Taking My Time

Yes.

I am still in London.

And yes.

I’ve been quiet...licking my wounds from a very tough year.

I’ve reflected on my growth and my destruction: my misery and hopelessness which crushed an awakening of hope and vigour.  I’ve tried to get some perspective.  And I know that like all heartbreaks, no sort of prodding or exploration will give me the insight that the simple measure of time will.  Some time has passed.  More will follow.

I am starting a new year here in London.  I have an agent who seems happy about pursuing a career with me.  As with all cities, it takes some time before repeat submissions from your agent gets you through a door with a casting director.  Time.  More time.

I had a terrible theatrical experience directly after school which reminded me why I have no interest in amateur theatre.  In the interest of not burning a bridge (not that it is one that I will ever set foot on again) – the company and director will remain unnamed.  As a friend here in London pointed out, “There’s fringe..and there’s FRINGE.”  On the flipside, some of the unpaid theatre here is actually rewarding and has great potential.  A friend of mine was in a pub theatre show that got picked up for a West End run.  Sometimes it gets you in front of the right people.  And sometimes it is just good to do to remind yourself that you’re an actor.  In the fall, I was thrilled to be a part of the CASA Latin American Theatre Festival Scratch Night – where short new works were staged in hopes of being picked up and fostered into a full-length show.  We created a piece called ‘Private Thoughts in Public Spaces’ as a devised piece.  For those of you outside of the theatrical world – devised means that there is no set script or choreography from the outset.  We discussed ideas, played games, did contact improv, tried, failed, explored – and under the guidance of a director and a movement director...pulled together an exciting and imaginative physical theatre piece which won the Scratch Night.  It is to be developed into a full-length production for next year’s CASA Festival here in London! 

 © Gema Juan Bernabeu

I’ve had the good fortune to have some paid work come down the line, too (which pleases both me and my agent).  Most of the corporate film work I’ve been cast in has been specifically because I am American.  The casting notices always make me giggle because they call for a ‘Native American’.  Although I did get cast as Matachana in a quite terrible production of Pocahontas with a touring children’s theatre backin my early 20s – let’s face it people – I’m as WASPy as you can get.  Irish?  Maybe.  Native American?  Not a chance.  But the castings here are referring to your dialect.  They aren’t looking for Brits who do a good ‘General American’ accent...they’re looking for a native...American.

I’ve just begun showing up to some commercial castings and using my RP (Received Pronunciation; also known as BBC English) dialect.  And surprise, surprise...I even got cast that way!  It is for a German tyre company – so maybe they didn’t even notice that I wasn’t a Native Brit.  I got flown to Cologne for the weekend to shoot the commercial.  Wardrobe fitting on the Saturday.  Shoot on the Sunday.  My biggest concern was that they would be ticked to find out that I wasn't British - after faking my way through the audition.  We set up for the first shot of the day...and after a handful of takes, the director said, ‘Perfect.  Now we do it in German!’

We what??

‘It is very easy ‘ ... and he rattled off my line in German.  ‘Um...I think I may have to write that down...’  So, he wrote it down for me.  In German.   So, I quickly jotted it down phonetically as best I could – and set it to memory – because they had not moved the cameras and were ready to do the next take.  My own little Lost In Translation moment.  I’m sure they’ll end up dubbing it by a Native German...(as inevitably my pronunciation was horrific)...but it was a reminder to keep cool and roll with the punches on set.   

Plus: I’ve added Cologne to places-I’ve-travelled.  Add that to Brussels, Bruges, Paris, Portugal, Sweden...and within the UK: Salisbury, Stonehenge, Bath, Durham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Oxford, Shrewsbury, Brighton, Brecon Beacons (Wales), Isle of Wight...and a drive through the Forest of Dean. 

Seeing lots of theatre, lots of friends and keeping inspired day by day.  Helps the time pass a little more gently.