Actress Identity Crisis

Hello my loves!

Today marks my one year anniversary working at SoulCycle. With all the frustration surrounding the new website launch and me being stressed from working 7 days a week in general, I may have not seemed as devoted or excited about SoulCycle in 2014. Putting that aside, I am so thankful for SoulCycle. It has changed my body physically, but also the way I see myself in the mirror. A few weeks ago riding in Lindsay Buckley's class she said that perfection is not the result, but the effort we put in to achieving said result. In that moment in class, giving 100% and sweating my ass off, Lindsay told me I was perfect. My effort was perfection. These are encouragements I hear at SoulCycle so often, and not just in class. My Brentwood family listens to my boy problems, my money stresses, family events. My Brentwood family strengthens me as a human being and is the reason why LA has not defeated me. I love my Soul family. The women and men I work with are all working their butts off everyday in everything they do. You are all inspiring. Thank you SoulCycle.

In acting news, I had a few auditions last week. One for a book trailer. My first book trailer audition! I didn't get it, but I felt the audition went very well. I sat down and really used Margie Haber's techniques to prepare. It helped me a great deal. As much as my roommate was wondering why I was so sad when she returned from work on Thursday night since I was in the middle of living the life of a woman who's son was just diagnosed with leukemia. Emotional drain.

I also shot some hosting clips for an upcoming MTV YouTube station. I will post links to those videos as soon as I get them. I will have them in March sometime. It is called Anton MTV Music Television. 

In singing news, well there is a lot more music news than acting news. This Saturday HOME is having a concert in Venice at Witzend. Come see us!!! $10 and we're on the Westside, you westsideians!!

We tested out a new lead guitar last Friday night. He's sick! Come and see him!! D has also been posting a ton of videos from our last concert at Kulak's Woodshed. Here is the one of my solo moment!

AND one of all of us. A little taste of HOME

Okay geez enough videos.

I also jammed with Eric Fortier's third project on Friday called Mad Bear. Another great band in the making! I hope to be a part of that :)
Finally I am singing back up for KULA's CD release concert at El Cid on Feb. 28th. HOME has a concert that night at Kulak's Woodshed again at 8pm. Tune in, because we will be streaming live online HERE. Don't worry. I'll remind you.

So I'm working 7 days a week. I take class at Margie Haber's every Monday night. I have about one audition a week, sometimes more. I am in two bands and helping out a third. And I'm still walking those pups. Life has been a little stressful and busy. 8 days a week people.

LAism of the Week:

The dreaded day job(s). As many of you know, if you didn't skip everything I just wrote to read this brilliant section, I love my day jobs. Both SoulCycle and I am enjoying being the part time assistant at Margie Haber Studio. I have no time to create though. At least I like my day jobs, but what am I doing out here if I am not creating? EVERY actor I talked to before the big move warned me about money and falling into the day job spiral. And here I am. And it is extremely frustrating. I am too tired when I get home from my three other jobs to write a script, or make plans to start a hilarious viral YouTube video, or bust my ass on casting websites. Sometimes I'll nestle into a chair with my guitar or ukulele and play for an hour, but I do that when I'm home alone because I don't want to disturb the lovely lady with whom I SHARE a ONE bedroom apartment. I am not alone here. I'd say day jobs that drain artists is among the top 10 frustrations of musicians/actors/writers/fine artists. How do we fix this? I don't know. Work harder? I barely have time to eat and sleep.

Stress. September. Gone.

Hello Blog Readers!

I have been too stressed to write. Why you ask? I honestly cannot answer that question. Wasting too much time probably. When time is wasted, or at least what I view as wasted, it slowly builds up in my brain and then kills me from the inside. The source of most of my anxiety is gone and now normality will hopefully return. Normality. Nothing is "normal" in this line of work which is the beauty of LA.

So a lot has certainly happened.

I work at Margie Haber Studio now as the Sunday girl. Guess what? The kids ain't bad. Most of them are serious actors and mature. They work and I make sure they stay on task for about an hour out of my day. Not too shabby.

