Wednesday, 10 May 2006
Had a re-call
today for the commercial I went for last Friday. I thought
I shouldn't do any more commercials as I've done quite
a lot over the years but this commercial is actually
quite clever and funny. I've found, over the years,
that the trick about going for commercial castings is
to go and do them then instantly forget about them as
you walk out the door (hence the reason for no mention
of it in last Frids blog). I've seen friends writhe
in mental agony because they have been told they've
been "pencilled" for a big paying commercial;
or, God forbid, on a "heavy pencil". This
of course sounds quite encouraging until you find out
that everyone who went for the job is on a "heavy
pencil", except those who couldn't walk and talk
at the same time (and even they are on just a "pencil").
I wonder how many job interviews the average person
has in their life? Four? Eight? Twelve? I've no idea
how many interviews/auditions/castings I've had since
I left drama school but I have a sneaking suspicion
it's more than twelve. I think I've been quite fortunate
in my career (most periods of unemployment have been
covered financially by well paid TV commercials or in
times of absolute desperation, magic gigs) but when
do actors stop being actors? By that I mean if you're
an actor but you haven't had an acting job for say,
a year, are you still an unemployed actor? Or are you
just unemployed? And when is the cut off point? What
if you haven't worked as an actor for 2 or 3 years?
Is it time for you to wake up and smell the coffee (or
start serving it?). When I was at drama school I always
said I'd give it three years and if I wasn't making
a reasonable living I'd have to re-think. Well, thirteen
years later I'm still making a living from acting (and
now writing) so I guess the gamble paid off (or is it
that my luck is still holding out?). I was talking to
a mate the other day and I said that I thought I would
really be in demand as an actor when I'm grey and bald
and look like Roy Barraclough. Then, of course, came
the usual, generous actors reply, "what do you
mean when?!". Cunt.
