Lydia's Journey BEYOND Hollywood

Wow - I feel like I've been on vacation forever!! I flew into Austin last Wednesday, December 19th and here in Corpus for a week. And I kinda miss home, if truth be told. I'm not sure why...I won't be doing much when I get there. The writer's strike is still happening and I would just be trying to get some subbing work scheduled. My parents are vacationing in California for a week or two when I get back, so I will be entertaining guests right after the holidays. My life will just have to wait a bit before going back to normal! I can't wait until the new year! 2008 is going to be GREAT! I can just feel it! I plan on working my butt off and being more focused this year! Nothing but good things to come... :)

On Saturday I saw a screening of Grace is Gone and they had a Q & A with John Cusack afterwards. I have always loved him, ever since Say Anything... Well, before that screening, I was having brunch with some friends in Santa Monica and I saw Michael Keaton eating there. Two celebrity sightings in one day - that was pretty nice! And Batman no less! :) But Sunday night, I was at a holiday party at Shemar Moore's house and that was the perfect way to end my "Hollywood Weekend"! Such a beautiful house for such a beautiful man! ...

Let me just say that I had the opportunity to go to advance screenings of Sweeney Todd and The Great Debators this week - and OMG! - they were awesome! I absolutely LOVED Sweeney Todd!!! Johnny Depp was GREAT and so was Helena Bonham Carter! And Tim Burton did some amazing visual things with this film! And The Great Debators was REALLY good. It had a nice strong cast! Go see them - both - when they open!

I had two commercial auditions this week. One for a Washington Mutual where I had to dance the cha cha cha with two different dance partners. That was fun! :) And another for a Jack n the Box commercial where I had to play a bridesmaid holding back the bride who wanted to kill Jack. Two fun spots. Didn't hear back from them though....Oh well.

I saw my episode of Notes From the Underbelly last night. I was in the very beginning of it and it was over very fast. :( You know what's weird about this business? I have been here for 7 years (almost) and I started off here doing background work and have worked my way "up" to booking roles on tv and film. And after all the auditioning I do, and stressing out, and praying that I book a job - when I do, it's all over so very quickly. Sometimes a job I book is such a small role that it wasn't that much different than being an extra, except with that whole "having a line" thing - and auditioning for the role... :) I have to admit it's a little frustrating at times. I feel like throwing my hands up in the air and shouting "Just give me my own show already!!!!" :) But I know it will all come in due time. Everything happens as it's supposed to, right? hmm...I hope so... I spoke to my manager today and she told me that Speilberg ...

My episode titled "Heather's Visit" will air Monday, December 10th, at 9:30pm on ABC (8:30pm Central). Look for me as (SURPRISE!) "Maria" the Mexican restaurant hostess. :) You can also see a quick clip on the ABC website . I shot that over a year ago and it's barely airing! Wow! ER is set to air late January, episode "Atonement".

Today was pretty stressful! I got a call around 5pm on Friday that I had an audition for today at 1pm. Straight to producers for Eli Stone - again! :) (YAY! I love that this office keeps calling me in for this show - now if I would just book an episode already!) :) I was stressed because I didn't have time to cancel my subbing work for today so I showed up to work and told them my situation and they let me leave during lunch to do the audition. I told them I would try and be back around 1:30 - making me a half hour late from lunch. I zoomed to the UDK Casting office and got there by 12:45pm! I was early!!! I sat and waited - and waited - and waited some more! Finally, around 1:15pm, and because a friend let me go ahead of her since she knew I had to get back to work, I finally was getting called in to audition. Then, right as I was about to walk into the room - the casting director asks if its ok that the producers take a 5 minute break before they see the next group of a...

on the set of ER, of course! :) It was pretty awesome! Aside from the fact that it had to be the most unflattering wardrobe I ever had to wear for a job - it was still pretty cool to be on the set of a long running hit show. What's funny is, I remember when I did extra work on ER back when I first moved into town. And here I am, just under 7 years later, and I'm "in my own trailer" and working with John Stamos! haha Pretty funny stuff! Everyone was so nice! I didn't get to work with or see Mekhi Pfifer, but I did see Parminder Nagra and say hello to her, as well as Maura Tierney . The episode is called "Atonement" - so be sure to keep an eye out for it. It should air towards the end of January 2008.

