I got Cast!!... as Another One liner!!

Woohoo!! Lets hear it for ME! ok no seriously though, since my one line ("Message for you sir") on Titanic Blood and Steel, I have not had a day to top that experience on a professional set. There is something so amazing about being on set and being a minor cast member! (sooo looking forward to the day where I'll become a primary cast member but hey-ho! one step at a time!)

So today I got news from my agent that an offer of a one-line part has been made to me for a tv series that will air on the history channel!! So friggin excited! and I'll take some pics (if i can) and then put them up here once the series has aired and everything is no longer a big copy-right issue.

So excited! How did I get this you ask? Through my agent! A while ago, I was asked to submit an online audition for two minor roles in the series and I hadn't heard back from them in a while! Ah! So naturally I was sad and doubted myself, but overall got over it and realised it wasn't for me!

This is exactly the same as what happened for Titanic Blood and Steel, I auditioned for a role, didn't get it and then some time later got called on for a one-line part!

So now I know that I can at least be trusted to deliver a line! woohoo!! so excited!

Believe in yourself, and always do your best! Because the casting directors will remember you! xxx

Peach out! x

The Call-back

OK so the callback was just like a regular audition, except this time it was with the director.

I was asked to perform my scenes twice each, once how I had prepared it and the second with some direction...

and well...

I kinda panicked... It didn't go well which is kinda shite since I really really wanted that part! I've heard nothing since then, and it's been a week. A friend of mine was short-listed so perhaps she'll have better luck and get the part!! x


I think what I've learned is, in this industry, 2mins is all you have. It's your one shot to impress and if you fuck up slightly, it's not gonna get you the part. But I've also learned that with mistakes comes a lesson and I have learned from my experience and I feel I will grow from it. It can only go up from here right?!

Anyway, always hold your head high, not getting a part isn't the end of the world, it's just setting you on another path!!

Stay happy, healthy and focused! Because you can do anything!

Peach out!

X

Can you be an actor with no experience?

In short yes! Of Course you can! If you're in the right place at the right time and a casting director wants you, then that could be you set for life! There are so many success stories out there such as Charlize Theron (fellow South Africa), who raged and roared at a bank teller in LA and a talent agent spotted her! And look where she is today!

Now I'm not saying you should go shouting at every bank teller in the hopes of being spotted by a talent agent, but strange things happen, if you're in the right place at the right time, that could be your break if you are just what they are looking for! (Hopefully that 'right place' is a casting)

But also ask yourself this, what are you doing?! Honestly, why don't you have experience when there are so many opportunities to learn? Get in contact with your local drama group or society and see if they or any near-by theaters hold any workshops? There are plenty of freelance trainers and casting directors who host workshops and some for a very reasonable price. It's not paid experience but it's definitely a start!

Also try find some small theatre courses or acting courses that might interest you and that are available at a decent fee. There are also plenty of student films in production that need actors who will work for free!! There are plenty of websites out there for you to make contact with these people and where they can advertise: such as here in Ireland we have the filmmakersnetwork.ie and crooked house theatre have a forum for advertisements. Also it might bode well for you guys out there with no experience to go and join things like Fishpond here in Ireland, run by a casting director and is viewed by many production companies that need irish actors (so why not see if there is an equivalent in your country?). Also Movieextras.ie is a great company, that charge about 60 euro for 6 months, and like 99 for the full year, and they will make your profile available to casting directors who need extras for filming in Ireland. The pay is rubbish but you learn all about what it is like to be on a film set and how everything works!

There are tonnes of ways for you to get experience, so go out and get some!! You can get paid acting work off the back of non-paid acting jobs!! Go and audition for the student films and learn the process of auditioning, get some work and make a showreel!

you can alternatively find some good scenes from films, tv shows or plays and film yourself and make a vimeo page, and upload all of those clips and send that link on to every casting director and director that you can get in contact with!! The work is out there, but if they don't know who you are they can't hire you can they?! (feel free to also write your own material! You never know, it could be your hidden talent and you could end up like Lena Dunham who wrote "Tiny Furniture", and "Girls"!)

So yes you can be an actor with no experience, and in my opinion it's not absolutely necessary to have training either, in schools and what not. It is a massive help of course, and you get to explore and learn so many different things, but it is not absolutely ESSENTIAL in landing you a job!!!

Best of luck! Get Experiencing!!

