Act Acting » Career Acting » Let's talk about acting for a change

Let's talk about acting for a change

Question:

On the contrary, I strongly support "good" unions. My father is (retired) a high ranking member of  the International. My brothers (all five of them) are union men.  The union gave me a job after college and I paid off all my college loans with union work — Ironworker’s Local 395 Chicago and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Terre Haute.  I am not anti-union. I know what really good unions are. I do speak out openly about what I believe to be bad behavior from SAG and I will continue to do so whenever I see them heading down what I believe to be the wrong path. Honestly, I probably don’t know any more about showbiz than anyone else with a decade and a half of work experience. There are people like Norm Schwarts and Ed Hooks and even yourself who have knowledge that makes me look like Poplin’ Fresh when it comes to experience in the biz. I only know what I see with my own eyes and experience myself from my own world view. We do not even have a SAG office here in Indiana. None. The one SAG agent, my agent,  who tried almost a decade ago to organize and set up a union office here, C.J. Hanlon, had to drop her union franchise because there was no work for union actors here. The Chicago SAG local sees actors from Indiana as "outsiders" and play patronage to their own family local following. The same is true of the Hollywood circuit. They work their own local family of actors first and others are invited to pick up the crumbs. I tried it. It didn’t work for me. SAG never did anything for me but keep me off the screen standing in the wings. If I left it up to them, I would still be a background extra. I had to follow a different course as a matter of pure survival. There are hundreds of thousands of good actors similarly situated. It is a struggle for any actor working not only in the Midwest but throughout the world.  I have just been very lucky.  But it saddens me to know there are thousands and thousands of potentially great actors worldwide who will never get the same chance. They are summarily labeled "scabs", ostracized, and defamed.  I believe this is destructive to the arts, hateful, and wrong. I am attempting to speak for them and fight for them and work for a system which would provide equity to "all" performing artists and level the playing field as a matter of law with an international "Performing Artist’s Rights Act" and the "Actor’s Bill of Rights".  If the union chooses to stand in my way, so be it. Jack Rooney Http://home.att.net/~JackRooney

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –     Hi Jack! I was just wondering what your take is on why Carl and them give you such a bad time? I know you don’t support the union, but other than that, you seem to know what you’re talking about.     Thanks for speaking up here! — I enjoy being a girl! Marilyn Monroe Victoria SAG/AFTRA

Response:

     OMG YES! Finally someone else says it besides me and more eloquently too! Thank you! I have been on about this jerk and his pals for 2 months now. killfile killfile killfile. I don’t have that luxury here on Deja but beacause of threats made by him and others I have no choice but to use it. That’s right THREATS! Why? Because I called him on his nonsense and obscene behavior and he and his pal Carl threatened me. That’s the kind of people they are. Bad people. Thanks again Lisa. I enjoy being a girl! Marilyn Monroe Victoria SAG/AFTRA Oops.  Got a new computer and hadn’t killfiled yet. Okay.  Here we go. Once again, alt.acting is treated to professional insights from a photo retoucher.  And clearly a fairly "available" one at that, if the amount of time he spends posting to  newsgroups is any indication.

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Response:

     OMG YES! Finally someone else says it besides me and more eloquently too!

Dubbya’s more eloquent than you, Cumslut. And besides, she was referring to you later on in her post, just as much as anyone else here, including me. Carl — I promise to change my sig lines as often as I change my underwear. – CASalonen

Response:

<raising hand to volunteer in absentia If *YOU* were a man, I’d have you neutered! <badumCHING And if you’re a woman, you wouldn’t have to. :P Carl

LOL

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*Sigh* I wish you were a man so I could have your baby.

<raising hand to volunteer in absentia Carl — I promise to change my sig lines as often as I change my underwear. – CASalonen

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JEEzus Christ, Starmie…where the hell you been all week? Carl — I promise to change my sig lines as often as I change my underwear. – CASalonen

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*Sigh* I wish you were a man so I could have your baby. <raising hand to volunteer in absentia Carl

If *YOU* were a man, I’d have you neutered! <badumCHING Drama Queen

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GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE! This chick is brainwashed! It’s worse then Dianitics or Jehova Witness. Watch out, she’ll make you shave off your head too! stop working non-union and GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!