Talk about FAST! I thought I would shoot sometime within the next couple of weeks. At least, that's what I was told originally! Now, I find out I'm shooting tomorrow! I went in for my wardrobe fitting today. Since the show is set in chicago, it's supposed to appear as if it's freezing cold out there. So they bundled me up in a turtle neck under my uniform and a big puffy jacket! I look like the younger kid from A Christmas Story! "I can't put my arms down!" :) (I love that movie!) I'll be sure to take my camera and snap as many pics as I can of John Stamos and Mekhi Pfifer ! :)

Well, let me first start with my commercial callback yesterday. It went well, despite my voice was still a little hoarse. And a big part of the commercial is a voiceover so they had asked me to just say the lines while they listened to my voice. nice. Hopefully they like the "Demi Moore sound"! :) I had my audition for ER this morning. I got there SO early, just to make up for being so late to that audition with John Levey last time . I noticed that there were just a couple of other women there for my role. That's always nice to see. ER only has producer's sessions, they don't normally have pre-reads, so no wonder it takes a while to get called into that office! Ever since I moved out here, for seven years , I have wanted to audition for this show!Well, they called me up on deck, and as I was sitting there waiting to go in, I look to my right, and I see a 2007 calender with George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and right in between them, my friend Angel Oquendo . ...

Sorry I haven't posted in a week. I have been sick with larangitis! For the past 4 days I have been without a voice! :( I didn't even know it was contagious until I spent Thanksgiving at my friend's place and she called me the next day without a voice too! Oops! Sorry! I hope I didn't get anyone else sick. I have been laying low, trying not to talk much this weekend - mainly because I CAN'T! So far it's gotten better. Now its a low raspy sound instead of just air. I need my voice! I have a commercial callback on Monday and an audition for ER on Tuesday! So I need to be able to say my lines! I'm drinking lots of hot tea with lemon so hopefully it will be back to normal by tomorrow!

The Good News....The writers are scheduled to resume "talks" on Friday of next week. Hopefully they can come to a better deal and we can all get back to work! :) It has been pretty dead for me this past week. I did go out on ONE commercial audition. Oh well... The BAD news....I woke up sick this morning. :( Or at least, almost sick. It's not full blown - about 75% - but it's enough to have me taking medicine all day and being a complete bum indoors. I want it to go away by tomorrow! Tomorrow I have a screening for the film " Margot at the Wedding ". There will be a Q&A with Jack Black and Jennifer Jason Leigh afterwards.

TR Knight, Kathi Griffin, Andy Richter, and many others gathered in support of the writer's strike at Universal Studios today. ok, I attempted to help out on the picket lines today, but I got there around 10 til 2pm and they were just wrapping up! :( I stayed until around 2:30pm and everyone was turning in their picket signs. :( Oh well - now that I know they are there around 6am until 2pm daily - I'll be sure to get there earlier - on a day when I'm off! Today was "Actor Day", where they asked some "celebrity names" to show their support for the writers. I was so excited to meet TR Knight since I'm a huge fan of Grey's Anatomy! I actually took a picture with him - but I came out so horribly - that I thought it would be best just to show him alone! haha!

I saw my friend Jennifer 's film " LOOK " at the AFI Film Festival this past Thursday. It was a really cool film about surveillance cameras and it makes you think about just how many times we are captured on camera each day! And not to mention my friend's performance was SO FREAKIN' AWESOME! She's great and the film is doing well on the festival circuit. She's currently in Fort Worth being given the red carpet treatment for being part of the film that won the special jury prize!!! I'm very happy for her! She deserves all of this success and more! :)

I spent my afternoon getting my new 8x10 pictures ready for reproduction. Between my manager and agent, I'm getting 6 headshots done! wow - that's a lot! Then, I came home and got a few autographed pictures signed for a few "fans" that contacted me this week. :) That's always nice! I'm mailing them out tomorrow. :) My beautiful futon was delivered yesterday for my home office and I'm expecting my new desk next week. My place is almost done! And I can't believe the holidays are right around the corner. Makes me feel silly for purchasing things for my home - like a futon for the office - when it's not a necessity. I guess I could've waited until the beginning of next year, AFTER the holidays, to buy it - but my impatient nature wants everything to be done and ready NOW! Oh well - I love it - so there! haha Day 3 of the strike... Check it out - and support: UnitedHollywood.com

