And.. here we go!

Since my last post, a lot of things have happened and have changed, mainly, my attitude towards my acting career. 

I left my job at the gym, I have enlisted the help of a personal trainer and have plans to move to London at the end of February! 

Yup, a lot has changed! This year, I plan on living life to the fullest, only exuding positive energy and hopefully attracting the same! I already have an audition lined up for a theatre show here in Ireland and after that, I just need to finish my training with my trainer and then head out to London to really immerse myself in the industry over there! 

So yes, this poses a good bit of obstacles, but nothing I cannot overcome! Firstly, personal training does cost money, and since I just left my job, I have to rely on savings to cover it. But I figure, in this industry, a good, fit and toned body is essential, because I don't want my body to be just another reason casting directors will say 'next!'... mmm.. So I think of it, as an investment for my career, just as a good headshot is! 

Now, moving to London poses more obstacles, but I have family to stay with for a little while, and from there I will try and get myself accustomed to the theatre and film industry in the UK. Becoming a member of British Equity and Spotlight is a must! And then of course I will be heading in and out to as many workshops as possible and to as many theatre shows as possible, and just network!! Woo!  

Just positive energy for this year folks! That's all I'm focussing on! Getting my body and mind in check so that I can be 'available for life to happen to me' (Bill Murray)

So that's really it folks! I'm doing it! Throwing caution to the wind and just going for it! Anyone else having the same feelings for this year? Or even any advice for London? 

Much appreciated! 

Thanks for reading! 

Peach Out! 

xx

This is tough

So recently, I've been in contact with other actors from the same agency and it seems like they're getting more opportunities than I am? Is that really true? Does my agent have something against me? Do I have some kind of really unique look that rules me out of a lot of things?

The answers are complicated! Everyone has their own look and will suit certain types of projects. And every agent works for as many as they can, while not forgetting the littler people who are just starting out! And everyone gets different opportunities, and maybe it's important to not focus on what others are achieving or what auditions they're going to, because chances are, you were probably put up for it, and the casting director chose not to see you! Sigh...

This business is so friggen tough! I think it's important to not get bogged down on the negative, even when there is very little positives right now! A friend of mine once said, 'you will definitely make it in this industry if you stick with it, because many will give up along the way and you'll be the only one standing'.

I've thought a lot about that statement, and I really think that could be true! And so I want to stick it! I want to be in it for the long haul, but again, that's kinda difficult if you have nothing going for you right now.

So, here's what I plan to do. I'm going to be positive! I'm going to follow Nick Dunnings advice on peak-performance for actors ( http://www.peak-performance-for-actors.com ) and focus on the positive and remove all of the negative 'can'ts' and 'won'ts' and 'it will nevers' from my vocabulary and just keep moving on. I am going to practice. To volunteer for any and every work that I possibly can! I am going to hound directors and casting directors and hopefully find someone somewhere will be willing to give me a chance!

So let's do this guys! Let's all take a moment to promise ourselves to stick it to the end! And to do it for the love of it! And hopefully one day soon, maybe we will even get paid for it!

Keep the faith!

Peach out! xxxx

What happens at Open Auditions?

So I thought I'd do this post as I've been to a few open auditions and thought I'd share my thoughts and insights with you on what happens and what to expect.
( I apologise for the poor state in which this blog is written by the way, since I'm extremely tired but thought this is probably a necessary topic for you all to read!)

I have attended 4 open casting auditions in my life time, 2 in London and 2 in Ireland. In London I attended the open casting for Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix. And also for Lavender Brown for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. So lets discuss these two first.

So, Harry Potter certainly attracts attention, and both auditions went very similarly. Firstly, there is a lot of waiting involved. Approximately I waited for about 4-5 hours to be seen in each audition. And they were both the same, you end up in a room, where you are asked to fill in a form, they take a polaroid photo and attach it. Once that is completed they call you into a different room in groups. In this room, you stand in a semi-circle and essentially get crossed of their list by appearance. They say to certain people 'please step forward' and then those who have not been asked to do so, can leave and thank you for your time.