Hector, LEAVE LISA ALONE!!! Drama Queen

Response:

<raising hand to volunteer in absentia If *YOU* were a man, I’d have you neutered! <badumCHING

And if you’re a woman, you wouldn’t have to. :P Carl — I promise to change my sig lines as often as I change my underwear. – CASalonen

Response:

Oops.  Got a new computer and hadn’t killfiled yet. Okay.  Here we go. Once again, alt.acting is treated to professional insights from a photo retoucher.  And clearly a fairly "available" one at that, if the amount of time he spends posting to  newsgroups is any indication.  Beyond substituting the mostly negative attention he receives down here for that which is clearly lacking in his life above ground, I cannot possibly understand what reason this person has for posting and insulting people in this forum.  It is truly no wonder that he stays, however, as it seems the troll is now running the asylum. By now he should realize that I usually only post when I believe I can contribute something of merit to an ongoing discussion.  Surely, I have shared my opinions about Financial Core in the past (and may again), but true to form, this guy fails to realize that I never once attacked Mr. Rooney personally for his choice.  What is more,  common courtesy wasn’t even extended to the author of the post (Rooney) to reply without Starmaker’s jumping in and hurling insults. I get the joke — and I understand that it is Starmaker’s "function" here to stir up trouble, but he only gets by with it because everyone seems to indulge his trolling.  In my opinion, he adds nothing to the NG.   In fact, he detracts from it, which is likely why most people who wander in to discuss topics of interest to actors leave. You want to see the level of discussion and debate in this forum improve? Start killfiling, or continue losing informed and interested contributors. I fully support differences of opinion (and even the occasional flame), but as long as everyone is participating with at least some vague sense of respect for one another (let alone the business/art/craft), this can remain a lively place to visit.  I don’t believe we need troll-type activity to keep things interesting.  I just don’t. As for Starmaker’s post, it’s a shame he couldn’t make his points without attacking me personally.  His lame attempts to insult me only serve to undermine his argument. And to somehow address whatever points he was trying to make regarding my involvement with my professional unions, YES, it is true that I support my fellow members.  It is also true that I believe that those who wish to work outside of union jurisdiction have the full right to do so.  And I also believe that NO ONE should ever join a performing union if they are not capable of earning a living under it’s auspices.  At any time, a member can honorably withdraw or resign their union status if they choose.  What I take issue with are those who opt to play both sides of the fence and, after using a legal loophole that undermines the union’s ability to further organize on their behalf, turn around and blame the union for their lack of union opportunities.  It makes no sense: if you are willing to work non-union, there is no incentive whatsoever for the producers hiring you to ever sign a union agreement.  Actors with faith in their abilities and a sense of their own market value have often organized contracts in smaller markets and right-to-work states.  If an employer wants to work with YOU, it is effective.  The choice is always yours, but it is disigenuous to complain that the "union" doesn’t help you, when you are daily doing all you can to prevent that.  A good friend of mine once lived in Nashville — a veritable right-to-work mecca — and despite the hassle of calling Hollywood to learn how to present a SAG contract to the producers at TNN who wanted to use his voice on a regular basis, he saw it through and helped guarantee his own solid contract.  Too many people believe that joining a performing union means sitting back and waiting for the offers to roll in.  They couldn’t be more wrong, and as long as there are people like Starmaker (who truly don’t care one whit whether or not someone like Jack Rooney ever works again) get involved and fan the flames of their misplaced indignation, they will find themselves continually frustrated, unhappy and pissed off at those who do not need to invoke Financial Core to make a living. Consider the source. Have a Nice Day, Lisa Chicago

Response:

