course.

On Thursday I did part one of an agent showcase.  This was a paid opportunity to meet two agents and perform a prepared scene for them, show 'em what I'm made of.  I chose a lawyer/client scene (me playing the lawyer) which has some nice comic moments in it.  Basic dramedy (comedy/drama) material and well-written.  In preparation, I had my hair cut and blow-waved in the afternoon, feeling all swishy and gorgeous. One of the agents said right off the bat that she is not looking to sign any non-union actors (which eliminates me right now), but the other said he's open to it.  So I did my scene, it went well, I enjoyed it and the brief feedback the agents gave me was positive.  I got thumbs up for my choice of scene (suited to my type), my headshot (looks like me) and my authentic-sounding American accent (if they hadn't seen my resume, they'd have assumed I was American).  Cool.  Two more agents, same time next week.

On Friday, I rehearsed with Alex and Suzanne, the two other actresses in Beaten Hearts L.A.  Cindy, our director, put us through our paces; she is taking my favourite Bridgette Burton monologue and weaving it between the three of us.  Sometimes it feels like the three witches from Macbeth; Double, double, toil and trouble!  I think it's going to be pretty fabulous.

During the week I went to see Crazy Heart, the film about a burned out, alcoholic country singer for which Jeff Bridges won the Golden Globe for Best Actor and is nominated for an Oscar.  Well deserved.  It's a really good film (lovely performance from Maggie Gyllenhall too) and Bridges is superb.  He's my tip for the golden bald guy.

This week I also got online and applied for a few writing/editing/proofreading jobs.  Fingers crossed.  I check every day.  Sometimes there's a few suitable things, sometimes none.  I'm still hopeful of finding something that utilises my specialised skills; they are the jobs that pay better and that I will derive some pleasure and satisfaction from, be it acting, writing, editing or proofreading.  I'm good at that stuff!