So that was a waste really... but not entirely. In the Lavender Brown audition I was sent straight home. In the Luna Lovegood audition, I was asked to step forward... so this is what happens should this happen to you!

I was taken to a room with a few other girls inside, and was given a page of the script to read over, and then once I was ready I could go and read it to a person with a camera. If you've seen the film, the scene you were asked to read is the one in which Luna is petting and feeding the Thestral and talking about how her mother died. So that was an interesting experience!

After all that I learned from the newspapers that I was one in 500 that were asked to read from the script so I guess that was a little achievement in itself.. but really these auditions are all based on looks.

Ok so lets move on to the next two auditions I attended here in Ireland...

Star Wars.. if you lived in Ireland and you are in any way interested in acting, you most likely attended these auditions or sent in a tape! So this was a great experience! Again, a lot of waiting, about 6 hours maybe.. in total.. I think I was there at 6am and got seen at around 12 or 1...

This audition was very different from the Harry Potter ones I had attended before. They asked you to bring a headshot, on which I wrote my agent's contact and my own contact on the back. I also included my height, hair and eye colour. And this is essentially how they judged you. Yet again people, these auditions are primarily Superficial auditions!!

I was asked had I any acting experience, and she recognised that I had a good quality, professional photo and she recognised my agent... and this is how I got through to the next round. If you didn't have either the looks, the experience or the correct kind of photo, they were more likely to dismiss you straight away, and your photo was put into a large storage container on your way out.

In the next round I was introduced to a casting director and had a small discussion about myself, my experience, and what I had attended for... And I must have impressed them, as I got a 'side' (that is a small section of script to read) and an arm band, and was told to come back at 5pm... WOOHOO! I got through! I was over the moon!

Anyway, round 3, you attended an audition, in a room where another audition was already going ahead at the same time. The room was quite large though and so their audition didn't affect yours at all.. except mentally... Anyway, you were asked to introduce yourself on camera and then read opposite the casting assistant. Also, you were standing, not sitting...
Anyway, what can you do but wait, and sadly, nothing came of it! But at least I had auditioned. I had met a new casting director and had the opportunity to perform, so all in all, I thought my day was pretty successful!

The most recent open audition I have attended was for 'Red Rock', a new soap opera currently under pre-production here in Ireland. So, the waiting was much less for this, as I arrived at 7am and expected a group of over 100 people to be there already, since the auditions started at 10am... there were 50 people ahead of me. Over all between the time I arrived, and the time I left (11am), I think there were about 200 people who were there, most of which had already been seen. But I believe more people came out after 11am.

In this audition, you were asked to prepare a monologue of no longer than 1 minute long, of which the character needed to be the same age and 'type' as yourself. And this, is incredibly difficult if you're in your twenties and a female... It also needed to be from a film or tv series. I chose a scene by Lexi Grey in Grey's Anatomy in which she discusses how her father is an alcoholic.
At the top of the queue, you were asked to fill in a form, and they filled a piece of paper for you to hold up for the camera. The information on this form was your name, mobile number, age and contact email.

There were 5 rooms in which were one casting director each and a camera. You entered, Said your name to camera and answered a small question about your monologue, and held your information sheet up in front of camera.

Once it was over, that was it. Done and dusted. So overall, my experience with these open auditions is that the wait is incredibly long, for little less than 5 minutes in a room to prove yourself...

These auditions are mostly superficial and everything about you can factor or alter your fate.. you're too small, you're too blonde, etc..

But these auditions are fun! I thoroughly enjoyed meeting new people, and the people in the queue are amazing! And we're all there for the same reason, there isn't much of a 'competition' atmosphere because it is mostly superficial.

So if you go, have fun! You could bring a book or headphones but you'll find that talking to people in the queue is a way more effective way to pass time! Bring food, and also always bring your headshot just in case, some productions take them, some do not. But better safe than sorry.

