The Working Actor

Here is an interesting read from Vassar’s website. It’s Lisa Kudrow’s commencement from this years graduation ceremony. It’s a great read, It took Lisa 8 years to land “Friends” after her first TV pilot failed.

Another great story Kudrow shares is when she recalls the “Friends” cast telling stories about being fired from other shows. James Burrows who fired her from “Fraiser” does most of the dirty work….

Jim Burrows also directed this pilot and the first ten episodes of Friends. One day the six of us were talking with Jimmy, exchanging The Time I Got Fired Stories and Jimmy told them mine. “Well, she’s got the worst one of all, she got fired from Frasier. ‘You weren’t right for the part darlin’.'” Thanks! And then he said, “Well, it’s a good thing you got fired or you wouldn’t have been on this show.” He was right. And it was a good thing I didn’t get Saturday Night Live and that the Romy and Michelepilot didn’t work out and every other disappointment that happened…they were like guide posts that kept me on my path. Oh and after I got fired from Frasier, I went to a birthday party and, feeling like I had nothing at all to lose, I flirted with a guy who was way out of my league. We dated and on Thursday Michel and I will have been married for 15 years. Yeah, that’s the biggest achievement of all, and we’ll be celebrating with our 12 year-old son. Thank God I got fired! Maybe there is a reason for everything. I think there is.

Enjoy the rest of the speech.

AGE: 28

Heather is originally from Essex, VT but has lived in LA for 2 years. She has worked at Lucques for 9 months.

FAVORITE CELEBRITY SIGHTING AT WORK: “Actually it’s our head chef Suzanne Goin. I’m even more obsessed with food than I am with acting. She was just nominated for her 3rd or 4th James Beard award. I get more star struck around Suzanne than I do around the celebrities who come in.”

MOVED TO LA BECAUSE: “I needed to get out of NYC. I’d been there for 8 years and felt like there was more opportunity out here. It was time for a change. I had done a lot of theater and wanted to give TV/Film a try.”

WORST AUDITION STORY: “I went for this workout video audition once, I have no idea why I was called in. I guess my headshot looks athletic. So I walk into the room and they ask me to do a workout routine. So I just start moving in some sort of aerobic workout type thing. I even did push-ups. The cameraman stopped the camera and called over the casting director and said ‘hey look at this.’ They just watched it in front of me and started cracking up. Finally they just said ‘thanks for coming in.”

YOU MAY HAVE SEEN HER IN: A Web Series called “Red Is The Color”

DREAM ROLE: “It’s always been to play Laura in The Glass Menagerie. But I feel like the mom in ‘Six Feet Under’ would have been perfect for me when I was older.”

To see just how much of a foodie Heather is check out her blog: Three More Big Bites

Imported beans before they are roasted

This machine cools the beans in a matter of seconds after they are roasted.

Don’t forget to try the tea!

Now its time to sample the new LAMILL drinks….but let’s meet Alex first:

Age: “Thirtymmmmmmyearsold”

Alex is originally from England via Atlanta, GA. He has worked at LAMILL Coffee for 4 1/2 years.

FAVORITE CELEBRITY SIGHTING AT WORK: “We get tons of people who come into the Silverlake boutique. It’s pretty much a celebrity haunt. TMZ is always there.  Leonardo Dicaprio is in every week, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Geena Davis. But I’m a big Star Trek fan, and I got to sit with Chris Pine at the bar a few times. That’s pretty cool.”

MOVED TO LA BECAUSE: “I was working in the corporate world back in Atlanta and I was getting so sick of it. I either wanted to shoot myself or everyone I worked with.  I had been acting for about 3 years already and earned my SAG eligibility on a Chevy/NASCAR commercial.  My best friend kept encouraging me to leave the corporate world. Finally, I took his advice and decided to move out here.”

BEST MOMENT IN LA: “1am the evening I arrived in LA. A buddy and I drove out to crash on a mutual friends floor. We drove  for 41 hours straight from Atlanta…only stopping for food and gas. We pulled in at 1am, put the car in park and just walked around this park in North Hollywood for a bit.”

WORST MOMENT IN LA: “All I have to say is Cheescake Factory…white denim.”

WORST AUDITION STORY: “It was back in Atlanta, and it was one of my first auditions ever. I had no experience, no audition technique. It was a showcase type thing and there was an agent from LA. I’m doing this deep monologue, which was the eulogy from Four Weddings and A Funeral. I was doing such an amazing job, at the end the agent was crying. I thought to myself ‘I’m amazing. I moved this guy from LA.’ The agent just sat there crying and didn’t say anything. Finally he looked up at me and said, ‘you had no way of knowing this, but I just delivered that eulogy at my best friends funeral a week ago.’ It turns out I didn’t move him as much as I thought. Ouch!”

YOU MAY HAVE SEEN HIM IN: “Boston Public” Season 4 Episode 14 “Chapter Eighty,” A Funny or Die video called Gump, NASCAR/Chevy commercial, O’Charlies commercial, The Straight Jacket Society

UPCOMING: Kapisa

DREAM ROLE: “I’m a Christopher Meloni meets Russell Crowe…I don’t think I look like him…meets Christian Bale/Jason Statham. Something dark, gritty maybe a cop or a D.A. or FBI or swat. “Southland” is one of my favorite shows right now, something like that.

The best part of a private tour is always the free samples. My drinks were made by LAMILL’s very own drink master…MAKE SURE TO START WITH GROUND BEANS…VERY FRESH A MINUTE OR TWO OUT OF THE ROASTER:

Brazilian Peaberry + Japanese Siphon Method = TASTY

The Siphon brew is almost complete as the flame has been removed, the coffee is finished percolating, is cooling and is descending into the lower chamber.

Perfection!

MY FAVORITE DRINK!!!!!!!

Coffee Margarita:  Secret blend of iced coffee, tequila and salts.  This is still in R&D and no one outside of LAMILL, except you, has even seen it.

What’s your favorite spot for coffee in town?

This weekend I stopped into LAMill’s roasting facility. It was a trip that would make any coffee snob jealous!

I met a pretty cool actor Alex Collins…and got to taste some amazing drinks.

Watch what happens to the coffee beans right after the roasting process:

Alex Collins’ full profile and more LAMILL photos coming soon…..

Check out Miranda and Gabriel’s full profiles.