My manager called me today and started off with "Spielberg's office called for you today". Wow - can we hang up and let me hear that again? PLEASE??!!!! :) They are doing a new DVD called "Spielberg on Spielberg", I guess where he talks about his movies. They are showing a clip with me in it, not sure which one, but they called to "book" me for that - meaning PAY me for using my image! Nice! I hope I get a copy of the DVD! And I wish they use one of the clips that was left on the cutting room floor! I did a few more close ups that didn't make it to the final film! One where I even did a "stunt" and I hopped the Burger King counter and went running and yelling down the food court! We'll see which one they use! And hopefully all of you - EVERYONE - buys a copy of this DVD! :)

The Dirt audition went well yesterday. I was the last one they saw for the role. (that day). He asked me to do it three different times, and the last one he wanted "more accent". hmmm...of course! UGH! Always an accent! My question (in my head) was MORE???? Didn't know I actually HAD an accent, but I think it's because the last word in my line was a spanish curse word. We'll see what happens... The writer's strike started today. I saw a few people walking the picket like outside of NBC studios when I passed by there today. I think they only thing directly affected by the strike right this moment, is sitcoms. They need writers every five minutes to tweak an episode before they film it. Hopefully the strike won't go too long! I'd like to book more work before the enbd of the year! :)

I had two auditions this past Wednesday. One for October Road , playing a cop, and the other was for a sci-fi feature film called Supermarket . The film audition was really fun. My character was actually possessed by an alien who they try to kill by blowing me up. I have never heard the compliment "You died very well" before! :) Thursday I took the day off of subbing and helped out for a couple of hours at my manager's office with submissions. I have an audition on Sunday (yes, SUNDAY) for the FX show Dirt . It's happening on Sunday because everyone is getting ready for the Writer's strike that should begin on Monday. Commercials and features will probably not be affected, and episodics (tv shows) might not be affected for a couple of months....so we'll see what happens here. Either way, I want to show my support so I may look into walking the picket line with them.

I got the call late this morning that I had a last minute audition for 24 at 3:30pm. My agents and managers were trying to get me my sides, but they didn't have them until later. So I stopped by my manager's office and waited for the sides to be faxed in. They came at 2:30pm and I highlighted the script and practiced on the road to the audition! It was a 5 page audition for a guest star role! And I had the sides for less than an hour before my audition - with only the drive to work on it! wow - So I go in and do a pretty kick ass read, and they ask me to come back to producers at 5pm. So I went to Starbucks for an hour and worked on it some more and went back to meet the director and producer. It went really well - and I was out the door! :) I would LOVE to book this!!! A guest star role on 24 ???? Are you kidding me???? Tomorrow I have an audition for a cop role on October Road ! :)

I can't wait to get internet connected at my new house! They're supposed to come tomorrow! Thank GOD! I've also been without tv for a week - which is amazing considering what a tv fanatic I am! :) I feel so LOST! LOL I have done a lot of reading lately - and organizing my new place. :) I had an audition for Eli Stone on Friday morning. It was straight to producers for a "possible recurring" role as the assistant to Eli Stone's fiance'. The character was described as smart and professional, so I got to rock the new haircut and my new glasses! It went well, I got the call a couple of hours later to say I was 'pinned'. But so were a couple of other actresses so it's a matter of them just making a decision. I didn't feel like it went PERFECTLY - just 'well'. It will shoot either Tuesday or Wednesday so if I booked it, I'm sure I will hear something by tomorrow. Keep those fingers crossed! i would love to book this! :...

for a feature film called " Hotel for Dogs ", with Don Cheadle and Lisa Kudrow, at Finn/Hiller Casting. I'm pretty excited because I have never been into this office before and they are pretty big in the feature film world. I'm going in for a role as a social worker :) And like I said, tomorrow I'm volunteering at my manager's office all day - so that should be fun! :)

wow - life has been crazy busy lately, with me moving into my new place. But now that THAT is all complete, I feel like I can get back to my routine. Almost. I still don't have internet service at my new house. I've been checking email at Starbucks and developing an addiction to coffee now. Great. Which also explains why I haven't blogged in a while... Let me catch you up: I had two auditions last week - one was for a DOCTOR!! WHOOOHOOOO!!!!! I knew my new hair would help me in that department! ;) Except when I got there, they told me the role had changed to a "social worker". Oh well...It was for the show " Women's Murder Club ". It went well though... Then I had a last minute audition on Friday for The Shield . That was a hard one to get to - mainly because I set aside Friday to finish packing and to complete the last minute details for my move. But luckily since the role was for a cashier at a greasy diner, my sloppy "moving clo...

