Published on Saturday July 30, 2005 .
I turned 32 today.
When I was in my 20’s, 30’s sounded old. Now that I’m in my 30’s, it doesn’t seem that old. I start to wonder though, what the hell Im doing with my life. I’m suppose to be a mature adult - but I don’t feel that way. I still feel like that small town kid from the suburbs of PA trying to fit in and find my way in the world.
H bought us tickets to the Hollywood Bowl tonight. It was my first time there. We had a lot of fun. We sat high up in the canyon looking down at the stage. We ordered lots of asian food and bought a bottle of wine which we drank before the show started. The night was beautiful with the stars and the fireworks display.
Tomorrow we will be going to see the King Tut exhibit at LACMA. It’s a secret, but I know about it since I’m post dating this entry. We will have a fun evening looking at artifacts and listening to our audio tour.
I guess this is all a sign of maturity. In my early 20’s, b-days were celebrated with food, friends and lots of alcohol. In my early 30’s b-day’s are celebrated privately with food, winel and the arts.
Last week H and I took the week off and went to Ferguson Farms in Leesburg Indiana. H’s family farm. A world away from the smog, fancy cars, movie stars, crowded freeways and “the biz”. It was a nice change of pace to be amongst the corn fields in a small town where people leave their doors unlocked and people take the time to talk to each other about family, friends, the weather, crops, livestock and anything else that comes to mind. The majority of the time we spent hanging out with H’s family and relatives. We also spent a few days at the local 4-H county fair. I actually had this idea to do a small documentary on the 4-H fair. I shot some footage and I’m going to try to assemble a short piece.
more to come…
The following is an excerpt from an article that H forwarded me on
Today was the first day of casting for the comedy pilot “Jake Off” written by Roy Eisenstein. It was very interesting to sit on the other side of the table for casting and see how other actors handle the audition process. To be honest I was a little dissappointed that none of my friends signed up for the auditions, but I can understand how people can be scared off from this project for several reasons: non-union, no-pay, you have to perform a 2-min monologue and you have to show three different characters. That would definitely intimidate me a little.
For the most part, casting today was a success and out of the 8 people who auditioned we found three very strong candidates - two girls and one guy. They all had good presence, were relaxed, natural, took direction well and were very funny. It really made me think of my auditions I’ve done for different projects. What did the casting people think when I left the room? Did I show potential? Did I take direction well? Did I stand out?
This process has been good and I think it will even make me a better actor now that I have been in the casting director’s shoes.
The other day I saw an old interview with Leonardo Di Caprio on Oprah. It was really inspiring to hear him talk about the work and the craft of acting and seeing how passionate he is about it. I will never forget his performance in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape where he played a mentally disabled kid. When I watched that movie for the first time I had no idea who Leonardo Di Caprio was and I just thought it was amazing that they were able to get a mentally disabled person to act in a film. I was that convinced. Then his recent performance in Aviator as the eccentric Howard Hughes with OCD. That’s the kind of performance I was trained to do as a method actor. Part of my problem when I was in the acting program is that I just didn’t put enough work into it. Overall my critque from my acting coaches were good but they all said they wanted to see me go deeper. It was like my violin lessons in high school. I showed plenty of natural talent and ability but I would hardly ever practice. I led quartets, orchestras, performed solos and duets but just never wanted to put more effort into it to be truly excellent. Now I have to realize my past mistakes and really put in a lot of practice and hard work if I want to be the great actor that I desire to be.
9 and 10 July 2005
Experienced television director/writer of IRONSTONE PRODUCTIONS and the Co-producers of OPM (http://www.opmcomedy.com/) are looking for Male and Female actors for an experimental comedy pilot.
Sharp, original, warped script.
Influences include Monty Python, the Marx Brothers and The Kids In The Hall.
Come prepared with a one or two-minute monologue … NO LONGER than two minutes. plus, be prepared to show us three characters.
Bring your demo reel if you have one.
This is a no budget production. There is no pay. A copy of the pilot and credit provided.
Open call July 9th and 10th from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Email your name and contact phone numbers no later than July 8th to arrange your audition time to: charleskimla@yahoo.com
Please attach Headshots and resumes
