The 5 (Actor) Things I Can’t Go Without

1-Actors Access. Without a doubt. Though I probably get 1 audition for every 45 submissions (maybe not even that much) there is no doubt that this is the place us unrepresented folk MUST look multiple times a day. I probably check it about 10-15 times a day, starting at about 10:15 and finishing around 9 P at night.

2-My blue shirt. This rather affordable ($20?) shirt was purchased from Filene’s Basement before they closed down (tear tear) and it is one of those shirts that probably gets worn more days than there are in the week. Why? Because it can make me formal, informal, blue collar, chilling out you name it. This shirt can pretty much do it all, and it fits me like a glove…er shirt.

3-The Actors Equity mobile website/my iphone in general. Yeah I know iphone is probably tops on a lot of my fellow bloggers lists, but these two come in handy so many times. Especially at auditions when the line around the table is so crazy that I can’t see the character breakdown and I can simply pull it up on my device, but especially during  a sides call, when I can just take a picture of them and be on my way, instead of writing ’em out and standing there for 25 minutes. There are pros to that approach too, but I like to be able to look at it wherever.

4-My Little Black Book. No, not the one I use to call up exe’s and not that (probably bad movie). But my book where I record what I wore to an audition, who was in the room, their address and a little note about what happened or how it went. This especially comes in handy when I get a callback for an on camera thing and need to see what I wore (probably my blue shirt). But it also helps to know that this is the 4th time this month I have auditioned for Alaine Alldaffer with that Neil Simon monologue and maybe I should switch things up this go around.

5-My fiancée. Simply put, even before she worked on “the other side” (she is currently an agent assistant) it always benefitted me to run sides with her, ask advice on what to wear and get an outside perspective on anything from how to approach an agent to headshots to what I should write on my postcards. Hopefully you can find someone as loving in other ways to you as I did, but even so, have that friend or roommate who can give you that opinion other than yours that can save you from sending out that inappropriate email to a casting director or making that really wrong choice for the scene.

Of course there are many more things we need, my honorable mentions include a bathroom in every neighborhood, Yum Yum Bangkok’s lunch special and a close Happy Hour for those crappy 5 PM auditions, but these are my top 5. Hope they help you in some way! Keep on keepin’ on!