Unfortunately, I'm busy because I'm moving, not because I'm auditioning left and right! I'm going crazy trying to pack, and paint my new place, and clean, and throw out stuff I don't need and buy furniture to fill up a 2 bedroom house since I'm coming from a one bedroom apartment - ALL of that and STILL subbing everyday! I'm exhausted! I even helped out on Friday at my manager's office since he was short handed! That was really cool, helping him submit actors for roles, pulling headshots, and getting packages ready to be sent off. I did learn the importance of great headshots! By the way, I took my new ones with my short hair and I'm picking up my 4x6s tomorrow so my agent and manager can pick their favorites. so the ones above are just a few of my picks....

my episode of LINCOLN HEIGHTS airs this Tuesday, at 8pm on ABC Family! The episode is titled "The Cost of a T-Shirt".

Me giving my speech last month in Texas It's funny how something I try to fight so hard comes so easily to me! I guess it really is the Law of Attraction! My audition for the housekeeper yesterday went so well. Funny huh? Who knows, I may actually book it - that's usually how it goes! Tomorrow I am driving to San Diego for the weekend to teach a commercial acting class to kids. It's through my friend's theater school. I had been teaching earlier this summer, but stopped when I went to Texas for 6 weeks. Well, she called me because she needed a sub at the last minute since she lost one of her San Diego teachers. Not a bad way to spend a weekend, making some money and being put up in a nice hotel! :) I really need to start packing though! I'm moving into my new place in less than a couple of weeks and I haven't even started packing! I plan to do that next week. As well as take new headshots. Busy busy busy... I'm so busy I'm exhausted! I n...

Just when I was feeling good about playing cops and reporters with this new look of mine, I get a call for an audition for tomorrow, playing a maid....who doesn't speak English! Her name is not Maria...it's Luz. But STILL!!!! It's for a feature film and my manager had emailed me my audition information. I saw that the audition time was in the afternoon so I went ahead and confirmed. THEN I saw what the role was for. I guess it's too late to cancel after I already confirmed, but I had already decided not to do any more maid roles. I'm thinking of just going in anyway with this new haircut and look, and letting them decide that even though I was GREAT in my audition :) that there are other roles to consider me for. Let's keep our fingers crossed for that! If anything, the bright side is, I'm getting the opportunity to meet a new casting director. I took a workshop tonight for the first time in MONTHS!!! I met the associate at Finn/Hiller Casting, whi...

Today I had that producers call for Eli Stone . It went well. I just remember a blur of people in the room, I did my thing, and I was out in less than 2 minutes! I did meet Mark Espinoza who played "Jesse" on Beverly Hills 90210 (remember the one that was married to Andrea?). He was there auditioning and we chatted briefly. Tomorrow I have an audition for October Road to play a newsreporter! Perfect for my new haircut! Then in the afternoon I headover to 20th Century Fox for my callback for Journeyman , playing a cop. :) I need a booking! Send good vibes my way!

I auditioned to play "uniformed cop" on Journeyman . It's funny how everyone up for that role showed up in all black! I guess we all had the same vision as to what a uniformed cop looked like! One girl even came in with a holster filled with handcuffs and her night stick. I was a little worried about this audition because I've been kinda sick all week, and yesterday was probably the worst I had felt. I wasn't sure how I would say "Up against the wall. NOW!" while sniffling and coughing. ;) But luckily I got it together and did a pretty decent job. It looked like Robert Ulrich (of UDK) really seemed to like me. He said something like "wonderful" and started jotting down notes on a post-it note on my headshot. I'm hoping he wrote "callback" or something! :) We'll see... Now, Monday I'm going straight to producers for Eli Stone . Small role. But I have to keep telling myself the victory is in the "straight...

I get these inspirational emails daily - and this one just really hit me: When do you give up, throw in the towel and stop trying? If your goal is right, consistent with your values and an accurate reflection of what you truly want, NEVER. Most failures occur because people give up too easily. Nearly everything of value comes at a cost and over time. It's easy to lose sight of that in the quick fix, instant gratification world of the 21st century. But those who persist will prevail. There will be times when you are at your wits end, beaten up, frustrated and feeling hopeless. Remember the words of Sir Winston Churchill "never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense." Harrow School, October 29, 1941. Still good advice.

