The Working Actor

Listen to the excuse an agent used to explain why he wasn’t interested in Gabriel…..

CAN YOU BELIEVE THE AGENT SAID THAT???????????

Age: 30

Gabriel is originally from Austin, TX, but he has lived in LA for 2 ½ years. He has worked at The Pleasure Chest for 2 ½ years.

FAVORITE CELEBRITY SIGHTING AT WORK: “It was a big action star. He scared the shit out of everyone in the store. I went up to him and said ‘what up, you need help?’ He said no at first, but a few minutes later he came over and asked me about double-penetration. I said you can’t really hit both angles that way, but let me show you what you can do. After a while he kept buying more and more stuff. He would just say ‘Is this good?’ and toss it in his basket if I said yes, or I would tell him it was a piece of shit and recommend something else. It was just funny to see, everyone is just a person who has no idea what they are doing when they come in here.”

MOVED TO LA BECAUSE: “I wanted to continue acting without a glass ceiling.”

BEST MOMENT IN LA: “I had this audition for a pretty major, indie production. A friend had recommended me from a previous film. It felt like it was real high steaks, everyone was nervous. I got to meet the director who was really nice, and I got to meet the writer who was someone I admire. I felt very good and confident about the audition. It was very much like, this is why I moved here. This is why I deal with LA, this is why I do this. I knew I wasn’t going to get the part. I didn’t, and that’s ok.”

WORST MOMENT IN LA: “My first day here. I was staying in a motel downtown with my mom. I had no idea how I could live or get a job. I couldn’t even do that back home. It was just so bright, ugly and dirty here.”

YOU MIGHT HAVE SEEN HIM IN: RSO and some short films on youtube like Softshoe.

THIS JOB HELPS ME AS AN ACTOR: “It lets me be myself. I also have to listen to hardcore stuff and maintain my control while figuring things out. I think that’s what acting is about. It’s about being in the moment, it’s about having that control.”

DREAM ROLE: “To play weird messed up characters, to have some range. The type of roles Gary Oldman gets. He plays these people who are perceived to be quirky or crazy, but there is always something more to them.”

ADVICE FOR ACTORS MOVING TO LA: “Be ok with not acting. Setup your life, and have your foundations. You need to eat, you need to have a job, you need to have stability, you need to have relationships. People who try to pursue it like a gambling career, they just leave.”

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 Diann’s advice for actors moving to LA:

Age: 28

Diann has lived in LA for 6 years but is originally from Virginia. She has worked at Moe’s Flowers for 6 years.

FAVORITE CELEBRITY SIGHTING AT WORK: Sidney Poitier

BEST MOMENT IN LA: “Delivering flowers to Diane Keaton, Celebrities never answer the door…it’s always housekeeper. She answered the door.”

WORST MOMENT IN LA: “My first week out here I decided to just drive around. Somehow, I ended up on the 101. I freaked out and tried to get off but ended up on the 134. I had no Idea where I was, it took me 4 hours to get home.”

BEST AUDITION STORY: “The first job I booked. The day of the audition I woke and I don’t know if was nerves or Chicken Pox but my body had red spots all over. When I got there they turned on this music and I was told to start dancing and had to do some cold reading as well. It was crazy I was dancing with these spots all over me…but I got the job, I was in the show it was a good feeling.”

WORST AUDITION STORY: “It was my first audition out in LA. I had just graduated school and it was about nine months since I did an audition. I was super nervous. There were three monologues I had to memorize. I said the first line and just blanked. I forgot everything. I tried to start again but could not remember the lines.”

YOU MAY HAVE SEEN HER IN: “I did a lot of shows for the Outlaw Style Thrance Company.” A short film called Naked Sushi. An eHarmony commercial.

UPCOMING: Heat Train

DREAM ROLE: “Meg Ryan’s Role in When Harry Met Sally.”

Watch Drew tell his worst audition story:

Age: 32

Drew has lived in LA for over 10 years, but is originally from North Carolina. He has worked at The Groundlings for 3 ½ years.

FAVORITE CELEBRITY SIGHTING AT WORK: “LL Cool J, they were filming his show here the other day and it was really cool to see him in person.”

WORST MOMENT IN LA: “I was hit by a car in traffic about 7 years ago. I was in a crosswalk on Santa Monica Blvd. and a car hit my foot. There were no witnesses so I was found ‘partly responsible for my own accident.’ The cop said, I ‘failed to use due caution when crossing the street’ even though one car stopped for me. The car that did stop just drove away after I was hit so there was nothing I could do.”

BEST AUDITION STORY: “It was for ‘Reno 911!’ it was a fun vibe in the room. The audition was with the cast, and they were ready to laugh. They made me feel so comfortable. So many times you walk into an audition and the people have mean faces, are in a bad mood, or they are eating. With good improv I never remember what was said, it just feels good. But I remember every single line of a bad improv. This just felt good. I could tell when I walked in these guys wanted it to be good, and they wanted us to do well. I got to do the show a few months later. From day one I felt like part of the group.

YOU MIGHT HAVE SEEN HIM IN: A lot of theater with The Groundlings and Upright Citizens Brigade.“Reno 911!” “Halfway Home” a commercial for American Airlines – “Team Building.”

UPCOMING: “The Sarah Silverman Program” and a feature called Freak Dance “it’s a break dancing musical.”

THIS JOB HELPS AS AN ACTOR BECAUSE: “It’s the most creative job I can think of asn an actor. For 3 ½ hours I have to be focused, I have to listen. I watch actors work, I’m constantly seeing new choices, new ways of saying or delivering things. It also forces me to verbalize what I do as an actor. I have to communicate it to other people so I’m learning on a whole other level.”

ADVICE FOR ACTORS MOVING TO LA: “Study. Make sure you’re always in a class. Take every opportunity you can to perform and work with as many people as you can. Take your time, your’re not in a race to get famous.”