Jack — I have come late to this thread, but from what I can surmise (and from what I have gleaned in some of your previous posts), you are Financial Core. That’s certainly your legal prerrogative. I would like to address a couple of things unrelated to that in your post. First of all, I think it is important to point out that unlike other unions, SAG and AFTRA are not able to guarantee employment for their members.  In a purely subjective industry like ours that is an impossiblity.  Likewise, there is no evidence whatsoever that SAG Chicago (or SAG anywhere) has any control over who gets cast when production comes to town.  If actors from bordering states are not on the radar of Chicago’s casting directors (who are NOT franchised or in any way beholden to the unions), it surely is not the fault of the union.  Still, agents will always submit those actors they feel are most likely to get the gig (makes sense, right?) — and often they don’t care where you live if you can book.  (In fact, one V/O colleague of mine resides in Indianapolis, and although I know our agent would turn a cartwheel if she moved to Chicago, it does not prevent her from getting a great deal of work.  She’s just that good.)  HOWEVER, it is absolutely true that agents (whether they be in NY, Chicago, LA or Indy) prefer that the talent they represent be available at a moment’s notice.  I cannot tell you how many times I have been called for a film or commercial audition at or close to the last minute — a role that was written out is back in, and the director has only the afternoon to see people, or they need to replace an actor who fell ill or got a sitcom or they need to cast and shoot/record the very next day or whatever.  It happens more often than you think.  And when it does, an agent is going to naturally be reluctant to call someone four hours away if they have several good candidates ten minutes from the casting director’s office.  And it is just a fact of life in this business that if an actor is not "around" — doing theatre, dropping off headshots or otherwise "on their radar", an agent or casting director will forget about them.  In short, you gotta be pretty special to command a lot of attention from 300 miles away.  And once again, the UNION has no control over that. (In the state of Illinois and manyother cities, agents are also not legally bound to represent ANYONE.  Under the law, they are not employers, they are classified as "employment agencies".) At the same time, it is also worth mentioning that in making the choice to live well outside of a large production center, an actor is choosing to cut himself off from a lot of opportunity.  When I lived in Cleveland (not a one-horse town, but certainly not a major location for film and TV), we always hoped for more on-screen opportunities — and SAG and AFTRA locally busted ass to help lure production there.  But it didn’t really materialize to any consistent degree.  Likewise, even when a film came to town, the producers had such little faith in the small talent pool that maybe two or three small roles were cast locally.  The only other opportunity came by way of background or extra work.  It was painful to see classically-trained actors piled onto a bus, and then to see that bus shot from the outside.  We got the message, or at least I did: Cleveland is not the city to live in if you want to do a lot of national commercials or film/TV.  When I felt that I had outgrew the opportunities, I left my comfy life in Ohio and moved back to Chicago.  By the same token, though, I often hear actors here in Chicago bitch about the lack of film and TV work, and the scarcity of meaty roles offered to us when they do occasionally choose to shoot here.  And if you go to LA, you will find some who scream that any project shot outside of LA is "runaway production" (not just Canada or Europe, but ANYWHERE else). It’s rough all over, but the truth is, you’ve got to be where it’s really happening if you want to increase your chances, and even then the same 20% of the actors are going to get hired on a consistent basis.  And no matter what you think, the UNION has no control over that, either.  For exmaple, if an actor from Kentucky is submitted by a local agent and is auditioned by a Chicago CD, it is considered a local booking by the union.  Trust me, SAG Chicago may work very hard to encourage directors to cast as many roles as possible from Chicago, but "from Chicago" means via local agents and CDs, and a Hoosier such as yourself would hardly be considered in the same category as an "imported actor" from LA. Anyhow, that’s show biz, isn’t it?  Blaming the union for any perceived lack of opportunity when you live in an area unlikely to lure production is faulty reasoning at best.  And assuming that anyone has the time or inclination to hatch plots against a handful of actors in outlying (or far away) locales is absurd.  In an industry like ours, risk is often required. Clearly you enjoy the lifestyle afforded you outside the big cities — that’s fine, but perhaps the trade-off for lower real estate prices, less traffic, less pollution and a lower crime rate is the challenge presented to you in your chosen profession.  Spend any amount of time around the Hollywood decision makers and money changers and you’ll realize that the mountain just ain’t gonna get any closer to a few far-flung Mohammeds. (Hell, they think Chicago is the wilderness as it is!) All of this puts me in mind of the old Sam Kinison bit regarding those in the desert who are starving.  His typically cruel yet honest advice?  MOVE. Lisa Chicago PS:  Ask any of the thousands of Teamsters and IBEW, CWA and other AFL-CIO members who stood with us this summer whether or not they consider SAG/AFTRA "good" unions.  They’ll tell you that a). union is union, and b). those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.  SAG may have it’s troubles (and I am a big advocate for change), but we’ve yet to see funds go missing or had anyone turn up buried in cement. And an added bummer is that by invoking Financial Core, you’ve given up your right to vote or run for office, two great means of impacting the "path" the union is on.  Not to pick a fight or anything, but I’d have to say that the enormous 4% dues savings and chance to violate rule one at your leisure pretty much invalidates your right to complain about how things are handled. You want change?  Reinstate your full membership, stop working non-union and help the union organize more in your own neck of the woods.  The UNION is not a bureaucratic entity, the UNION IS THE MEMBERSHIP.  At some point the whining must stop, and sleeves must be rolled up.  I think that time is now. Wanna help?

