The Working Actor

KATE TALKS ABOUT HER EXPERIENCE WITH THE HURT LOCKER:

Age: “25”

Kate is from Maryland, but has lived in LA for 4 ½ years. She has worked at Heimberg Law Group for 4 years.

WORST AUDITION STORY: “I came in to audition for a manager and she asked me to do a monologue. I did this really emotional monologue, I was crying at the end. It was powerful. After I finished we just stared each other down, neither of us said anything, for 6 or 7 minutes. Finally, she said, “is it over?” I replied “yeah.” She told me, “You should have said scene. I’ve just been staring at you unsure if you had finished.”

YOU MAY HAVE SEEN HER IN: “Grey’s Anatomy,” Tween.

UPCOMING: The Hurt Locker – Directors Cut, W.M.D.

THIS JOB HELPS AS AN ACTOR: “It would help me with any role on a CSI type, or medical show. We’re a medical malpractice law firm so I already know all the jargon. I hear about things that happen to people all day. I have a broad spectrum of characters to draw from.”

DREAM ROLE: “Ellen’s Page’s character from Juno.”

DOES YOUR DAY JOB MAKE YOU HAPPY: “This is a good gig. I don’t want to wait tables. I like the people here. I’m proud of what we do. We help poor people who were wronged. But, I do think on a daily basis that I didn’t move to LA  to work in a law firm.”

FIND OUT IF DEACON CAN DANCE:

Age: 30

Deacon has lived in LA for 3 years, but is originally from Chicago. He has worked at The Village Idiot for 2 ½ Years.

FAVORITE CELEBRITY SIGHTING AT WORK: Thomas Lennon

BEST MOMENT IN LA: “When I got my first apartment, it was the first night I was there, I had no furniture. Everything I shipped broke except for one glass. I sat there and used a suitcase as a table, and got a $5 bottle of wine at 7-Eleven…..I knew I couldn’t be happier.”

BEST AUDITION STORY: “It was few months ago, for Budweiser. It was a videoconference audition; the director and producers were in Chicago. I saw them laugh at something I did through the 20-inch screen and thought ‘alright I’m gonna book this,’ and I did.”

YOU MIGHT HAVE SEEN HIM IN: “Grey’s Anatomy,’ I played a patient with a broken leg” and a current Mazda 3 commercial.

UPCOMING: Taco Bell Commercial, Budweiser commercial, Twix Commercial, Coors Light Commercial, A Marine Story.

DREAM ROLE: “For them to re-cast ‘Lost’ and run the series again, all 6 seasons of it. I’ll play Jack, I’ll play Sawyer, either one I don’t care. That would be fine with me.”

ADVICE FOR ACTORS MOVING TO LA: “Save up as much money as you can, and don’t take it personally.”

WATCH AMY EXPLAIN WHY SHE MOVED TO LA:

Age: “Whatever you want it to be…preferably not 60”

Amy has lived in LA for 5 years but is originally from Minnesota. She has run Amy’s Blankies for a little over 2 years.

SIGNIFIGANT MOMENT IN LA: “It was the first time I went up in an acting class. I did my scene and the teacher said nothing about my work. She said, ‘Amy, what’s going on with your hair?’ I had no idea what she was talking about. I said, ‘I guess it needs a cut.’ The teacher called up other girls from the class and had them put their hair over mine so we could see what colors made my skin and eyes pop. It was insane, but that was the first moment I realized I wasn’t in Kansas anymore. This is a business and you’re not necessarily valued on your work. It was a reality check.”

BEST AUDITION STORY: “I was going out for a small role in a big show. I was coached on it and I had done my work. So I went in and did my [audition] and the woman said ‘that’s great, now just do nothing. Just say the lines.’ So I did, and I booked it. I’m not saying that you don’t need to do the work, you just need to be yourself.”

YOU MAY HAVE SEEN HER IN: “The Office”, “Private Practice”, “Grey’s Anatomy”, Southbounders, A Vick’s commercial

UPCOMING: “The Wish List” and a web series “Vicariously”

THIS JOB HELPS AS AN ACTOR: “It’s a creative outlet. It’s hard as an actress to gauge productivity. As an actress you go on auditions and hopefully book things. But with sewing you complete something at the end of the day. It gives a sense of accomplishment as well as being creative by making new designs and putting new fabric combinations together.”

DREAM ROLE: “Working in a Christopher Guest ensemble type film or an Altman-esque film. Something where there are a lot of quirky interesting characters with interesting relationships.”

ADVICE FOR ANYONE MOVING TO LA TO BE AN ACTOR: “A lot of people will perhaps disagree with me, but acting can’t be the only thing in your life. You need other stuff going on. You need a life outside of that dream to make you live and be happy. I love acting and can’t imagine doing anything else, but it won’t always make me happy. I need other things. People always told me that when I was younger, but I get it now.”