Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Extra Work

I am about to do something that no woman is *supposed* to do: I am about to age myself. By that, I mean I'm going to describe events that will make you, the reader, figure out roughly how old I am. It's really not that hard to do anymore, given sites like facebook and what have you (and the description about myself on this blog) but it still is a taboo.
It was ten years ago this year when I left the academy and started my three year-long stint as a full-time non-union extra. Why three years as non-union, you might ask (if you are in the know enough to ask). I owe it partly to my magnetic personality, but mostly to the system.
Being an extra was a very exciting, depressing, angry and funny time for me. Whether I like it or not, it helped shaped who I have become. Also, along with my experience at the academy (which I won't go too much into-- it's just not as interesting), shaped my view on the entertainment industry as a whole.
Sitting in my room in a light blue photo box with water-color flowers on it, that my mom probably bought me from Kmart, sits almost all of my vouchers and check stubs I received from extra work. I think over the course of my "career" I lost maybe two vouchers in my trunk that were never seen again. I've been meaning to "one day" look at each one and remember what happened for each shoot. Then I wanted to either write a book or a screenplay about them.
But, as I previously mentioned, it's been pretty much a decade since all of that happened. I still have all of my faculties, but I'd like to write this down. You never know when something could happen. Some horrible catastrophe could prevent my story from coming out, though most of me thinks that's unlikely. What's more likely is I would prevent myself from telling my story, which has already been the case. When you're an actress completely starting out, there's a lot of things you're told you're not supposed to do. The same things happen in regular lines of work, but as far as I've experienced, never so much as in the entertainment industry. You get told "no" for so many things and soon you'll find you're telling yourself "no" to even the most obvious good opportunities.
And yes, that last paragraph was a bit of a rant without explanation. I'm sorry. All will be explained in the stories ahead.
Also, while this is my life story, this will be a truthful account. I know it's been ten years, but I'm not going to exaggerate. Some of it might be hard to believe, because the entertainment industry is silly like that. But I won't make stuff up like, "I was sitting in my unmoving car on the 405 south, when a pegasus flew down to my driver's-side window and said 'Get on my back and I will take you to the studios!'"
(But I have to tell you, that was one heck of a morning.)
As far a posting each entry is concerned, my goal is to do at least one a week. Maybe sometimes I'll do two, maybe sometimes I'll only be able to do one in two weeks. But I will be consistent. I would recommend subscribing to this blog if you want to stay up-to-date. I will be posting links to my updates on my facebook page, but keep in mind I only accept people as my facebook friends who I know. It isn't hard to become a follower of blogs on blogspot; you just have to set up a google account, log in and click "follow" on my page.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the stories.

1 comment:

The White Spy said...

I, for one, am looking forward to these stories!! Especially the one about the Pegasus!! =)