Response:

Thanks, Carl. Lisa

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*Sigh* I wish you were a man so I could have your baby. Drama Queen – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Jack — I have come late to this thread, but from what I can surmise (and from what I have gleaned in some of your previous posts), you are Financial Core. That’s certainly your legal prerrogative. I would like to address a couple of things unrelated to that in your post. First of all, I think it is important to point out that unlike other unions, SAG and AFTRA are not able to guarantee employment for their members.  In a purely subjective industry like ours that is an impossiblity.  Likewise, there is no evidence whatsoever that SAG Chicago (or SAG anywhere) has any control over who gets cast when production comes to town.  If actors from bordering states are not on the radar of Chicago’s casting directors (who are NOT franchised or in any way beholden to the unions), it surely is not the fault of the union.  Still, agents will always submit those actors they feel are most likely to get the gig (makes sense, right?) — and often they don’t care where you live if you can book.  (In fact, one V/O colleague of mine resides in Indianapolis, and although I know our agent would turn a cartwheel if she moved to Chicago, it does not prevent her from getting a great deal of work.  She’s just that good.)  HOWEVER, it is absolutely true that agents (whether they be in NY, Chicago, LA or Indy) prefer that the talent they represent be available at a moment’s notice.  I cannot tell you how many times I have been called for a film or commercial audition at or close to the last minute — a role that was written out is back in, and the director has only the afternoon to see people, or they need to replace an actor who fell ill or got a sitcom or they need to cast and shoot/record the very next day or whatever.  It happens more often than you think.  And when it does, an agent is going to naturally be reluctant to call someone four hours away if they have several good candidates ten minutes from the casting director’s office.  And it is just a fact of life in this business that if an actor is not "around" — doing theatre, dropping off headshots or otherwise "on their radar", an agent or casting director will forget about them.  In short, you gotta be pretty special to command a lot of attention from 300 miles away.  And once again, the UNION has no control over that. (In the state of Illinois and manyother cities, agents are also not legally bound to represent ANYONE.  Under the law, they are not employers, they are classified as "employment agencies".) At the same time, it is also worth mentioning that in making the choice to live well outside of a large production center, an actor is choosing to cut himself off from a lot of opportunity.  When I lived in Cleveland (not a one-horse town, but certainly not a major location for film and TV), we always hoped for more on-screen opportunities — and SAG and AFTRA locally busted ass to help lure production there.  But it didn’t really materialize to any consistent degree.  Likewise, even when a film came to town, the producers had such little faith in the small talent pool that maybe two or three small roles were cast locally.  The only other opportunity came by way of background or extra work.  It was painful to see classically-trained actors piled onto a bus, and then to see that bus shot from the outside.  We got the message, or at least I did: Cleveland is not the city to live in if you want to do a lot of national commercials or film/TV.  When I felt that I had outgrew the opportunities, I left my comfy life in Ohio and moved back to Chicago.  By the same token, though, I often hear actors here in Chicago bitch about the lack of film and TV work, and the scarcity of meaty roles offered to us when they do occasionally choose to shoot here.  And if you go to LA, you will find some who scream that any project shot outside of LA is "runaway production" (not just Canada or Europe, but ANYWHERE else). It’s rough all over, but the truth is, you’ve got to be where it’s really happening if you want to increase your chances, and even then the same 20% of the actors are going to get hired on a consistent basis.  And no matter what you think, the UNION has no control over that, either.  For exmaple, if an actor from Kentucky is submitted by a local agent and is auditioned by a Chicago CD, it is considered a local booking by the union.  Trust me, SAG Chicago may work very hard to encourage directors to cast as many roles as possible from Chicago, but "from Chicago" means via local agents and CDs, and a Hoosier such as yourself would hardly be considered in the same category as an "imported actor" from LA. Anyhow, that’s show biz, isn’t it?  Blaming the union for any perceived lack of opportunity when you live in an area unlikely to lure production is faulty reasoning at best.  And assuming that anyone has the time or inclination to hatch plots against a handful of actors in outlying (or far away) locales is absurd.  In an industry like ours, risk is often required. Clearly you enjoy the lifestyle afforded you outside the big cities — that’s fine, but perhaps the trade-off for lower real estate prices, less traffic, less pollution and a lower crime rate is the challenge presented to you in your chosen profession.  Spend any amount of time around the Hollywood decision makers and money changers and you’ll realize that the mountain just ain’t gonna get any closer to a few far-flung Mohammeds. (Hell, they think Chicago is the wilderness as it is!) All of this puts me in mind of the old Sam Kinison bit regarding those in the desert who are starving.  His typically cruel yet honest advice?  MOVE. Lisa Chicago PS:  Ask any of the thousands of Teamsters and IBEW, CWA and other AFL-CIO members who stood with us this summer whether or not they consider SAG/AFTRA "good" unions.  They’ll tell you that a). union is union, and b). those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.  SAG may have it’s troubles (and I am a big advocate for change), but we’ve yet to see funds go missing or had anyone turn up buried in cement. And an added bummer is that by invoking Financial Core, you’ve given up your right to vote or run for office, two great means of impacting the "path" the union is on.  Not to pick a fight or anything, but I’d have to say that the enormous 4% dues savings and chance to violate rule one at your leisure pretty much invalidates your right to complain about how things are handled. You want change?  Reinstate your full membership, stop working non-union and help the union organize more in your own neck of the woods.  The UNION is not a bureaucratic entity, the UNION IS THE MEMBERSHIP.  At some point the whining must stop, and sleeves must be rolled up.  I think that time is now. Wanna help?