I did another one of my famous juggling acts today! I had two auditions AND I was subbing a first grade class! Luckily for me, this school loves me :) so they preferred that I go to my audition and come back, than to get another sub for the whole day. Wow. So I went to my first audition at 10am. It was for The Sarah Connor Chronicles and I saw lots of different types there for the role of a tech who draws blood. I felt it went pretty well, and the casting directors didn't seem to remember my bad audition YEARS ago. Hmmm...at least they didn't act like they did! I headed back to school and finished off my day. I rushed over to Warner Brothers and I was 15 minutes late to my 2:30pm audition for The New Adventures of Old Christine . Not good. At all. My audition was ok, but I really wish I could've made it earlier. They initially wanted me at noon but since I had to go back to school after my first one, I was hoping they could see me at 11am and I could go to work a...

This week wasn't about being fearless - it was about doing things despite the fear. Doing what you normally wouldn't do. I have never stood up before a group of people and delivered a "speech" before. I was brought in as a special speaker for my alma mater Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi this week to speak about "Breaking Stereotypes in Hollywood". I basically covered my challenges as a Latina actress who has to face numerous stereotypical roles (such as "Maria the maid") constantly. It was an awesome day! I started off visiting a friend of mine at my old high school and talked to them quickly about being a professional actress in Hollywood. They had lots of questions, like do I make a lot of money and live ina big house! HA! Then I gave a workshop to the Acting majors for the Theater Department about "How to be a Working Actor". They had lots of questions also, but theirs were focusing more about the basics and start...

Wow. Just when we take two steps forward, we take 3 steps back. Just when I thought that the "media" would start to get more accepting of "regular women" - now with the success of Ugly Betty and with America Ferrera on the cover of Glamour! But then, we see the cover and compare it to a recent photo taken of her last month and we can't help but notice the differences. It frustrates me at their need to photoshop a perfectly beautiful normal woman and try and make her appear slimmer. WHY? Why does it matter? ok, I'm done ranting....for now! ;)

This is for my alma mater: Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi. They are bringing me in to speak to the school next Thursday. They made this flyer - I didn't. Like I would refer to myself as a tv and movie star! lol But it sounds nice! ;)

My episode (Heads Will Roll) on Medium will reair this weekend! Tune in on Saturday, September 15th, on NBC at 10pm, and Sunday, September 16th, at 11pm on Lifetime!

Had an audition today for Out of Jimmy's Head . It was for a role as a teacher who was judging a debate. Saw Howard's partner Carol there, and she commented on how busy they were keeping me since I had that audition for Hannah Montana yesterday! I'm just thankful that they like me that much to keep calling me in! I can't wait to book for them! :) I leave for New Mexico on Friday. I'm meeting my parents there and we are driving down to Corpus Christi, where I will speak at Texas A&M University for Hispanic Heritage Month. I feel very honored to be asked to do this! And very nervous! I have to get working on that speech!

I got a last minute phone call letting me know I had two auditions for this afternoon! Luckily what I wore to teach today, easily fit for the other two characters. :) The first audition was for Women's Murder Club , Megan Branman Casting. I went in for a Lamaze teacher. It went really well. I got to do it twice, and my redirected one went way better than my first. So we'll see... My second audition was playing a mom for Hannah Montana . I just can't wait to book this show since I know so many young people who would be extremely excited if I got to meet and work with Miss Hannah Montana herself! And I just love Carol (Goldwasser) and Howard (Meltzer) over at that office! They are so nice! SO nice...in fact, I have another audition for one of their other shows tomorrow!

Saw my friend, Bernardo's, one man show called "Wheels" at the Museum of Tolerance in LA today. It's a piece on immigration....very well done! :)

Audition for "Unhitched" at Valko/Miller Casting. I went in for a very funny scene as a mother to a little boy who has to wear protective headgear which was mistaken for a skateboard helmet. Pretty funny script - I think I did ok... :)

I saw my fellow castmate (from Graveyard Shift) Danny Bolero and my former tv husband (from the pilot in Vancouver) Mauricio Mendoza in the musical Cesar and Ruben! It was awesome to see a play again! I don't see enough! They did a great job! It was written and drected by Ed Begley Jr .