Peach Out!

xxxx

John Dawson Acting Workshop

So I spent Saturday and Sunday in an Acting For Camera and Audition workshop with John Dawson and I thought I'd go through a little bit of what happened for anyone who is thinking of doing it.

www.facebook.com/DawsonDramaWorks
www.dawsondramaworks.com

We were asked to prepare a 2 min max monologue from a play, film or tv script, but that was not shakespearean. It had to be contemporary and suitable for camera. I know some casting directors disapprove of using anything from a play because they normally don't transition well.
   So before I even got to the workshop, i had my work cut out for me. Because all the auditions I have been to have been for film or tv, I was always given SIDES to work from and never had to prepare a monologue. So I was now faced with the job of finding one, and here are some of the monologues I came up with:

Vesper from Casino Royal, the scene where she meets Bond on the train and surmises his history by the clothing he is wearing. (this is on youtube)

Olive Pendergast from Easy A, has a monologue at the very beginning of the movie to camera.

Erica Albright from The Social Network, I'll post the link for the text here: http://www.monologuedb.com/dramatic-female-monologues/the-social-network-erica-albright/

and that was it really. It had to be a monologue suited for my age, and it had to be a role that I would love to play. So I was wrecking my head for ages trying to think what role I would love to play, and then finally on Friday (the day before the workshop) I realized, by simply looking at my desktop screen, there was a collage of photos of Rooney Mara as Salander in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.... DUH!!!

So I chose to do a monologue from the original film script, in the revenge scene! Yay! So now I had a monologue for a part I would have killed to play!!!! (obviously I didn't do it as much justice as Rooney, but hey ho!)

So on Saturday morning, I arrived at his studio in the Stoneybatter Area, and we were all introduced to John and each other before we were all thrown right in at the deep-end to perform our monologues straight away. We would then end up performing them again, with some direction at the end of the course! And the improvement was remarkable! We were all given a DVD of all our work that occurred in front of the camera so that we could see our progress and practice!!!

Through the course of the weekend we would be learning how to perform a monologue from a subjective view (To Camera) and an objective view (looking off camera) We were also taught how to relax in front of the camera and just feel comfortable in the room. We also learned how to do an audition successfully and how to cold read.

I have learned so many valuable things over the course of the two days, and here are some of the most valuable tricks I learned:
1. Don't cut yourself- when you're performing a monologue or scene to camera for an audition, don't freeze at the end or cut yourself, keep acting beyond the words!
2. When going into an audition, ask what Frame you are in and how much can you move.
3. When Cold reading, hold the paper up at eye level and away from your face, so off to the right for example, so the camera can pick up your face even when you're looking for your next line.

I would highly recommend this workshop if anyone is looking for a small two day workshop in order to just gain that little bit more of an insight into what auditioning is really like. You will definitely pick up great tips along the way! And the workshop is really fun and you will definitely enjoy yourself!!!

Thanks for reading! If have any questions just post below! x


Peach Out!

Self taping an audition

Oh gee... I seriously hate self-taping for an audition because you have time to analyze and stress. The worst thing about self taping an audition is having one day to do it...

I had one day to self tape an audition for a short film because the actual audition was a good while away and I had somewhere to be that night which was extremely important for me. So I got my sides and realized straight away, this is something I can't do on my own. So ensue another dilemma... My boyfriend who is doing media studies is in Wexford, I'm in Dublin... so he's out. My brother had just returned to Wexford the day before.. so he's a nope too.. I couldn't exactly get my grandmother to do it so my last and only option was Dramsoc...


Oh let me tell you there are not a lot of people willing to give up their day to help you. That's a fact!! Luckily I had a good friend in Dramsoc who would read with me and hold the camera... but only after 6pm... My audition needed to be done and uploaded by the next morning at the latest.

So fine, it was the best I could hope for. But doing a scene is so hard when you self tape because you can't just relax. You're gonna do the scene, then watch the play back then do it again and again.. it's really time consuming! and Then you feel bad for taking up other's time.  But I got it done after about 4 hours... (4 scenes in total) and I uploaded and sent it off.

I would totally prefer to go to the audition but sometimes that's just not possible.

My only advice so far is so find a very well lit room and use a good camera. If you need to hire a studio for an hour or two then you should do it, if you get the part it could be worth it. I'm not sure about filming it in the context that the script states, e.g., if it's a kitchen scene, film it in the kitchen. I will ask a few casting directors about this and see what they come back to me with.

Have you ever self-taped? any advice?

Peach out.

what to do in an audition (from experience from audtioning in ireland)

So I thought I'd start making more of these posts that a lot of people want to know about. so if anyone has any questions they'd like answered please tweet me @appeleyes2 and I'll put up a post or I will reply to your tweet with the answers.

So let's begin with, what to do in an audition and in this post I will include the preparation and the actual audition.

