Lydia's Journey BEYOND Hollywood

It was an honor to work with such veterans of the business. From left to right: Shelley Berman , Eli Wallach , Bill Macy , and Jack Black . 2nd picture: Eli and Bill attempt to tell Jack Black a joke. Friday was nice. I showed up half an hour early to make up from being late the day before - but no one was there. So I hung out in my trailer for half an hour until I officially checked in. If you know anything about movie sets, you know it's a lot of waiting around. Well, I was there at 9am, got my wardrobe on, my hair and make up done, and I sat there in my trailer...reading, napping, talking on my phone...trying to pass the time. They came in to tell me I was free to go to lunch (dinner - it was 4:30pm) - then after that, I came back and rested....got my hair and make up touched up - and waited some more. Finally they came to get me around 6pm to go to the set. Then I waited some more there....They didn't put me in the scene until around 9pm! Then we worked it over and over unt...

1st pic: Kate Winslet and me! 2nd pic: Shelley Berman, Eli Wallach, ME!, Bill Macy, and Jack Black on the set of Holiday. Well, I start off by showing up late! great! That's LA traffic for you! I was half an hour late - but the good thing is they weren't too upset. I guess they know LA already and expected it! It took me an hour and 45 minutes to get there! Crazy! So I was taken to the stage to rehearse our scene. I get introduced to Jack Black and Kate Winslet and the 3 older gentlemen who are in the scene. We work on it for a while and then head back to base camp to get into wardrobe, hair and make-up. It was a long day - with 3 hours of overtime - which almost doubles my pay for the day - YAY!!!! The day was long, but it was interesting. The old men were a riot! They were all in their 80's and 90's full of stories from their long careers and a few dirty jokes! I had cheek ache from laughing and smiling so much today! It was also frustrating to the director and Kate b...

I got a call yesterday from wardobe saying Nancy wanted to see me in what I was going to wear for shooting on Thursday. So I arrived to the set, which was on location in West Hollywood. I got there around 4:30pm. And I waited...waited... and waited some more. The crew finally broke for lunch and the costumer invited me to have dinner with everyone. So I hung out, ate great catered food, and waited some more. Around 6:45pm I finally got into my wardrobe and was taken to set so Nancy can have final approval. I waited while she directed a scene with kate Winslet and Jack Black. When she was done, she came over to me and had me try on different options. I was finally "wrapped" around 8pm! a 3 1/2 hour wardrobe fitting!!! Crazy! Good thing I get paid for it! :-) I didn't get a chance to talk to either Kate or Jack ...but I did see them work. I noticed they were doing a lot of improv, so maybe that's how Nancy works. Kate looked beautiful. Very down to earth (maybe because...

Pic: Me in New York City shooting the short film Grand Old Party (director Juliet Dervin ). It was shot during the republican convention and every person I intereacted with was real while I was acting. Currently being submitted to film festivals... I started teaching kids acting classes at the Actorsite last week. It was really inspiring to see such talented kids at such a young age! There were some that could blow away a lot of adults that I have seen! I am really glad I decided to do this. It's only a couple of days a week and it pays pretty well, but I'm excited about working with these talented young actors and making them better at their game. I shot Paradise Drive on Friday, the pilot that my managment company, Central Artists , is producing. It was interesting how my character came together in just minutes before we began shooting. I wasn't sure where I wanted to go with her and at the final hour I turned her into a goth girl obsessed with death. It was fun playing...

