Modeling auditions

I had a friend who registered with a local talent agency during his last year of college, to try and transition into the world of working artists. They said they would send his name and headshot and resume out to casting directors. And indeed, he did end up going on a few movie auditions - although he's mostly a stage actor and did not get any theatre auditions from the agency of note. But his gigs from the agency mostly fell under one category: modeling. Specifically, underwear modeling.

These agencies handle a lot of local modeling. They've got the market cornered, from baby modeling to plus-sized modeling: if you are a local company looking for a model for your ad, television commercial, whatever, these talent agencies will find you your man, or woman. And for some reason, my friend was pegged as an underwear model from the beginning. He's trim, androgynous, Asian - I'll bet they liked the ethnic feel as well as the intangible "prettiness," although why that should be particularly appealing to underwear companies...search me. He just kept getting gig after gig to model underwear. And it's not that he isn't comfortable with his body, but underwear modeling leaves you, well, exposed...a lot...to lots of people.

"I don't understand," he would say to me. "My friend Sally is registered with the same agency, and all she gets are film auditions, film auditions, film auditions. Or the stupid fourteen-year-olds that I always see in the office - don't underwear companies need teenage models? Shouldn't they be having auditions for teens? Why is it always me they want to prance around in their briefs and boxers?"

A year later and these underwear gigs are still where he's making the bulk of his rent money. All I can do in response to his lamentations is shrug, sigh, and smile in what I hope is a somewhat rueful, sympathetic fashion. "Who understands the entertainment industry?" I say to him. "At least you're getting paid for all of the prancing." And it's true - he'd do the same for free if it were a bit role with a local theatre company.

Casting auditions

This week is the start of my newest student activities committee. I have been in school for almost two full years now and I decided a long time ago that I would try my best to do as many of the activities as possible. This year I have decided to be a part of the students thespians club. It's basically a group of all non-theatre majors who do everything from the acting auditions, to renting the space, and finally to the last curtain close. I have been appointed the director of a play that is totally student written by a couple of girls in the English department. They wrote a screenplay and we are going to adapt it for our setting. I put out an add last week in the student journal, newspaper, and listserv posting dates for theater auditions. I have never been part of a theater production before so I am really excited about the whole thing. I am actually most nervous right now about the auditions because I don't know if I can be cruel if we get a lot of responses and have to reject some people any part in the play at all. I have also never been a part of any acting group so I am really just totally new at all of this. I volunteereed because my friend is quite active in the department and has agreed to help me out along the way. The closest thing I have ever done to acting so far has been my brief stint at modeling. Unfortunately my career ended right as I walked out of the door of my first modeling auditions. I am quite confident though that this experience will be much more satisfying and will go much farther than that. Even if the idea doesn't go as far as I imagine it to, because the screenplay is absolutely brilliant and would also work as a huge budget film, I will be satisfied with my hard work. It can't be nearly as bad as when I tried to take up golfing my first semester. That was a complete disaster. I am not meant to hit anything with a stick with any sort of accuracy.