Thoughtful...

Today, I watched Little Miss Sunshine... OMG, it is such a good movie! And not at all what I expected. I was under the impression the story was a straight up comedy about the little girl being a brat, and obviously I was completely wrong. It's much more of a deeply honest and touching drama with incredibly comedic moments. There was more than one occasion during the film when I was almost crying and then the next moment laughing so hard that I was crying. And I was really surprised with Steve Carrell, he's another one of those rare brilliant comedians who also happens to be really good at dramatic acting as well. (BTW, I'm really looking forward to Get Smart, I think that movie's gonna be a ton of fun!)

I also just watched What Not To Wear, and the young woman they picked for this episode was an aspiring actor. She looked like the same type as I am, sweet girl-next-door look, a little bit on the larger side, I can play the same age range. After they were done with her hair & make up and with her new clothes, she was so pretty, actually looked a bit older than her true age, and she looked so fashionable and trendy, I could totally see her on any number of TV shows as a detective or a young mom, on both dramatic shows and sitcoms, I think her new look will open doors to many different types of roles for her. I believe her new headshots would be very versatile, and yet give the impression of being the perfect type for a specific role, and I know a lot of that has to do with her charisma as well, but her new look definitely makes a positive difference.

And obviously, this got me thinking about myself. What kind of an impression does the way I look give in my headshots? In an audition? Am I not fashionable/stylish enough to make an impression on would be auditioners, or even to open up my character type a bit? Am I putting myself into too tight a character type box by not being main stream fashionable? All of these questions are muddled by the fact I'm still not completely clear on what my type is. I've been told I'm a character actor type, not a leading type. I had assumed it was because of my weight, but I could see that young woman in leading or major supporting roles after her make over, and we have the same body type. And hell, if Sara Ramirez can be beautiful and sexy in a leading/major supporting role, then so can I, so can anyone in the plus sizes! So what makes me a character actor? I sometimes feel like my face, my expressions aren't dramatic enough to be a leading dramatic character. I have a hell of a time getting good dramatic headshots, I always come off looking goofy or stupid. And when I watch myself on video I think I'm not as charismatically beautiful in dramatic performances as most other actors, I think my facial expressions, my visual charisma is better suited for comedy. Even if I got a new fashionable hair cut, scrounged enough money together to get some nice clothes, I don't know that I'd look anymore like a dramatic actor, or be able to take good dramatic headshots. But obviously the make over made a difference for her, so it ought to make a difference for me as well, right? Change my look, change my type and versatility...

"A loser is someone who is so afraid of not winning, they don't even try."

-- from the movie Little Miss Sunshine