So, Do I Get The Job Or What?

3 fricking 47 am, and I can't sleep. Grrrrr.... (I've become quite an insomniac over the last few months, haven't I?)

So I went to the evening Daily Acting Workout last night, before heading on to the 48 Hour Film Project audition for DoubleDown Productions (the production team I'll be working with as either an actor or in whatever other way they can use me, creative writer, PA, etc).

The evening DAWs are so different than the morning sessions. Yesterday, the majority of people there were from the advanced program. And we worked with neutral monologues the whole time, which was very interesting. Each of us was given one of three different neutral monologues. Either we were apologizing, declaring our love, or the one I got was about doing something that scared the crap out of me but it was so worth it afterwards. (How do you simmer that down into a nice little phrase like the first two?)

Anyhow, first we were given a few minutes to read over the monologue once, take our initial reaction as to what the circumstances were, then simply close our eyes and daydream about the circumstances, where we were, who we were talking to, etc. I decided that my monologue was to be delivered as a speech to everyone, and it was regarding my experiences in Boot Camp. Then we all got in a circle, and as the mood struck us, we each said our monologue to whoever else in the circle we felt drawn to speak to. And the rest of us listened and allowed ourselves to be affected by witnessing these confessions from within the circumstances of our own monologues. (Does that make sense? I hope I've explained it clearly.)

After that, we broke up into pairs, and just sat a few moments taking each other in, the same way you start a Meisner exercise, and then whoever felt compelled to speak first said their monologue, and then the other person said their monologue in reply, in reaction to what the first person had said. I was working with a young woman who had the apology monologue, so that was interesting, me declaring triumph over fear, and her apologizing.

Then we were told to work together to create new circumstances that could realistically include both monologues. My partner and I decided we were sisters with a really close relationship, but I had done something our parents would dissapprove of and she had ratted me out. The next step was when we performed our monologues, by listening and reacting to each other the monologues would become a dialogue, we would take turns saying lines from our monologues as it felt right.

The only problem was I wasn't able to make a choice regarding what it was that I had done. So as the instructor pointed out afterwards, I was connecting really well with my partner, working off her, but my words got in the way because I hadn't connected them to the circumstances.

After DAW, I headed out to the audition for the 48HFP. In the e-mail I received, Feldo (the director I'll be working with) had indicated that we would cold read a script, and to bring a prepared monologue as well if I had one. So I'd spent the better part of the afternoon polishing up a one minute monologue from Prelude To A Kiss by Craig Lucas. (This is the same monologue I used last year for The Laramie Project auditions. Just a random FYI because it's friggin early.)

Anyhow, when I got to the audition, there was a side with a woman's monologue. The first line was, "My dad always said I was the prettiest girl he knew, and he knew a lot of girls." It goes on about how Dad was sleeping around big time, and then stole the girl's college savings when he left. The man (another character with a single line at the end) asks, "So how did you end up in New York?" She replies that as an poor unedcuated girl from Indiana, you've only got two choices, be a waitress or become an actress. "So, do I get the job or what?"

I decided that this young woman was Daddy's little princess, in spite of the fact that he screwed her over. I decided that she was telling the story to get sympathy, and she was cute enough that she could do that in order to get the job. I decided she was applying to be a waitress.

When I performed the monolgue in the audition, she came out sassy, a little bit a bored valley girl (without the accent), and of course she's going to get the job, she's Daddy's beautiful princess. There were four guys in the room, one of whom was sitting just to the right of the camera, he was the person I would be speaking to. He sat there through the monologue very dead pan (which I understand is common in auditions), and I took that in, but barrelled on ahead anyway with my character's absolute confidence in her cuteness. And on the last line of the monologue, I gave the guy a cocky smile and asked, "So, do I get the job or what?" And I saw the slightest reaction from him, a moment of surprise in his eyes, and then the tiniest of nods.

So I feel I did a good job in the audition. The other three guys were smiling as well when I looked up after they cut. They said they'd be letting us know in a day or so who they would cast. I guess they didn't need my prepared monologue after all.

And just as a note regarding the situation I wrote about yesterday, I've gotten my answer, sucess in the status quo, and I am content with that. And that's all I'll say about that.