About Me

My photo
Welcome to my page! Thank you so much for reading! I'm in my twenties, and this is my little blog about my acting and working experiences! Please enjoy, follow and leave a comment if it interests you! Thanks again for reading!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

slow...

ugh!! I'm really feeling slow this january!! I've had no calls or potential auditions and I'm feeling the strain! I need my fix!!

So instead of acting all down and paranoid, i decided to post this! I am currently doing the performers project in college so at least I'm acting for 6 hours a week and getting the creative fluids flowing!! I am also doing the directing module, 2 hours a week and then on top of that a bit of Italian, Shakespeare (plays and films) and Crime literature! so yay! there is no time when my brain is not actively being creative!!

However, every single day I'm praying for a phone call or an email about an audition! Hoping that if not today then tomorrow... for something! anything! ... but alas, 19 days into January and still nothing. Well it is only 19 days into the new year and my last project was in december (or possibly nov!).. so it hasn't just been 19 days, it's been a good long haul since i had my last project and audition. And I'm feeling massive withdrawal symptoms.

But I guess while I'm out of work I can focus on other things. Such as:

1. My body. I have recently been trying to shovel less shite food down my throat and stick to all the healthy stuff! I've also been exercising loads, such as jogging in and out of college 4 days a week and then doing a workout by Jillian Michaels on the weekend or some evening during the week (maybe even twice a week) when i can. So that if I am called for an audition for anything, at least I know I'm healthy and comfortable with my body! I Don't really diet as much as I exercise, which is a faux-pas because it's the combination of the two that'll get you fit and healthy quicker! But I sorta believe that you should eat whatever you want to eat, just don't go chomping down mounds of chocolate cake every chance you get! I eat quite well, although it's my first week back at college and I haven't found the time to go shopping for healthy food yet, but once I settle back into being in Dublin then I'll get a system going and start eating like a normal human being and put away the koka noodles!

2. Reading. I'm doing a lot of it for college and because it's mainly plays, I know that I'd have a good background knowledge of a lot of characters and stuff that could be relevant for inspiration for auditions. And since the film industry is recreating a lot of novels and the like, I feel it's a really good grounding for myself if I read more!! So I'm reading The Stieg Larsson novels, and the shakespeare plays (some of the less familiar ones) and Beckett and all sorts really! so yay for reading and widening my horizons! woohoo!!

3. Trying to find material for a showreel! These days it seems important to have bits of you on camera! so thats what I'm trying to do! get monologues or anything really to put on camera!!! But I tell you, finding the time and resources are a lot harder than it's made out!!! Luckily I've have the episode of Cuckoo to put on my showreel or put up as a clip in the meantime, while making a showreel... oh god..

4. Watching Grey's Anatomy... honestly one of the best shows ever made!! The script is amazing! some of the dialogue and the monologues in it are just heart wrenching! So I'm definitely going to try and get something from that to work into my showreel!!! yay!!!

Um... thats all for now i guess.. I have the workings of a youtube video that is going to be put up soon.. maybe next week about audition essentials and what i do for auditions and the like!!

Anyways thanks for reading my blog!!


Saturday, January 14, 2012

The girl with the dragon tattoo!