Don't be put off by the amount of people there, if you're going... Have fun! Just go with it and enjoy the experience!

Again, I'm so sorry about the poorly written state of this blog, I'm pretty exhausted! But I thought I might just take the time to express my thoughts on open auditions, so I hope this helps! And now there is nothing you can do, except to play the waiting game...

So in reference to 'Red Rock', it was so recent that I'm still currently playing that waiting game.... so... I'll let you know :P

Thanks for reading...

Peach Out!!!

Positivity

As much of a positive person as I am, it's extremely hard to be positive in this business... because of the pure and simple fact that it is hard not to take rejection personally... but the truth is, it isn't. 

Rejection isn't personal! And I know that, and yet even as I know that, I do often find myself wondering if I am not suited for this business? Perhaps I'm just one of those sad, sad acts on XFactor who think that they could have the potential to do well in the industry, but really they can't, because they are utterly talentless..

Hopefully that isn't the case... 

It's also quite hard to see your friends do well, even if you're happy for them, because you can't just stop yourself from feeling a bit 'left out'.... 

All I want is to be on a professional set again, to feel the atmosphere, to take it all in... and I know that it's not going to just magically happen but I'm sincerely hoping that with all my hard work, that it would happen soon. 

Thing is, Simon Pegg is right. 'Don't give up'. And I won't. Yes it's true that I would have occasional moments of doubt, but I think that's all part of being an actor. I just have to pull through, go to auditions and workshops and work very hard to be successful in this career. 

So if you have any moments of doubt, then buck up.. it's a long road of rejection and we all have to go through it, but we must continue on! GRIT! 

 

ISDA and auditions!

So I believe I wanted to keep you up to date with ISDA and how all that went down..

Well!... we arrived and set up on the monday evening and then performed our show "Breathing Corpses" on the Tuesday morning at 11am. The judges liked our performance and complemented the acting, the set design and the stage management, but overall kinda hated the text!! Oh well! Not much you can do about that then eh?

I was supposed to stay on in Cork and go to the ISDA award ceremony on Wednesday night when I was notified by my agent that I had an audition on Wednesday morning, and then another audition on Tuesday morning!

Well, I nearly fell over! WTF? I haven't had an audition in absolute ages and now all of a sudden TWO? in the space of TWO DAYS? WTF? ... well hey! I'm not complaining! Just a bit of a shock to the ole system! So I printed the sides and read and learned them, as usual.

But this time I went into the audition room with confidence, wanting to 'play', excited to show them what i can do! And I had fun!! It was the best fun! The first audition was for a comedy series on RTE and I had many lines, and got to play 'a character' which is always craic! So I thoroughly enjoyed my audition, and came out happy that at least I enjoyed myself.

I didn't get the part or a call back for that audition but thats understandable. I'm not gonna get everything, because sometimes its your look that is just unsuitable. No bother! At least I has fun trying!

The next audition was waaaaay harder.... because it was one line! Only one! jeepers how the hell do you audition for a one line part? Well, I soon found out! The casting director had the whole day to audition tonnes of girls for this part. Wow! and I thought my work was cut out for me! I really felt for them because they were gonna have to hear this line over and over! Gees! Anyways, I went in and said the line and found that they added in another line for me to say, i think that was a good call because at least then I could display my accent. (there was a required accent for this particular part, but with one line, that had very little inflection and no words longer than two syllables it was hard to show it!)... but that was it! 5 mins in and out! i performed the scene once and then again with direction....

AND..... I got a callback! Woohoo! I've never had a call back before so I will definitley write a post about that when i get the chance!!

so there you go! thats what has been going on with me lately! Oh yes, and I've just completed filming a short film for Dublin Institute of Technology students! That was soooo much fun! and I will post about that soon with many pictures!!! xxx

Thanks for reading! I will post soon!

Peach Out! x

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!!