Ever wondered what it takes to be a full-time actor? Do we just say we're actors and struggle for years on end, waiting for that one opportunity to change our lives? Honestly, most of the time, yes. It's a lot of patience, grit, determination, and belief in oneself that keeps that creative spirit alive and working.
I've spent the past five years doing just that; or, four-a-half years, to be quite precise. I showed up in LA, another one of those, "No, I'm not going to ever struggle because I KNOW I'll be discovered by a casting director or producer while I'm shopping in Trader Joes," type of actors. Me and reality don't mesh well.
That type of situation does happen, once in a blue moon. It happened to actor Angus Cloud, for an example. An ordinary person doing an ordinary job being given an extraordinary shot, a chance to fly. That's not what happened to me. I moved to LA, worked at the local Starbucks, and even got on set as a production assistant, four years later, I was doing the same thing!
In my first month, I hung out with creatives who used their free time to create anything and everything that came to mind. I was doing the thing in LA! Although it was none of my original work, I was thankful and excited to be part of such a community, creating for the sake of expressing our talents. It was then that I learned what it meant to be a producer, what it meant to be an artist, more than just being an actor and waiting for opportunities to be given to me. I was being proactive and learning new aspects of my desired path, which allowed for more doors to open.
I started receiving incredible opportunities. I worked as a featured extra (that originally had a line) on an up-and-coming tv show called The Rookie with Nathan Fillion; a chance to be carted around in a golf cart on a studio lot (Warner Bros.), getting my hair and makeup done in the first-team trailer, meeting the director, the 1st and 2nd AD, and being introduced to the rest of the crew and cast as myself. Talk about ALIGNMENT!
I started booking more work, (as an extra, sure, but I was meeting people left and right and learning the ropes). I felt hope, excitement, alignment, and gratitude. However, as I touched on in my last entry, I realized that I was doing the same thing every day. Well, eventually that became monotonous. My opportunities withered, I met less of the people I'm meant to learn from and more of the ones that have nothing to do with my future or career. Life got dull again. I stopped creating and stopped feeling inspired by life and all of its possibilities. I fell into that inevitable rut and couldn't find a way out of it.
CUT TO: INT. RESTAURANT -- DAY
Andrea sitting in her favorite casual-fancy restaurant for brunch, journal in hand, waiting for her food to come. It is Saturday, January 14, 2023, a cold rainy day in LA.
The idea hits her like a ton of bricks: why not use the skills learned and developed from those first few months in LA to start creating her own work??
ANDREA
I started writing some shorts last year, I'm sure
there's something there!
Inspired by her new perspective, Andrea took out her laptop and—lo-and behold—a whole 2-3 page short intended to be shot in a day was ready to go. She got to work: who can operate the camera? Who can direct, who can set dec, who can act in it? She compiled a list of friends that she'd made over the past few years and reached out to them, seeing if they could help out a week from today. To her excitement, they could!
FADE OUT.
The week went by miraculously fast. Before I knew it, it was Shooting Saturday! I made my own call sheet, my own group chat, my set dec volunteer came the night before to rearrange the living room to be more short-friendly. I even set out snacks! Just like that, I'd produced my first short, and the day had arrived to shoot! I felt more like myself than I had in a long time. Since then, it's only inspired more creative pursuits to come along. (It went great, btw! Will this one be released? Probably not, due to being disappointed with my own work as an actress, but it inspired more and those will surely be released!)
My life feels more like those first few months in LA again. These past 6 months of 2023 have been inspired, adventurous, and magical—to say the least. Creative opportunities have popped out of thin air. I'm writing shorts based on experiences that are too comical to not share with the world and will produce those just as I did that short in January; friends have asked me to be in their own produced works; my auditions are nonstop and are getting more exciting by the day. I see my life with those same creative lenses I did when I first moved out here.
I'm creating outside of film again, too! I am singing, writing, dancing, putting more tangible work into my acting opportunities, designing (because I still really do love fashion and am working on releasing my work very soon) and cooking!! I have allowed myself to take a chance and do what I've been waiting on others to offer me the opportunity to do. I am so very proud of myself and of the group of ladies that helped me with the first of many Shooting Saturdays.
All of this to say, the life of an actor is the life of creation; creation without borders or waiting on someone else's approval. I took my life in my own hands and I will say, I much prefer it being on my terms rather than someone else's. After years of not creating, not putting in the work, I can happily say that that is not my life anymore—and never will be again. I refuse to give up on my dream, and I refuse for it to take much longer than it needs to. I'm ready, I'm capable, I'm talented, and after years of working behind the camera, I can finally be the one in charge, offering people jobs and opportunities to create alongside me. What a life I've created!!
Commentaires