Scenario 1:
Ok, so lets presume you were asked to attend an audition, and lets presume they have asked you to prepare a monologue:

Find a monologue that suits your age and your characteristics. So if you're more into comedy do something funny. And likewise if you think dramatic monologues are more comfortable for you to perform then choose a dramatic one.

There are plenty of male monologues out there, and there is loads of ones for women too. Males I'd suggest anything from Shakespeare's plays (likewise women) but also some good monologues can be found in Howie the Rookie and Terminus (Mark O'Rowe-irish actors), also there's Enda Walsh's Disco Pigs and Conor McPherson's Rum and Vodka.

Women there are two characters in Terminus (Mark O'Rowe) a young(B) and older character (A). Also there are good monologues in Brian Friel's Faith Healer. But I'd definitley recommend Sarah Kane's works (mostly 4.48 psychosis) and also Caryl Churchill. She rights brilliantly for female actors. and Billy Roche too writes amazing female roles.

Those are just a few suggestions.

Then read the monologue and learn it off.

Do it in the mirror. 100 times. or a 1000 times. however long it takes until you stop acting and actually start being the character.

The most important thing I can offer here is to learn your lines. Know your character. Read the whole play. This will help greatly!!!

Your audition starts when you walk in the door. Be confident. Find something in your character that you can identify with and so you will be that character. The director/casting director will introduce themselves then they will chat a bit and then they will ask you to start in your own time.

Do it. Do it with confidence. Do it with Style.

and then they will thank you. and you will leave. that is the end of your audition!!

Good luck!!

Scenario two: Getting sides from the script.

if you have an agent they will no doubt have sent you sides (pieces of the script with your character's lines on it for the audition).

learn your lines! always always learn your lines!!!!

Then it's pretty much the same as above. Practice loads and do it with confidence!

90% of auditions you will go on will reject you. For not being the right height, weight, body type, hair colour, eye color, anything at all!!!

This game is all about rejection. The best thing to do is to stay positive, relax and enjoy your experience. Try feel good after your audition and put it to the back of your mind, maybe even treat yourself afterwards! I find this helps loads! get yourself a lil desert or ice cream or whatever you want. you've earned it after all that work!!


Best of luck!!!!!


Peach out!

What make up do you wear to an audition??

So guys I have had a few questions about what make up to wear to an audition and my advice?

none....or barely any

The idea behind this is that if they wanted to see you in eyeliner and red lips they will hire a make up artist to do that! They want to see you and your natural look for the part, no matter what part it is. Your natural beauty is always better!!

So what I suggest:

I'm quite fair-haired so I use a little eyebrow filler and some Mascara (Christian Dior Extase).
My foundation routine is very simple too, I use MAC Face and Body in the colour N1. It's the lightest and honestly I've never had a better foundation. I will most likely do a review on this soon as I think it may just be in my list of Actor's Essentials (new blogpost coming soon!)

So keep it simple. If you have dark hair then all you might need is just a small bit of foundation (DON'T CAKE IT ON!!!... use more of a tinted moisturizer to even out your skin tone), and possibly a little bit of concealer.

I always wear as little make up as possible because they can always change it with their own make up artists.

(In terms of hair, just wear what you are most comfortable with, I prefer my hair up, but my hair is strawberry blonde and curly so I quite like to show it off as I think it sets me apart from a lot of dark haired actresses out there, so I'd compromise and put the hair around my face and just clip it away and leave the rest really natural. I would always just recommend that you go in as natural as you can be. They can always change it.)

Comment below if you have any more questions on how to go or approach and audition.

Thanks for reading!! xx

Peach out!

well..

ok so nothing new! I had my first audition of 2012! yay! thank God! I didn't get the part but at least I had an audition! And I'm so excited to get back into it! Now, I know I've said that I'd make a youtube video blog, however.. I'm a little weary about putting myself on youtube just yet so I thought I'd just post more here and see can I get more followers or visits here first and help you guys out!

Um, anyways, the audition went well and I think the casting director liked me which is great! and honestly sometimes it's not all about getting the job and it's more about making and impression on the people who audition you, because you may not be what they're looking for in terms of the character but you may be great for a part in the future or in another project that they're working on!


So here's my tip for today: Don't go in thinking you're going to be amazing and get the part because you deserve it. Go in with a smile and a positive attitude and think, I should get this part because this is my interpretation of the character and hopefully you like it. In the end though I think meeting the people and the casting directors is such a valuable experience.

Other than that I don't have any comments. I can't wait for the oscars this year though!!!! I hope Rooney Mara gets Best Actress, I know Meryl Streep will probably get it but I think that's just because she impersonates Margaret Thatcher very well, but honestly I think the emotional and physical challenge Rooney went through deserves the Oscar more! But we will see!

Anywho...

Bye for now!!