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – And an added bummer is that by invoking Financial Core, you’ve given up your right to vote or run for office, two great means of impacting the "path" the union is on.  Not to pick a fight or anything, but I’d have to say that the enormous 4% dues savings and chance to violate rule one at your leisure pretty much invalidates your right to complain about how things are handled. You want change?  Reinstate your full membership, stop working non-union and help the union organize more in your own neck of the woods.  The UNION is not a bureaucratic entity, the UNION IS THE MEMBERSHIP.  At some point the whining must stop, and sleeves must be rolled up.  I think that time is now. Wanna help?

One of your better posts, Lisa. And that is saying a lot. Carl — I promise to change my sig lines as often as I change my underwear. – CASalonen

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – On the contrary, I strongly support "good" unions. My father is (retired) a high ranking member of  the International. My brothers (all five of them) are union men.  The union gave me a job after college and I paid off all my college loans with union work — Ironworker’s Local 395 Chicago and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Terre Haute.  I am not anti-union. I know what really good unions are. I do speak out openly about what I believe to be bad behavior from SAG and I will continue to do so whenever I see them heading down what I believe to be the wrong path. Honestly, I probably don’t know any more about showbiz than anyone else with a decade and a half of work experience. There are people like Norm Schwarts and Ed Hooks and even yourself who have knowledge that makes me look like Poplin’ Fresh when it comes to experience in the biz. I only know what I see with my own eyes and experience myself from my own world view. We do not even have a SAG office here in Indiana. None. The one SAG agent, my agent,  who tried almost a decade ago to organize and set up a union office here, C.J. Hanlon, had to drop her union franchise because there was no work for union actors here. The Chicago SAG local sees actors from Indiana as "outsiders" and play patronage to their own family local following. The same is true of the Hollywood circuit. They work their own local family of actors first and others are invited to pick up the crumbs. I tried it. It didn’t work for me. SAG never did anything for me but keep me off the screen standing in the wings. If I left it up to them, I would still be a background extra. I had to follow a different course as a matter of pure survival. There are hundreds of thousands of good actors similarly situated. It is a struggle for any actor working not only in the Midwest but throughout the world.  I have just been very lucky.  But it saddens me to know there are thousands and thousands of potentially great actors worldwide who will never get the same chance. They are summarily labeled "scabs", ostracized, and defamed.  I believe this is destructive to the arts, hateful, and wrong. I am attempting to speak for them and fight for them and work for a system which would provide equity to "all" performing artists and level the playing field as a matter of law with an international "Performing Artist’s Rights Act" and the "Actor’s Bill of Rights".  If the union chooses to stand in my way, so be it. Jack Rooney