Film of the month!!! Wow! Ok so I have just even to the cinema to see 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' and I thought I had to blog about this before I forget how I feel! I have read the book beforehand and I have not yet seen the Swedish version of the film, and so here are my thoughts so far. The book was better, naturally. The film was consice and well made. But the best thing about that film visually was the opening credits! They had this crazy lil opening like a James bond film with flash images and oil and black and it was just epic! The film was well directed however, the sex scenes were a little graphic and unnecessary. I don't want to sound like one of those people who just don't like sex on screen but I think that was definitely verging on soft core porn and it wasn't neccessary to the plot, it could have been shot and edited in a different, less graphic style. And of course I have to mention the main inspiration for this post! Rooney Mara!!!!!! Holy crap that woman is definitely one of the best actresses I've seen in ages!! She'll go far and honestly deserves an oscar really... I just love her! She's definitely true to the book! 100% Lisbeth Salander! Amazing! Daniel Craig is great too of course, but Rooney's portrayal is amazing! Love her and I'll definitely be following her career! The other thing I want to mention is the accents. Inconsistent but I do find that movies definitely seem to be moving in that direction, where the script and plot are more important than the accents. Daniel Craig has an english accent and Stellan Skarsgard has a slight American accent and the rest use a Swedish accent. It didn't really matter to me to Be honest but it dies carry with it an jnconsistency in the film. The film was very good. Consice and some detail was left out, but that is obviously understandable and I don't think anything was drastically changed except Spoiler Alert!!!!! Look away now if you have not seen or read the book!!!!! ((actually I. Will post the spoiler thought at the end so those of you you haven't read it or seen the film yet don't have to cheat your eyes) So the movie in my view is a successful portrayal of the book! And Rooney Mara is awesome!!!! X definitely my pick for my movie of the month! Go see it!

 Peach out!!!



 !!!!!!Spoiler thought!!!!!! The only thing drastically changed is Harriet banger is not in Australia. No mention of the ranch or business she runs down there. Go see it peeps! It is worth your while!


Thursday, January 12, 2012

'Game of Thrones' and nudity

So recently I've been watching 'Game of Thrones' and before that I was a MASSIVE fan of 'Spartacus: Blood and Sand' and also 'Spartacus: Gods of the Arena'.

These shows are incredible! Especially the Spartacus series, the acting is amazing and so is the plot, the visual effects and the dialogue. Epic isn't the word. Therefore I was a little taken aback by Game of Thrones, also HBO, but it is quite a lot different than Spartacus. I felt a little uneasy about the series in the beginning, partly because of the nudity. But then again I loved Spartacus which contains a lot of graphic scenes, however in Game of Thrones, the nudity was more... um.. raw I guess... It had more of a barbaric feel to it rather than the fantasy feel Spartacus had. But in Game of Thrones we aren't dealing with ancient  Rome, which is a romantic concept in itself, we are dealing with the Middle Ages in Westeros and Easteros.. it was just interesting.

However, the point of this blog is to discuss nudity. Recently and Irish actress left the set of 'Game of Thrones' because she was asked to undress. This is respectable to me, and I really admire her courage and sticking to her guns, because she claimed when she was given the part she was promised skin clothes for her breasts, but as she approached the set the director asked her to take her top off. She left, head held high and I respect her for it... HOWEVER, she should have researched that role a lot more before she took the part, she had no previous knowledge of the series or of HBO shows in general, which is partly her fault and in that detail, she loses me really. The show has a lot of sex and prostitutes and just very graphic sex scenes and actions, so I think if you got offered a role, she should have researched that more.

So lesson learned? Research your roles! If you get an audition, don't go in not knowing what you're dealing with! Always research and get to know what kind of direction you'll be dealing with and what kind of show you're going to potentially be a part of. Research the director and see what kind of work he/she does and prefers, this will definitely help you pick parts.

Me, personally I really don't have a problem with nudity, but primarily only upper body. And only if it's tastefully done. I'm not saying that the 'Game of Thrones' has tasteless nudity because that's not true, it's just very raw for my taste, so provided I wouldn't have to do full body nudity, I don't know if I'd have that much of a problem. Someone told me recently that unfortunately nudity is something expected nowadays in young aspiring actresses. I don't agree with that statement because I think that it is more the style of television today that is exploring the body but it's not expected from young actors, it's put to them, but they can turn it down. It's not as if you can't or won't get jobs because you don't want to act nude.  What are your opinions on this? Nudity in today's acting world? Would you do it?


Thats it for now, but lots more to come as the year unfolds.. one week at a time..

Peach

Ps: Love the 'Game of Thrones' and 'Spartacus' series! Cannot wait for the new ones to begin!!!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

working out and twitter

I have just finished working out because as part of my new year career plan, I've got to get my body in shape! Because honestly I just feel better when I like the look of myself you know? and I feel sexier and more confident! Also I think having your body in top condition in this industry is a necessity unfortunately, so I plan to work out, very hard to get the body I want.