I also got through the Intermediate intensive and now I am in the Intermediate ongoing with Courtney Burr. He's an amazing teacher AND he's worked with a bunch of cool people like Joanne Woodward!

I've had auditions here and there all of September. Notably, I was cast as an extra in a Google commercial. Before you tell me how amazing I am, let me explain. I was called back to be a principle in one of the spots and I wrote YES on the sign-in sheet when it asked if I would be willing to be an extra. BRRRRRRTTTT! Wrong answer. My agent called me the night of the callback and I was SO excited, until I answered the phone. He told me I should never say I'm willing to be an extra because if casting boiled down to me and another actor for principle and the other actor said they would not be an extra, they will cast me as the extra and the other actor as the principle. It makes complete sense, I was simply never told that. To make matters more disheartening, the person I was getting drinks with at the time was like "duh" and made me feel like an idiot. Then said person went on to say I can't think of myself as and extra, I need to think of myself as the leading lady. Fair. It's true. I need to inflate my confidence a bit to make it out here. It's not that I don't believe in myself. I do. I just wanted to work so I could pay my bills.

The commercial shot on Monday and the group of extras was fun, luckily, since we were there for 12 hours. Yikes. I was also late for my first ongoing class with Courtney. Boo :( It's okay. Monday paid for half of my rent next month :)

Both of my shows went well at the the August. When I get the video footage from my show with Home I will definitely post the link. Speaking of Home, Dee and Greg asked if I would become a permanent member of the band! Yay! So now I'm in a band and I'm really excited about it. We have some shows coming up this fall in Santa Monica and I will be posting about them regularly. Also check out Home on Reverbnation. We've been trending!

And now the moment you've all been waiting for. BachelorsPadTV on Youtube posted the Literal Enforcer video I took part in. Here it is. O so ridiculous!

In other news, the creative types in my apartment have started meeting once a week to begin collaborating on projects. Our first presentation is a web series called Living Unemployed. Please subscribe and keep a look out! Dotty and I play an interesting role in the second episode.

So, as you know, maybe, my birthday was in September and I celebrated with my friend Brittany at Soop Sok Karaoke bar in Koreatown. We had a blast and a half! I posted some pictures to Facebook, but here's one, just so we can get a taste of September. My favorite month. Gone already.

If I could do karaoke professionally. I might.

LAism of the ... month:

People and their dogs. I'm sure you all know one or two people, not in LA, who treat their pets like human children. I emphasize HUMAN. Here, almost everyone treats their dog this way. I see dogs in restaurants, on buses, in strollers... and I think this week, as I am currently dog sitting, I understand why this phenomenon happens here more than other places. (This may be the same in other big cities as well). Big cities can be the loneliest places on earth. LA definitely falls into this category. I am dog/house sitting right now for my boss and I have decided there is NO WAY I could live on my own here and not have a dog. I need companionship and if a dog is your only companion they become everything in your life. One of my co-workers lives by herself with a dog and she loves him so much she has started spending $250 dollars a month to put her pup in doggy day care where she has to drop him off, pick him up and pack his lunch. This is a common practice in Los Angeles. There are pet hotels everywhere and parks specifically for dogs in many convenient locations. I am just happy to be a dog mama for a few days :)

There and Back Again

I'm a blog slacker!!

I could use the excuse that I went home to celebrate my mom's birthday, but that was two weeks ago today...also, Ohio has the internet...

Instead of beating myself up and giving up, here goes another round of LA wonders and magic.

Aqua sent me on a Dominoes commercial where I played a College Student. Yes. Makes a little more sense the Urban Clubber #2. First audition went well. I was a little late so I used my late angst to be the stressed out student studying for French. omg. My college life was over.
Callback! We played developers for Angry Birds this time. So my first suggestion coming off of "action" was to develop a Game of Thrones Angry Birds a la Star Wars Angry Birds which was immediately shot down by my "team." After cut, one of the producers was like, "Wait, before you guys leave, I want to hear more about that Game of Thrones Angry Birds" I was like YESSSS in my head. Didn't book it, but won the office. Which is a victory all to itself. If they like me, they'll remember me for future Angry Bird developing scenarios. Boom. Acting.