You seem to echo in this post some of the complaints made by countless Canadian actors. We are left competing for the crumbs of small to medium principle roles and actor roles after casting occurs in the big centres of Los Angeles and New York. Last March, someone who used to post here sent me a tip that they were currently casting for an MOW to be shot in Toronto. They didn’t start the casting in Toronto until July. It sucks, but I don’t think the way to go is to join the enemy. And BTW – Scabs are only scabs if they cross a picket line. If you want to fight for fair wages, by all means do so, but don’t attack the organization that also fights for these very same things. SAG doesn’t hire actors, producers do. Maybe your fight is with casting directors who refuse to cast a wide-enough net in their search for talent? Drama Queen

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I have had to do a few stinkers in my time, films roles I would rather forget I ever did – every actor who ever had a long career in showbiz has had a few stinkers.   I guess I

thanks for your personal take on my question, Jack. — Michelle "Chandler is a control freak!"

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    Hi Jack! I was just wondering what your take is on why Carl and them give you such a bad time? I know you don’t support the union, but other than that, you seem to know what you’re talking about.     Thanks for speaking up here! — I enjoy being a girl! Marilyn Monroe Victoria SAG/AFTRA – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I have had to do a few stinkers in my time, films roles I would rather forget I ever did – every actor who ever had a long career in showbiz has had a few stinkers.   I guess I always rationalize it like this: if the film is really bad, no one will ever see it anyway, so it doesn’t matter much, I get paid anyway, and I also get some cool footage for my acting reel.  I just cut out all the rest of the crap. What kills me most is when I get a script handed to me, and the script is good, and the role seems challenging, and they cut me a deal, and we begin shooting, an then the nightmare begins — scene re-writes. The powers that be within the film production itself can take a perfectly good screenplay and butcher it. It happens more than you might think in the film biz. There is something about the process of filmmaking that makes people making films crazy. Directors, producers, DPs, line producers, friends of the producer, uncle Billy Bob, "I think we should try this or that", all want in on the creative contribution, particularly in low budget films where the director is more inclined to improve scenes, and it can become total kayos. Decisions are often made by committee with the blind leading the blind on low budget films. Somewhere, during the middle of the shoot, you realize you are surrounded by idiots, and there is no way this thing will ever make it to the big screen. Its a miracle any films ever get made at all, and it is simple to understand why they are so expensive when they do get made. There are thousands of low budget films made each year, few will ever see the light of a projector in a theatre. Sometimes even the larger budget productions are pulled because they are so bad. Ishtar, Highlander II, etc., are examples of millions wasted on folly. Generally, failure is due to one thing –  too many cooks in the kitchen. Actors have little if any control over shooting.  We do not typically make final decisions regarding dialogue, set ups, blocking, or who we appear on stage with. We follow direction like good professional actors should, and we try to contribute something valuable to the work within the confines and restraints placed upon us by powers greater than we. They hand you some lines of dialogue, and you try to make it fit the moment as best you can. How do you take badly written, stilted dialogue and make it sound natural?  How can you act opposite an amateur actor and still make the scene meaningful and believable? Some acting coaches will claim you can make reading the phone book sound natural, and this is true, as long as the context is suggested or implied by the actor’s histrionics and/or intonation. But try to take dialogue where the context of the characters actions and words is muddled by the theme (or lack of it) and that is another matter entirely – even the greatest actor cannot make a silk purse out of a sows ear.  You must also work with other players, and on every shoot each player comes to the set with their own skill level.  Some are polished and professional and some are awkward and droll and many fall somewhere in between.  Regardless of what happens with the film itself, if you try to pay attention to your own performance, you should at least come away with  some good footage of yourself for your acting demo reel. Future producers who might look at you to cast you in another film do not particularly care what the movies you have been in are about, unless one wins an award or is blatantly pornographic, they only want to know what you can do for their film as an actor. Show them. Use every film you do as an opportunity to advance "you" as an actor. If you make a few bucks in the process, so much the better… — Jack Rooney Http://home.att.net/~JackRooney

Before you buy.