The workout I do is at home (for the moment, before college starts where I will either join a sports club or the gym) is Jillian Michaels "30 day shred" I do this because the exercises are 20 mins and so they're fast and easy to fit into my day! I bought the DVD through amazon.co.uk for about 7 euro and the reason for this is because I used to watch The Biggest Loser and the woman gets results! she's not playing around! 

It'll take a little bit of time to get me in tip-top shape but I really don't mind. I quite like doing it, it's just the moment before doing it I hate, the moment you decide to work out, it's never easy because you always seem to feel like saying "oh I'll just do it tomorrow" but as Ben Franklin says "Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today"... The man discovered electricity, you'd think people would pay more attention! 

So as tired and worn out as I am ( I know you don't think 20 mins could be that bad, but believe me, it's Jillian Michaels, they are!!) I decided to write to the people who read this, who I am grateful to because otherwise i'm a lil freak talking to myself! 

Which brings me to my next topic, twitter.. ah twitter.. I did actually have an account before hand and I deleted it because i didn't find it useful at all, but i recently joined it (recently like today!) again, and I will try to keep up with it a little more. I found Kevin Zegers twitter, which i'm not sure is real or fake so I commented and now I'm concerned that it probably is the real Kevin and he will think  I'm a psycho stalker... oh well... I guess I am, but not in a totally psycho demented please-talk-to-me-you're-so-cool-and-in-movies kinda way, I just find it extremely interesting to talk to other actors. I always have been. Even my co-stars in 'Lay Me Down Softly', especially Leslie McGuire and Simone Kirby, I'd always be asking them questions, like interviewing them, because I find it really interesting! I enjoy listening to people's stories from set of movies or TV programs, and I enjoy listening to them talk about the people they have worked with or met over the years, because I want to one day be able to tell the same stories. 

So maybe I'm a little bit of a freak...hmm.. may work on trying to be that little bit more normal this year. Gosh this post turned out to be a bit humiliating didn't it? well, there ya go. For those of you who read this, I'm not a psycho stalker egotist, but a person who enjoys being in contact with other actors and listening to them... 

shit.. do i need help? anybody?

(TWITTER-- https://twitter.com/#!/appeleyes2)



Saturday, January 7, 2012

New year!

So there is a lot to look forward to this year! The Titanic series should be out soon, great new host of movies to watch and hopefully this will be a good year for my career!

I don't really have many new years resolutions, but one of them is definitely to start working out again as I think in this business having a good healthy body and healthy skin is half the battle! I have also promised myself to practice my accents and try and learn new ones and get even more comfortable with the old ones!!

So the accents i need to master this year include: cork, northern irish, galway (general west of ireland) and dublin. This is because I'm pretty shite at the irish accents in general, even though i speak with a southern Irish accent/ south african twinge! I am not at all good at the west of ireland accent so I plan to try out the galway accent as much as I can!! Therefore, I'll be reading many monologues and parts of Martin McDonagh's plays!!

For the cork accent I'll be reading The Playboy of The Western World by Synge, so that I can understand more about the accent and how it's supposed to sound, also I'll re-read one of my favorite plays, Disco Pigs by Enda Walsh (amazing!!) to get more of the rich cork accent as it's written phonetically.

For the northern Irish accent I'll be taking a look at "Breakfast on Pluto" and "Mickeybo and Me" two amazing films with very heavy northern Irish accents!

also I'm going to try on the English accents, the county specific accents, such as essex and cornwall and devon and RP. This I'll do by surfing the net and talking to my english mates about their ideas about what other areas of england sound like. x


I'm also currently in a play in dramsoc already called Motortown which has me as a 14-16 year old girl from Essex who is kidnapped and tortured and killed. I am so excited to play this role as I have never portrayed fear on stage and so i'm looking forward to exploring that to the very depths of my character!

I'll let you guys know more as the rest of 2012 happens! For now I hope you all had a lovely christmas and a great new year!! x