The Hustle

Week 88: Los Angeles, CA

Show business is really 90 per cent luck and 10 per cent being able to handle it when it gets offered to you.
--Tommy Steele


So, several of you have written inquiring about what I may be doing after "Spamalot" comes to a close, and the short answer is, I don't know yet. I also received a question about the business, and how actors go about drumming up work for themselves. So I thought it might be of interest if I write this week about some of that stuff. Hollywood is definitely a place where actors have to be adept at packaging, marketing and selling their product--themselves. It is a very different sort of a mill here, however, compared to New York. In New York, actors literally pound the pavement in their search for work. In L.A., the dance is different. I've learned quite a lot in my time here in Los Angeles and look forward to applying what I have learned to my own shuffle-ball-step.

Okay, so the basic process of the work search can't even be accomplished without a good agent. Your agent knows your abilities and your "type", has a good sense of your body of work, really appreciates your talent and knows what opportunities to pursue on your behalf. My agent is on the lookout for specific roles for me in projects under development. He has access to the industry "breakdowns" which are basically job listings sent out primarily to agents. But your agent can also help you, as mine has, get in and meet artistic directors of theatre companies, or to do a sort of general interview with casting directors, who can tell just from a half hour conversation with you how personable you are and what sort of roles you'd play. I have had a couple such meetings in LA--and this is something I have not encountered in New York. In New York, you meet a casting director when auditioning for a specific part; in LA, because so often your casting is based upon your personality and look, casting directors will invite you in for a "general," which really amounts to a pleasant conversation in their office.

Once I've been submitted to the casting director (the casting director works for the producer and director of a particular project, gathering a pool of actors for consideration), and I am invited to audition, then I receive material to study and rehearse for presentation at my audition. These short fragments of scenes from the play or film, or original song material, are called "sides." I study my sides, I learn whatever I need to learn, and then I go to my acting coach to try out my audition and get some feedback. The day of my audition, I show up at the appointed time and perform my few minute's material for the casting director, sometimes the director and producers of the piece. If they like what they see, they request that I return for a callback audition. This is another look at your stuff because they have selected you for final consideration amongst a field of several actors in the running. Everyone gives their best shot at it, and within a week or so someone receives an offer. Then salary and other specifics are settled via the agent, and contracts are signed. I expect to be doing all of these things myself very soon (especially the "getting the offer" part)!

Actors have to make large investments in themselves and their work search, because we are essentially freelance workers. This means subscribing to trade publications and websites that publish industry news and audition information; maintaining skills through class work or private acting coaching or singing training; and putting together really good head shots and resumes. The head shot is a photo of the actor which, with a performance resume attached to the back, is sent to casting people as a sort of introduction or "calling card" for the actor. Often the opportunity to be seen for a part depends on a favorable response to the photo, so these shots are of utmost importance. This week, I went in and had my head shots taken by a very fine LA photographer, John Ganun, who is also an actor and has a very impressive resume of Broadway musical theatre credits. John and I discussed the types of roles I might be appropriate for in film, in TV and commercials, as well as theatre, and then we chose "looks" which reflected these types. Once I have made my selections from the hundreds of frames that John took, I will take the few chosen shots, have retouching done if necessary, and then have them professionally reproduced. I can also send head shots and resumes via email, which is the way it's being done more and more these days. So, you can see that the process of searching for work can be an arduous and expensive one. Most people in most types of work interview for a job maybe once every few years, if that. We can sometimes "interview" a half dozen times a week, or more! Why do we do it? We love the work. I am reminded of a scene in the wonderful film The Red Shoes, in which the ballet impresario asks the ballerina, 'Why do you want to dance?' to which she replies, 'Why do you want to live?". His response is, 'Because I must," to which she says, 'That is my answer too.' Anyway, in the coming weeks, I will post one of my new head shots so you can see what we came up with.

The end of this week turned suddenly beastly hot. The heat has been so extreme and the weather so dry that brush fires have started up in various areas around LA. This is not uncommon, but it makes for dehydrating conditions and filthy air quality. So, instead of my planned visit to the beach, I decided an indoor activity was in order for Friday, and I made a visit to LACMA, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Every great city should have a great art museum and LACMA is a sprawling campus of seven buildings, a sculpture garden (containing some famous and wonderful Rodin bronzes), a theatre, and a Japanese pavilion. I went specifically to see "Pompeii and the Roman Villa," an exhibition of art and antiquities unearthed at the sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum, which were buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D. The communities surrounding the Bay of Naples were enclaves for the rich and aristocratic in ancient Roman society; a sort of resort getaway for the elite of the time--similar to fashionable seaside resorts like Bath was in 18th Century England, or perhaps as Laguna Beach is today for the Hollywood crowd. In fact, as I strolled through the exhibition I was struck by the similarities to the lifestyles of the rich and famous of ancient Rome to those of modern day LA millionaires.
Lavish villas by the sea with extensive gardens and elaborate pools and fountains were the playgrounds of the Roman elite, and the excavations of these lost cities reveal a high level artistry and skill in the fashioning of marble sculptures, bronze fountains and adornments, silver implements and golden jewelry. The Romans, who had conquered Greece, nevertheless had a passion for Greek art, theatre and philosophy and this is reflected in the kinds of artistic expressions they chose when decorating their sumptuous abodes. Really beautiful exhibit. My favorite part was a gallery of artworks from the 18th century to the present which in one way or another pay homage to the world of ancient Pompeii. Most delightful were the photographs of Eleanor Antin-- monumental, richly colorful tableaux designed to mimic paintings with classical subject matter--but full of anachronism and witty commentary. Really fun stuff.

I wandered through as much of the museum as I could handle in one afternoon. It's a huge institution, and, like the Met in New York, is really a place best enjoyed over two or more visits. I passed through the European art collection, of course, checking out what they had for Renaissance and Italian Baroque works; the selection was small but there was a fine portrait by Titian and a few large pieces by Veronese. The modern art collections were far more extensive, with a whole gallery dedicated to Giacometti sculptures, with their long, thin, nubbly figures; there were also a great many Picassos and fine works representing all schools of modern art.
My favorite piece of the day, I think, was Rene Magritte's The Treachery of Images (This is not a pipe), which is a simple statement about the illusory and representational nature of art. It really made me chuckle. Which I think, thematically, brings us full circle on this blog post. The actors job, as well as the artist's, is to represent, reflect, and replicate life. But the actor also has the task of honing and projecting his own image in a way that will make him attractive and sellable to potential employers. The resume and head shot and a few minutes in an audition room can only give the smallest snapshot of the complexity and dimensionality of the person, the artist. The trick is to find a way to make the biggest and most positive impact in the shortest amount of time, with the hope that it will be enough to lead to a great job. Keeping one's feet on the ground, one's eyes on the horizon, and one's dream close to one's heart can help make the craziness of the quest for work much less excruciating! And so, friends, next week will be my last post from LA. More next weekend.