The Working Actor

Danielle talks about an awkward audition…and gets some love from her dogs….

Age: “Old enough to drink and young enough to still get carded.”

Danielle is originally from the suburbs of Chicago but has lived in LA for 7 years. She has worked at The Dog House for 4 years.

FAVORITE CELEBRITY SIGHTING AT WORK: “Oooh. The funniest one. It was Leif Garrett.  I didn’t recognize him because, umm…he does not look the same as he did when he was young. He came in and paid with his credit card and I was like ‘oh, wow.’ He ended up leaving his credit card which was kind of embarrassing because we didn’t have a number to call him. We do get celebrities in and they are usually all about their dogs. We also get a lot of assistants so you don’t necessarily know when it’s a celebrity dog or not.”

BEST MOMENT IN LA: “It was the day when my first national commercial aired. It was for Big Lots. I was at work and my mom called to tell me she saw the commercial and she was excited to see me on TV for the first time. That was the day I felt so happy, so vindicated.  I’m here, I’m doing things for the right reason. That was really fun.”

BEST AUDITION STORY: “The first thing I booked. It was an audition for a Cox Cable commercial. I went into the audition and thought I bombed it. I screwed up the lines they gave us. I walked out and did that thing where you are just like ‘oh my god I suck. I hate myself.’ But I ended up getting a call back. I couldn’t believe it , I walked in and the director shook my hand and said, ‘we loved you it’s just a matter of talking to your agent.’ I was so excited but played it cool. He had me stay and read with 4 guys, but I booked it.”

FAVORITE MOMENT WITH AN AGENT: “This was before I had a commercial agent. I was running at Runyon with a friend’s dog. This guy stops me and says ‘Hey. Your dog is really cute’ as he hands me his card he was a doggie agent.  It would figure the dog would get an agent before me. But that’s LA for you.”

YOU MAY HAVE SEEN HER IN: Big Lots commercial, Cox Cable Commercial, and a short called Here Comes the Bride.

THIS JOB HELPS ME AS AN ACTOR: “It’s a really great way to stay sane. If I’m having a crappy day and LA is really coming down on me I get to come to work and hang out with really cute dogs. It’s also made me more confident in difficult situations. You have to be in charge when you have 30 dogs that you are watching.”

DREAM ROLE: “Anything on ‘Mad Men,’ you could dress me up like a tree and put me on that show and I’d think it was awesome. Anything with Rodrigo Garcia, I really loved Robin Wright Penn’s role in Nine Lives. I would also give up my first born child, whenever I have it, to work with J.J. Abrams. I want to be in Star Trek, so J.J. call me.”

WHY LA OVER NYC: “I found NYC to be a place that made me anxious. I love that I can go hiking in Griffith Park or to the beach. I don’t, you can see I’m pale, but I just love the nature aspect of LA and it’s a little more relaxed.”

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?