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I have to stretch very often as I have to overcome my looks. I am not bragging or anything, just I know guys go woo woo at me alot. I hate that. Do you think really good looks can hurt you in the type of roles you are offered? I just work to let all the complexity inside come through with out showing y’know. I like to think that the really talented people will see that and take notice and cast me. I don’t want to work for anyone who doesn’t anyway. Except commercially of course where you got to sell the product and we know what "sells" huh? :-)      I read what some women think is perfectly OK to do to get tossed a line or 2 and I am happy I am not them. I see you aren’t either.

Thanks Victoria.  my agent is pretty good about sending me out for quality roles, versus just "stock pretty girl needed."  It’s different with commecials and I look at them as money gigs…hey, if my hair is "luxurious" so be it.:) I really think there are more and more good roles for women nowadays andit reflects whats going on in the real world with women and how they no longer are just baby machines and housewives (in most people except carl’s world.) Glad to see you here. I was almost tired of this and Carl and his gang but you have brightened it up considerably. Thanks!

Carl doesn’t have a gang.  i think he is merely tolerated here and seems to have run off most actors who might want to post here.  not going to do that to me.  There are some others here who I’ve read and like what they have to say. then I click n the next message and theres old carl with some mean little comment or dirty joke.  he’s sad.  really. — Michelle "Chandler is a control freak!"

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I have had to do a few stinkers in my time, films roles I would rather forget I ever did – every actor who ever had a long career in showbiz has had a few stinkers.   I guess I always rationalize it like this: if the film is really bad, no one will ever see it anyway, so it doesn’t matter much, I get paid anyway, and I also get some cool footage for my acting reel.  I just cut out all the rest of the crap. What kills me most is when I get a script handed to me, and the script is good, and the role seems challenging, and they cut me a deal, and we begin shooting, an then the nightmare begins — scene re-writes. The powers that be within the film production itself can take a perfectly good screenplay and butcher it. It happens more than you might think in the film biz. There is something about the process of filmmaking that makes people making films crazy. Directors, producers, DPs, line producers, friends of the producer, uncle Billy Bob, "I think we should try this or that", all want in on the creative contribution, particularly in low budget films where the director is more inclined to improve scenes, and it can become total kayos. Decisions are often made by committee with the blind leading the blind on low budget films.  Somewhere, during the middle of the shoot, you realize you are surrounded by idiots, and there is no way this thing will ever make it to the big screen.  Its a miracle any films ever get made at all, and it is simple to understand why they are so expensive when they do get made. There are thousands of low budget films made each year, few will ever see the light of a projector in a theatre. Sometimes even the larger budget productions are pulled because they are so bad. Ishtar, Highlander II, etc., are examples of millions wasted on folly. Generally, failure is due to one thing –  too many cooks in the kitchen. Actors have little if any control over shooting.  We do not typically make final decisions regarding dialogue, set ups, blocking, or who we appear on stage with. We follow direction like good professional actors should, and we try to contribute something valuable to the work within the confines and restraints placed upon us by powers greater than we. They hand you some lines of dialogue, and you try to make it fit the moment as best you can. How do you take badly written, stilted dialogue and make it sound natural?  How can you act opposite an amateur actor and still make the scene meaningful and believable? Some acting coaches will claim you can make reading the phone book sound natural, and this is true, as long as the context is suggested or implied by the actor’s histrionics and/or intonation. But try to take dialogue where the context of the characters actions and words is muddled by the theme (or lack of it) and that is another matter entirely – even the greatest actor cannot make a silk purse out of a sows ear.  You must also work with other players, and on every shoot each player comes to the set with their own skill level.  Some are polished and professional and some are awkward and droll and many fall somewhere in between.  Regardless of what happens with the film itself, if you try to pay attention to your own performance, you should at least come away with  some good footage of yourself for your acting demo reel.  Future producers who might look at you to cast you in another film do not particularly care what the movies you have been in are about, unless one wins an award or is blatantly pornographic, they only want to know what you can do for their film as an actor. Show them. Use every film you do as an opportunity to advance "you" as an actor. If you make a few bucks in the process, so much the better… — Jack Rooney Http://home.att.net/~JackRooney

