The Working Actor

Age: “A lady never tells.”

Jessica has lived in LA for 5 ½ years, but is originally from New York. She has worked at Amoeba for 5 ½ years.

YOU MIGHT HAVE SEEN HER IN: “Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job – Season 3,” and “Austin Stories.” Jumping out of a car in Secondhand Lions. And, “If you ever watch really bad movies, you have seen me in Levelland, it’s about skateboarders….the real tricks is growing up.”

UPCOMING: An Old Navy Commercial

THIS JOB HELPS AS AN ACTOR BECAUSE: “They are super flexible and really understanding when I have an audition. I also enjoy meeting people at the registers. Just the other day, I rang up a casting director and he asked for my information.”

Age: 24

Liam is originally from Washington D.C., but he has lived in LA for 2 years. He has worked at The Pleasure Chest for just under 2 years.

FAVORITE CELEBRITY SIGHTING AT WORK: “I would love to tell you, but we are all about discretion. I would probably lose my job if I told you. But I’ve helped “A-list” movie stars, musicians, and directors. We get them all.”

MOVED TO LA BECAUSE: “After college, all of my friends moved to New York and I felt like I should move there as well. It seemed like the natural progression. I wanted to do something scary and go to a place I’d never been. So I bailed on my friends and moved here.”

BEST MOMENT IN LA: “Participating in the table read for 2012. I got to read for some of the uncast parts. In addition to working here, I’m also a casting intern. It was a really cool Hollywood insider moment to see the director and most of the cast working together.”

WORST MOMENT IN LA: “Getting a speeding ticket while racing from one rehearsal to another. I barely made it to the second rehearsal, but I made it there with a $300 ticket.”

BEST AUDITION STORY: “It was for the roll of a scientist doing some cleaning in the background. They had me mime some cleaning things. The director said ‘you got the role. We’ll see you next week.’ It was the easiest audition, but more importantly it was the first paying job I got in LA.”

YOU MAY HAVE SEEN ME IN: Activeion Commerical, Kate Voegel Video (99 Times). “I was in an episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians,’ and in the background of an episode of “Entourage” that were both filmed at The Pleasure Chest.”

UPCOMING: The Death of a Muse

THIS JOB HELPS AS AN ACTOR:“I get to meet characters every day and its stress free. If I was waiting tables, I’d be carrying trays and stressed out all day.  Here I get to listen to music and talk about sex. I was part of the ‘Entourage’ shoot here…I got paid for that. I was also on ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians’ that was shot here…I’m not AS PROUD of that one.”

Watch Kristen recall her worst moment in LA:

Age: “In my 20’s”

Kristen has lived in Los Angeles for 2 ½ years, but is originally from Michigan. She has worked at Sur for 2 ½ years.

FAVORITE CELEBRITY SIGHTING AT WORK: “John Fogerty and Clive Owen.”

WORST AUDITION STORY: “Oh, it happened when I first started. I was driving to an audition and was really excited, really amped. I was in my car and running late. I started to feel frustrated, rushed, and overwhelmed. Because I was running late, I started to feel unprofessional. It got so bad that I turned the car around and went home. My nerves got the best of me.”

YOU MIGHT HAVE SEEN HER IN: “I did background work in He’s Just Not That Into You, and Yes Man.”

UPCOMING: The Loneliness of the Long Distance Dreamer and Behind Your Eyes

BEST MOMENT IN LA: “I was waiting on John Fogerty and his wife Julie. It made my night. Nobody had any clue who he was. I had to call my mom in the middle of my shift and scream in excitement with her. It was really awesome.”

THIS JOB HELPS AS AN ACTOR BECAUSE: “All my friends who work with me are actors. I have people to run lines with me at any given moment. The owner is an actor as well, I got one of my agents through him.”

DREAM ROLE: “Rachel McAdams’s character in The Notebook. Her performance is amazing. Her presence, how truthful, emotional, and real. It’s very challenging to be able to tell the truth like that. That’s what acting is…bringing out your crazy side, your emotional, your dark side and letting people see it.

ADVICE FOR ANYONE MOVING TO LA TO BE AN ACTOR: “Don’t get caught up in Hollywood. Hollywood is not Los Angeles. Don’t give in to the people you meet after 10pm at bar, at a club, or at a party. They are not going to make your career for you. Watch your back and study hard. You have to be 110% committed. If you are, you will do really well out here.”

WATCH CODY TELL HIS AUDITION STORIES:

Age: 24

Cody was born and raised in Pasadena. He has owned Cacao Coffee House for 1 ½ years.

BEST MOMENT IN LA: “Losing my virginity.”

YOU MAY HAVE SEEN HIM IN: Big Bully, Bring It On, Not Another Teen Movie, The Intervention, Tumbleweeds, Thomas and the Magic Railroad, Madison, Trailer Park of Terror, “The Closer,” “Trust Me,” “Monk,” “90210.” Click here to see Cody’s IMDB page.

