Shades of Gray

It has now been almost three months since I made the move to the LA area. My acting coach said that I would spend the first few months here learning "how the film industry in LA works", and he was dead on in that statement.

I've been far more fortunate than some in my first three months, auditioning for small roles in two NBC series, doing a commercial, as well as a small role in an independent film, which was produced by a solid company in the LA independent film community. Through those experiences and others, and as my acting coach predicted, I have began to learn how LA works, and oh boy, "We're not in Kansas anymore Toto."

Not yet having an agent, I have a service that emails me audition notices. They are on the up and up and have supplied me with good information. My role in the film was the result of an audition call I received from them. I also have a few other sources for auditions. One of the things I have learned is that when you get or see an audition call, you must respond to it immediately, not later, as fifty, one hundred, or more people are also responding to it within hours of it being posted. He who hesitates is quite literally lost when it comes to audition calls in LA.

Next, we come the title of this blog entry, shades of gray, which is a term my acting coach has used more than once. Here's what that means. The talent pool for any type category (young, old, heavy, thin, tall, short, what have you) in LA is populated with a multitude of good actors. When a casting director sits in his or her studio and has fifty or more actors come before them, all reading for the same role, they are not simply looking for the one or two actors who show they have the chops to do the role. Of those fifty plus actors, maybe a few are simply wrong for the role, or do not have the acting ability to handle it, another ten to twenty give OK auditions, but fall short of what the casting director is looking for, but of the rest....many give quality auditions and clearly have what it takes to do the role. What then causes that one individual to rise above the rest and to be cast in the role. That's where the shades of gray come into play. It can be the simplest nuance in an actor's audition that separates them from the rest. A raised eyebrow at the proper time, a look in their eyes that conveys what the character is feeling, a sneer, an unexpected smile, a struggle as the character fights to to find the right words, playing the role totally against the expected type, anything that makes the character believable and real, and makes the casting director take extra notice. One shade of gray less, or one shade of gray more in the actor's audition can make the difference in booking a role or not. Still, as I said in my last blog entry, if you are just one shade of gray away from booking the role, that means you did well and will probably be asked back to audition for other roles with that same casting director in the future.

Here is a highly immodest statement. I am a better actor than I was six months ago. And to that I say, so what! Being a better actor than you were six months ago in a town overflowing with good actors is certainly no guarantee for success. I will need to be a better actor in six months than I am now, to be competitive, and six months after that I will need to be still better.

There is an old saying that goes like this: "What was good enough to get you where you are today may not be good enough to keep you there". How true that is for an actor in LA.

If you are an actor thinking about making the move to LA, remember, more actors who try it fail than succeed. If that fact doesn't stop you then by all means move here, but when you do, be prepared to elevate your game and to learn about and utilize the shades of gray.

More later.......