Also here is a quick picture of me singing at a blues bar Downtown called The Lexington. Keri Fantastic invited me back, so hopefully I'll have some more future pictures to show as well :)









So just because I'm going to use going to Ohio as an excuse for not being a loyal blogger here are some Ohio pictures for all of you Californians who ask me "What is Ohio like?"

War of 1812 Reenactment

My last two weeks back to LA have been filled with getting myself back on track. I have noticed that when I go away, I don't check my email for auditions or to submit myself for auditions, you know actor things. I also got an inflated sense of what kind of money I have. I threw a great Great Gatsby Party, but forgot that I'm actually kind of a little poor because I had a doctor appointment that was expensive, I paid rent, and paid for the other half of my acting class deposit all the day before I left for Ohio which left me with the paycheck I got when I returned. LA life is not so glamorous when I have to eat ramen for the next few paychecks to get back on track. And I will concerned parents and friends. This is just the truth of the super-fabulous-not-yet-working-actor life.

But the Gatsby party was fun. I'm sure ours was more extravagant than the movie, which I haven't see yet.

Good News though this week! I auditioned for a really quick role in a short film and was cast, Thanks to my LOVELY roommate Dotty! My only line was "can I walk you to your car" and then I have to lick a girls face. Dotty was my reader and my face for my video audition...here are a few takes. Neither of these are the one I sent in.

Boom. Acting.

Actual acting is happening in my life...not to say that video isn't acting, but let's not start a debate. I started my Margie Haber Fundamental Intensive this week and, you guys, it feels so SO good to be in front of a camera doing some work. If you haven't heard of Margie or her method, buy her book How to Get the Part without Falling Apart.
On Tuesday we worked on establishing a true relationship with your reader, even if your reader is someone who doesn't even look at you. Today we worked on the "where you came from" before the scene began. Basics, yes, but Margie's technique is so set on "living not acting" that it is a completely new approach for me and helping me a lot. I personally am so tired of the GOAT method and well methods. Especially out here when one does not have 6 weeks to establish a character and 12 performances or more to realize it. Sometimes you only have 15 minutes to create a love relationship, a deep friendship, or being a parent, etc. I love the class so far. I cried tonight during a scene and I wasn't even trying...what? haha.

LAism of the Week:
As fast paced as LA is, everything happens slowly. LA is almost human. Ideas, projects, careers, all develop slowly at their own pace like a human mind developing. Sure some careers are catapulted, but only exceptions to the rule. Just like a traumatic event will change a person over night. Realizing this is helping me, because I don't want to admit it, but I was sure I would have booked one big thing by now. And now I see how silly that was to think. I'm still green and casting directors can smell that a mile away. All I can do it be here, take classes, plant my roots and grow.  

Jack Black and the Elevator

Hello Again Lovely People!

This week in the City of Angels...

So life stuff, I saw JOE PUG on Saturday at The Mint on Pico. If you know me, you know Joe Pug is my future husband (I hope he never reads this...unless he has a secret crush on the girl wearing the jean jacket and rocking the feather earrings). But really, I have seriously considered getting his album art forever tattooed on my body (still not off the table...I digress). In short, his concert was amazing, as always. Long story though is that he has really inspired me to push myself in all directions. I mean, Rihanna is now a famous actress after starring in that 2012 nugget of gold Battleship. In all seriousness, I am pursuing acting to affect others with a performance like I am affected by great performances in film. I want to give that gift to others, like the gift Joe Pug's lyrics and music are to me. Here is a picture I took last Saturday. Soak up the passion and the inspiration. You're amazing Joe! I might even try to write a little ditty because of you...maybe about you...I haven't slept with your vinyl next to me in bed since last Saturday...too much?