UPCOMING: “10 Things I Hate About You”

DREAM ROLE: “I want to be a superhero…I don’t care in what.”

ADVICE FOR ACTORS MOVING TO LA: “Have 3 years worth of bills in the bank and don’t give up. I’ve seen people come into LA and try to do this. It’s too hard to not be able to dedicate all your time. If you can afford to put all of your time into it, you can get your foot in the door. You do extra work, you go out, you take acting classes, you meet people, you network. It takes a long time, it doesn’t happen overnight. It’s just like anything else, It’s just like school. You’re not going to show up at school for 6 months and have a degree. It’s just not going to happen like that.”

WATCH SAJEN CORONA’S ADVICE FOR ACTORS MOVING TO LA:

Age: “30-40….If I don’t color my hair, I can be 50.”

Sajen was born in Santa Monica and raised in Culver City. He has worked for Starline Tours for about a year.

BEST MOMENT IN LA: “When I was filming my movie that I was staring in, Getting It. I got hooked up with 3 girls, you know, cause I was in the movie when they saw me in front of the camera.”

WORST MOMENT IN LA: “The movie didn’t go to theaters.”

YOU MIGHT HAVE SEEN HIM IN: “Getting It…It’s a feature film.” Click here to see Sajen’s IMDB page.

UPCOMING: “Horror 88…I play a small role in it.”

THIS JOB HELPS AS AN ACTOR BECAUSE: “It allows me to chase my dream — balls to the wall. If I have an audition I can walk and go on it. At the same time, I’m constantly pitching on the boulevard. If they are a tourist, I sell them a tour. If they are local, I ask if they are in the industry. If they are, I give them a DVD and a flyer for the movie I star in.”

WATCH AMANDA TELL HER WORST AUDITION STORY:

Age: 20

Amanda has lived in LA for 2 years, but is originally from Mexico City. She has worked at Mexico for 8 months.

MOVED TO LA: “Because I always wanted to be an Actor.”

BEST MOMENT IN LA: “A few weeks ago I went to dinner with Jamie Foxx.”

YOU MAY HAVE SEEN HER IN: “A few Arabic music videos, a spec commercial for the Doritios Super Bowl contest, a few student films, and a Mexican commercial for a steam iron.”

THIS JOB HELPS HER AS AN ACTOR BECAUSE: “You always have to put on a poker face. It’s a lot of acting.”

HER DREAM ROLE: “To play some sort of very disturbed assassin.”

ADVICE FOR ACTORS MOVING TO LA: “Be careful who you meet. Don’t get carried away, LA has a tendency to do that. We’ve lost a lot of actors to partying and drugs.”

Age: 27

Billy has lived in LA for 9 years, but is originally from Chicago. He has worked at Amoeba Music for 5 years.

It took Billy 50 auditions to land his first acting job.

FAVORITE CELEBRITY SIGHTING AT WORK: Parker Posey

YOU MIGHT HAVE SEEN HIM IN: A Christmas Too Many, a Wanadoo Cell Phone commercial, and a Partnership For A Healthy Mississippi Anti-Smoking commercial. Click here to see Billy’s IMDB page.

THIS JOB HELPS AS AN ACTOR BECAUSE: “The company is very supportive of the arts. It’s also great to be surrounded by other creative people while at work.”

Age: “In my 20’s”

Danni has lived in LA for 3 years but is originally from London. She has worked at Swingers for 1 year.

WORST MOMENT IN LA: “One night I heard a knock on my door. Outside was a strange 80 year-old man. Without saying a word he walked into the apartment, sat on my couch, and began to vomit profusely. A hooker, who the stranger picked up earlier in the evening, was outside the apartment demanding cab fare. I kept going outside to talk to the hooker who finally left after I called 911. Once the ambulance arrived, I had to help the paramedics by holding an IV bag as the man laid on a gurney in the middle of my living room. As for the man, it turns out he was a neighbor I had never met before.”

BEST MOMENT IN LA: “Faye Dunaway approached me while standing in line at Koo Koo Roo with her cell phone out. Faye wanted her hairdresser to copy my haircut for an event that night.”

YOU MIGHT HAVE HEARD HER IN: The Homeland Security internal computer system, a Hallmark Commercial, and a Bailey’s commercial.

Age: 25

Trevor has lived in LA for 5 years but was born in Florida. He has worked at The Bowery for seven months.

BEST MOMENT IN LA: “Getting hit in the nuts by Party Boy.”

BEST AUDITION STORY: “I made up a monologue on the spot and have continued to use it whenever I need one.”

YOU MIGHT HAVE SEEN HIM IN: “Mind of Mencia,” a Weight Watchers Commercial, Brooks & Dunn – Hillbilly Deluxe, and a Walmart Commercial.

UPCOMING: “Operation Repo,” and A Pilot called “Militia.”