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I would just like to invite you and others to write more on the topic of "looks" in your view and experience,   sending email to me. Putting together some views around this topic, on a web page soon!   Also think in terms of advice you would give to younger people on the topic of looks and image… Thank you! Very interesting newsgroup. Lee – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I have to stretch very often as I have to overcome my looks. I am not bragging or anything, just I know guys go woo woo at me alot. I hate that. Do you think really good looks can hurt you in the type of roles you are offered? I just work to let all the complexity inside come through with out showing y’know. I like to think that the really talented people will see that and take notice and cast me. I don’t want to work for anyone who doesn’t anyway. Except commercially of course where you got to sell the product and we know what "sells" huh? :-)      I read what some women think is perfectly OK to do to get tossed a line or 2 and I am happy I am not them. I see you aren’t either. Thanks Victoria.  my agent is pretty good about sending me out for quality roles, versus just "stock pretty girl needed."  It’s different with commecials and I look at them as money gigs…hey, if my hair is "luxurious" so be it.:) I really think there are more and more good roles for women nowadays andit reflects whats going on in the real world with women and how they no longer are just baby machines and housewives (in most people except carl’s world.) Glad to see you here. I was almost tired of this and Carl and his gang but you have brightened it up considerably. Thanks! Carl doesn’t have a gang.  i think he is merely tolerated here and seems to have run off most actors who might want to post here.  not going to do that to me.  There are some others here who I’ve read and like what they have to say. then I click n the next message and theres old carl with some mean little comment or dirty joke.  he’s sad.  really. — Michelle "Chandler is a control freak!"

– www.altnature.com/ginseng/         creative talent wanted www.ncf.ca/~bh295/              about/for nature all ages

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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Just read a number of messages here and many of them, including my own were way OT… So.  I just got a part in a movie that is being done under SAGs modified low budget contract.  The money is way below my "rate" but my agent agreed with me that it would be good to do because the script is great and the part is something I’ve never done before.  There’s some real heat behind this movie and several of the other actors are names who also are doing it because of the script and director.  has anyone else here ever done a movie like this where they really have to stretch?  don’t care if it gets me more work but just doing it because I want to.  I look at it like a stage play.  doing it for the love of it.  hey, if it turns out that i get something more out of it then thats just icing on the cake! — Michelle "No stupid sig lines, no borrowed phrases."

     Hey Michelle. I agree with your thinking here a 100%. So it’s not your quote. So what, right? It isn’t always about money and I’m glad to see you are not like some here who are obsessed with every dime they make in funny Canadian money while they try to steal all our work. Know what I mean?      I have to stretch very often as I have to overcome my looks. I am not bragging or anything, just I know guys go woo woo at me alot. I hate that. Do you think really good looks can hurt you in the type of roles you are offered? I just work to let all the complexity inside come through with out showing y’know. I like to think that the really talented people will see that and take notice and cast me. I don’t want to work for anyone who doesn’t anyway. Except commercially of course where you got to sell the product and we know what "sells" huh? :-)       I read what some women think is perfectly OK to do to get tossed a line or 2 and I am happy I am not them. I see you aren’t either. Glad to see you here. I was almost tired of this and Carl and his gang but you have brightened it up considerably. Thanks! PS I hope my sig line is ok! :-) Maybe make one about standing up to bullies. — I enjoy being a girl! Marilyn Monroe Victoria SAG/AFTRA Before you buy.

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Just read a number of messages here and many of them, including my own were way OT… So.  I just got a part in a movie that is being done under SAGs modified low budget contract.  The money is way below my "rate" but my agent agreed with me that it would be good to do because the script is great and the part is something I’ve never done before.  There’s some real heat behind this movie and several of the other actors are names who also are doing it because of the script and director.  has anyone else here ever done a movie like this where they really have to stretch?  don’t care if it gets me more work but just doing it because I want to.  I look at it like a stage play.  doing it for the love of it.  hey, if it turns out that i get something more out of it then thats just icing on the cake! — Michelle "No stupid sig lines, no borrowed phrases."

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