2012 Year in Review

I recently read one way to improve your spirits is to say out loud 5 positive facts about yourself - not opinions like I am nice or I am pretty, but actual facts such as I won best ugly sweater at the Christmas party, etc.  For my end of the year review I am going to state positive facts about me from the past year.

1. I GOT PAID TO BE AN ACTOR.  This year I started off with being cast as a costar in the pilot, Graceland, set to premiere next summer.  In the last month, I was cast in a supporting role in the new feature from James Franco's production company, Rabbit Bandini Productions, called Holy Land.  Plus, it was my first opportunity to act in front of a green screen.

With my "Okie Family" on the set of Holy Land

Over the summer, I had the opportunity to work with Eckhart Schmidt on his latest documentary about Los Angeles, reading passages from literature about the City of Angels.

2. I GOT TO ACT THIS YEAR - A LOT.  Besides the productions I was paid for, I had lots of opportunities to act and many were with my super talented friends - such as The Revolving Doors, Gibbon's Tail, and Nick Acosta.

I got to be in a Revolving Doors short,

in a Gibbon's Tail music video,

and in a Nick Acosta fan film!

Other than the films and plays I worked on, I had an amazing year of acting classes.  I had a master class with Ashley Judd and an intense 3 month class with James Franco, Val Lauren, and Jim Parrack.  We worked on plays I always wanted to but never had the guts to do like Clifford Odets.

3. I WAS AWARDED BEST SCREENPLAY AT THE PLAYHOUSE WEST FILM FESTIVAL.  Just completing the short film, All You Need, that I wrote and produced was a big achievement for me.

With my award and the director, Ricardo Ultreras.

All You Need was then accepted to the Oscar qualifying Los Angeles Shorts Festival.

With some of my cast at the LA Shorts Fest.

4. THE SHORT I DIRECTED FOR THE 72 HOUR FILM FEST WON BEST COMEDY.  This was my first attempt at directing and it was especially difficult since the film had to be conceived, filmed, and finished in that 72 Hour time allowance.  You can watch the whole film here, Little Bride Lie.

Discussing the scene with my DP and actors.

5. I GOT A HUG FROM NATHAN FILLION at Comic-con while I was dressed as The Doctor.  Not gonna lie - this might have been the highlight of my year.

Nathan Fillion is hugging me - this is pure awesomeness.

Also, my Effie Trinket cosplay was featured in Entertainment Weekly Comic-con issue.

That's me as Effie on the far left.

Bonus, I witnessed Chipper Jones' Walk-Off of the Year at Turner Field.  I'm sure going to miss seeing him in a Braves uniform.

At Turner Field with my Mom and a Craig Kimbrel bobblehead.

So, I had a pretty good year and I didn't even mention the trip up to Carmel, dinner at the Magic Castle, my nerdtastic birthday party, or all those wonderful nights spent watching TV and movies with my amazing friends.

Next week, I will take a look at the goals I set last year at this time - see where I succeeded and where I failed.  Probably won't be as cheery of a post.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year!

It Requires Intelligence to be an Actor

There is a prevailing belief that actors aren't smart, that actors are the people who failed in school and that's why anyone would choose this profession.  Maybe it is the case for some, but to be a truly amazing actor you have to be intelligent, well-read, and generally a well-rounded person.

This past weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to take acting classes with two talented and intelligent actors, Ashley Judd and Val Lauren.

One take-away I got from the class with Val was how important it is to study your text and understand every word you say.  He said, "You can never act something better than you understand it."  Sounds like something that should be obvious, but I can't tell you how many times I have been in a play and had the director say, "that's just a throw away line."  I guarantee the writer put that line in there for a reason and this is just an excuse for an actor or director who doesn't know why it is there.  I hear this phrase a lot when it comes to Shakespeare, because you know there's a writer who doesn't know what he's doing. *facepalm*

Val went on to say, "Every play is a puzzle and the words are the pieces."  In well written plays, each word is there for a reason.  It is the actor's job to figure out why those particular words are in that particular order.

Ashley Judd is a big advocate for actors to continually educate themselves and often takes college courses, including a philosophy course she recently took at Oxford.  She recommends actors study both philosophy and psychology to give actors a greater understanding of the characters they are portraying.

If you would like to hear all that Ashley had to say in our class check out my friend, Leigh Ann's wonderful blog post about it: Ashley Judd does PHW.  Leigh Ann says everything I wanted to say, but better.

Actors are asked to portray all kinds of people.  Life experience can help you understand many things, but it is only through expanded knowledge that we can understand the vast spectrum of humanity.