Moving on,
Acting wise, I have been reading a nice little handbook called So You Want to Act in Los Angeles? by Patrick Donahue, nice guy, nerd, aspiring hero, and Virginia Welch. I am a little salty I did not have this when I first moved here last August, so for all you aspiring movie stars...starving actors out there, pay the $4.99 and buy this online book and study it. It is chock full of useful information on how to look and act professional and do it on a budget, or at least within reason. There are SO many people selling actors things: classes, head shots, reels, etc etc etc. This book helps you know how much money is too much money to spend and it spells out step by step what you should be doing to be successful. AND IT'S A LOT OF STUFF. I am truly inspired and ready to set some new goals and get some balls rolling. I've felt like I was floundering for a while now.

Step 1: I have signed up for an acting class with Margie Haber. Since I have not necessarily been booking/being taken seriously enough to be called in to book anything, classes are a good resume builder. Especially with greats like Margie. Her orientation was amazing. SHE talked to us. Not just interns or other teachers, she did. And she seems great. I have also been reading her book How to Get the Part Without Falling Apart. Another great read for all you actors who hate auditions. Read it. I dare you!

Step 2: I will be working diligently on my reel and a possible Facebook fan page (which makes me feel very conceded). Keep me honest people. Ask me about these things. I should be done with them in a few months. A reel is important because it puts me at the top of casting directors lists when I am submitted online.

Also acting related, I am auditioning this Saturday for some Shakespeare in the park. I was given a bit of advice from a director last October not to pay for acting classes, but to do theatre. This has not served me well, hence the registration for Margie Haber, but I keep submitting for theatre pieces because acting a little bit is better than not at all. And exposure, exposure, exposure! So wish me luck. I have to play the violin, guitar, sign and memorize a comedic Shakespearean monologue in less than 24 hours...GO!


Before I end with an LAism of the week, I want to shamelessly plug (and I used both of those words intentionally) my Twitter, caitscorner. It is still developing, but the basic concept is whenever I am tweeting, I am having a bowel movement. I have had TOO MANY conversations with men about how "girls don't poop." We do, and I never want to talk to you again. My Twitter is not only about poop or what I just went through on the toilet. It's usually just what I'm thinking about, or something else interesting on the Internets that I found and wanted to share (that's for the times I had to spend an extended period of time on the toilet and I was keeping myself entertained...too much?) In any case, I know, it's a little gross, but come on. It's hilarious...please don't judge me ;)


LAism OF THE WEEK: JACK BLACK AND THE ELEVATOR
For those of you who follow me on Facebook who did not see/hear the explanation of my encounter with Jack Black on Tuesday, let me tell you a tale, a tale of a fateful trip...
So I went to SoulCycle WeHo on Tuesday morning to get my spin on, but sadly/happily, the class was sold out and and I did not get down. With my head hung low and Charlie Brown playing in the background, I headed out and paid two whole dollars for parking and got on the elevator to go down to my car. SoulCycle WeHo shares a courtyard with an Equinox, so it is a great place to see celebs. I have seen quite a few there myself, but usually it does not get this awkward. Let me explain, I was heading down in the elevator to P4. The vator stopped on P3 and opened. A man about my height with long salt and pepper hair and a full on beard in standing outside obviously looking to go up not down. I look at him, look away, and go wait, that's Jack Black. I look at him, he looks at me, I smile and nod and my elevator door closes...and opens again for no reason. Jack Black and I were both a little shocked by this. I think he thought I recognized him and opened the elevator, and I tried to make it clear that I did not open the elevator but without saying anything. He just shook his hands indicating he wanted to go up, not down and I shook my hands and laughed like I didn't know why the elevator doors opened again for no reason, because I really didn't. So the doors closed...AND OPENED AGAIN! Luckily, he was already nestled in the up elevator and did not see my panic as I hit the door close button frantically. Nice to meet you Jack Black.