I am totally in love with Chuck. Both the TV show, and the character. I want Chuck to be my boyfriend. I think it's nearly a tie between him and Ted from How I Met Your Mother for my boyfriend trophy. But Chuck's definitely in the lead at the moment...
So, it's been a week or two since my last post. I'm on the right track with the "unexpected heroine" -- but now I need to personalize it, add some adjectives and adverbs to really define my type.
Bob wrote to me in an e-mail: "... the key is to make it personal. To make the type a real person which is merely a matter of being yourself and doing that consistently. It will also help when you make up the phrase that you will use like a director's misé en scene -- the malevolent WASP idea."
The "malevolent wasp" is Christopher Walken's idea that he brings into every character he plays.
I'm not sure what a "mise en scene" is, even after looking it up on Wikipedia, so I'm going for a bumper sticker instead. I think that's more or less the same idea. Other actor mise en scene/bumper stickers might read:
- "Ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances" (Harrison Ford)
- "Strangely sexy mad scientist" (Jeff Goldblum)
- "Sincere man confused by events" (William H. Macy)
So, I've been rolling this around in my head, the idea of being my goofy, dorky self, and yet with unexpected inner-strength. I don't want to be too goofy though, because I want to do drama as well as comedy. I find myself actually shying away from the goofy, nerdy side altogether, and wanting to focus on the inner-strength part. But that's a more boring character type, isn't it? There is more interest in a character that surprises you.
My first thought was "Soft, yet surprisingly strong" but then I sound like a Charmin commercial. In fact, I think that may actually be their copyrighted slogan. Plus, I'm not sure that "soft" is the right word for my character type, it doesn't quite hit the mark.
My sister suggested "Who'd have thought?" -- Which I like because it's quirky, and leaves so many doors open. But that may be too general again...
I also accidentally came up with "total dork who is so much more" during conversation -- and while it hits the technical mark, I'm not sure it's The One I want to use. It lacks creativity, some how.
"95% Goof Ball, 5% Super Girl"?
I dunno, I'll keep rolling around in my head...
Huh, a thought that just occured to me: I've been focusing on the nerdy goofball part as the "foundation" of my type, with the unexpected strength being the "modifier." (I hope that makes sense). What if I reverse it? Focus on the inner-strength as the foundation which is modified by the goofy nerdiness. Still just as unexpected. After all, in my own life, it is the Pomeranian Facade that hides my strength, but it is the strength that's real, it is the inner layer, the foundation. Hmmm...
In other thoughts, I've been researching getting my actor's website. Bob said at the workshop that having a website is muy importante, that in the long run it will replace the middle man of casting (Now Casting, LA Casting, and the likes). Therefore, it is extremely important to have your website be www dot your name dot com.
Here's my problem: www.IsabellePalmer.com is not available. Someone in the UK owns the rights to the domain name, but hasn't actually built their site yet. The name is available for reserve when the rights expire in 2010, but there's no guarantee that the other Isabelle won't renew.
Other options: www.IsabellePalmerOnline.com (and similar) is available,
www.IsabellePalmer.la or .tv is available.
But do I really want to risk possible confusion with important CD's, directors, producers, etc being able to find my website?
So I'm considering changing my professional name. I've actually been considering it for a long time, but it was a fun option before, now it may be a business necessity.
When I was considering changing it before, I was thinking on the one hand, it might be a helpful thing for my sense of self to separate my professional actor persona from who I really am, help me create a definite boundary between the two. But on the other, when I become successful, I want to be successful as myself, not as some other person.
I've been rolling so many names around in my head. I really like "Izzie Engelbertz", I love the alliteration, but I think overall that name is a bad idea. I've also considered going with Elizabeth Palmer (or Liz Palmer, or Beth Palmer) because so many people through-out my life have called me Elizabeth. Don't know why it was easier for them to remember "Elizabeth" as opposed to "Isabelle", but there it is. Earlier today my favorite (for whatever reason) was Betty Palmer (or Betsy Palmer). If I'm gonna pick a new name, I want it to give the impression of my character type: "Total goof ball nerd who is capable of so much more".
But now as I'm writing this post, I'm leaning towards Elizabeth. Not necessarily because it suggests my character type, but because it's a subtle change from my real name. It's one side step over from me. Maybe that's enough to create that line between my professional persona and the real me, but still close enough to feel like me when I reach success.
Oh crap. Never mind. www.ElizabethPalmer.com is already taken as well. She's a real estate agent in Colorado. *sigh*
Maybe I'll go with Betty after all. Betty is an unusual name (at least it is in Hollywood), it still sort of sounds like Isabelle too, and I think is more suggestive of my character...
And I've already decided that if I change my name, whatever I change it to, I want the people I work with on set to still call me Isabelle.
Any thoughts or suggestions you all may have are more than welcome, please comment leave plenty of comments!
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