Pic: Me in character while shooting The Shield last season. (I don't normally let "the girls" out so much!) It was the coolest being interrogated by CCH Pounder! That girl really knows how to let a person have it! I had an awesome time meeting everyone on set - including Michael Chiklis! Well, It's been a hectic week with auditions, subbing, and last minute wardrobe fittings for Holiday! My Skittles callback went ok. They paired us all up with our "matching" partners. Hispanic girl with hispanic guy, black girl with black guy, etc... Well, I didn't see any other hispanic couples so at first I thought that was a good thing - until we walked into the room. My hispanic husband couldn't say one of the lines just right. They kept redirecting him and having him do it again, but it didn't work. That's when I thought that they would probably take us as a team instead of individually - and that's when it became a bad thing. Because no matter how...

ok, so today I had an audition for Crystal Light . It was fun...I just had to "be myself". They asked me to tell them something special about myself and I revealed how I can touch my nose with my tongue. It's funny how that's always a showstopper! :-) Found out today that I have a callback for that Skittles commercial tomorrow at 1:50pm. Stressing me out because I have to sub tomorrow. I already called the school and they are prepared to have to find someone to cover my class for the last hour. great. I hate when this has to happen! But I am in no position to take any more days off from subbing - I need the money! Also, just got a last minute audition for The Shield - also tomorrow - at 3:20pm. It's a very small role...one line in Spanish...but it's pretty awesome that they even thought about calling me back since I was just on the show last season. (Or was it the season before last?) I did some drop offs yesterday and it resulted in an audition for Thursday...

It's safe to say that I have played more than my share of maids in this industry - but this is where it all started. My very first maid role. Shot in Austin Texas a good 7 years ago. I look WAY different (at least I hope I do!). Check out the film on ifilm.com: http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/435475

Friday night I saw a screening of the movie Cinderella Man . It was really good. I'm not sure why it didn't do as well as expected at the box office. Russell Crowe was excellent and Renee was good. I try and see as many free screenings as I can since I normally don't have the cash to pay the high prices of movie tickets out here! Plus, why pay when your guild offers then for free, right? :-) On Saturday, I went to the Conversations with Shirley Maclaine . It was a couple of hours of being in a room with her and an interviewer. It was really interesting. She talked about being around The Rat Pack , Marilyn Monroe , her issues on certain movie sets, who was a dream to work with, and who wasn't, and odd experiences with directors like Alfred Hitchcock. It was pretty awesome to hear this icon speak about her 50 year career. Did you know she doesn't have a star on Hollywood Blvd? That's just crazy!!!

It was nice visiting with family and friends while in Texas this Christmas/New Years. I also became a Godmomma!!! Here I am with my new godson Aaron Steven and then with my friend Letty at her cousin's wedding! :-)

Looks like I ended up there after watching tonight's episode of The Office . I was hoping to catch my voice - but looks like they decided not to use that scene - or they probably didn't have enough time for it. Oh well...It's not my first time - and I'm sure won't be my last!

Well, yesterday I had my first auditions for the new year. And I had two in one day! YAY!!! I like days like that! My first audition was for Skittles candy at Francine Selkirk's office (sp?) at Zydeco Studios. I was called in to play a "homeowner". It was basically someone's wife and it was a pretty funny scene. I didn't say anything - I just had to look at a leak in the ceiling. I thought it went well. They called me back today to redo my audition because the sound was bad on the tape. Today's audition went well also. I ended up having the same husband from yesterday and someone had commented that we look like a real like couple - so maybe this combination might work to get us hired! :-) I also had an audition for a feature film called If I Had Known I Was a Genius . My dear dear good friend JC Cantu is working at Mary Vernieu's casting office and he called me in for this very funny cameo role. It's a small part but it's a funny one. I auditioned...

I am finally home! Yay! I did miss an opportunity to audition for Scrubs . My agent called me last week to set up the appointment for Friday - but I was still in Texas. It was for a Sperm Bank Nurse. funny! Bummed because I like the show - Small role so I'm not too torn up about it. :-) Hopefully next time... I did come home to my script for the new movie I'm doing - HOLIDAY . I haven't started reading it yet. I'm a little scared to - just in case I find out my part is near non-existent. It's ok - a part in a movie is still a part in a movie, right? I also found out that my voice appearance on The Office is airing this Thursday - so listen carefully for me! I'm excited to check that out. I'm still waiting my my paycheck from that shoot - plus a pretty big residual check...I hate knowing money is coming to me - but it's not here yet. makes me anxious! By the way - Happy New Year! I hope good things are coming my way...Lord knows I'm due for some thin...