Ok, even though I know that technically I haven't written in my blog for a couple of weeks, I'm going to be sneaky and change the date to make it seem like I have! heehee (Those of you who are faithful readers may be the only ones who catch that!) ok, today I shot my last day on Graveyard Shift . I may have to do pick ups and ADR looping in the future, but as for now, no more driving to Santa Clarita or being covered in dirt! At least not for work anyway! ;) I also met with a fellow actor friend of mine to discuss producing a play in the spring/early summer. I have never produced a play before, but he has. We have to look into getting a venue first, and see what that costs. It's not cheap, I know that much! It's a play that I first wanted to do 10 years ago while in college, and it never happened. It was a coincidence that he mentioned this particualr play to me! I had mentioned the possibility of doing this next year to my former acting professor, and he has ...

Got the phone call last night that they wanted me on set today at 8am for some wide shots. I was originally off until Wednesday. I had 4 hours of sleep since I had plans already to hang out with a friend last night! (I guess the best thing to do would have been to make sure I had an early night. I tried, just didn't work out that way!) I made it to set a little before 8am and got into wardrobe. I didn't have to do full on makeup (ie: DIRT) since it was a wide shot - Thank God! I shot pretty early in the day, and then I just sat around and hung out with everyone! Then, right after lunch the director Nik said I was wrapped. He apologized for running behind schedule, but he wouldn't be able to shoot what he wanted today, which basically means I could've had today off! But I'm glad I didn't. Those guys on set are pretty cool to hang out with, so I had fun anyway!

We began shooting the short film Graveyard Shift yesterday. I worked yesterday and today. Very awesome experience! The entire film takes place at a cemetery, so we are outside the entire time. It's been hot - but thankfully a nice breeze coming through made it bearable. I got to work with a very talented boy named Alex who played my 13 year old son. In fact, I got to work with a very talented cast! I haven't finished shooting yet, my last day is next Wednesday. But I did snap some pictures of the shoot to share them with you. I have to say that I really like the director, Nikolas Smith. He definately has a way to bring out your best performance! I did this scene with my son where I basically sell out at the end of the movie. I had Nik in my ear telling me to look at my son and see what it is that I am doing to him. I look at him and he's looking at me with such disappointment in his eyes and they start to well up. Well, of course, that just sucks me into my cha...

I had dinner at the director's house last night of the short film I will begin shooting tomorrow. I thought it would be a dinner/read through of the film, but since the lead couldn't make it, we didn't read through the script. We just sat, ate, talked, and watched a film made from the same producers. It was a nice night, getting to meet the other castmates. Today I had an audition for iCarly again for Nickelodeon! :) They brought me in for the role of a Science Teacher, which I would LOVE to do! I mean, how perfect would I be for that??? Not the "Science" part - just the teacher! It went really well. We'll see what happens. I finally bought a suit yesterday for those new "business headshots" that my manager has been hounding me about. Maybe now I can be seen for the lawyer role instead of the maid! ;) Keep your fingers crossed!

Ok, mark it on your calenders everyone! My episode on The Shield titled "The String Theory" will reair on The CW this coming weekend late Saturday night (technically Sunday morning August 26th) at 1am! I play "Lydia" who makes a deadly 911 call.

I had an audition this morning for Eli Stone . It was a little bittersweet considering I was originally called in for a series regular earlier this year, and now I'm being called in for a tiny one line role. WHAT???? Well, I guess the positive outlook is they are at least calling me back in, right? After that audition, I rushed right over to my second audition. It was for a feature film called Legally Blondes . I'm not sure if it's a spoof on Legally Blonde, or a follow up to the last one made. I went in for the role of the custodian at the prep school (code for MAID again!) and she happens to be the character that mirrors Jennifer Collidge's character in Legally Blonde. The lead girls take this character under their wing. Looks like a fun role, just not crazy about being a custodian with an accent. Again. But the audition actually went well, so we'll see what happens.

I went to a free event last night that the SAG Foundation was hosting. It was an on-camera workshop. It was very interesting, to say the least. The man speaking/teaching had a very different "technique" than what I am used to seeing. He basically directed every move the actor made on camera. "On this line look here, on that word raise your finger, and when that is said, turn your head to the right." It was so freakin' robotic and rehearsed - too much rehearsal for my taste. My annoyance with this man and his method quickly rose within the first 30 minutes. One of my buddies, who I had been texting throughout the workshop, asked about the "organic" part of acting, and when does that come in? We were both really confused at this technique. It didn't feel like acting at all - felt very technical and rehearsed. The man basically scoffed at his question and said "Everything you learned about "feeling" in acting class, put that ...

I'm learning lessons left and right! Yesterday I learned the importance of attending an audition stress-free! I tried making my Brothers and Sisters audition during my lunch break. I was subbing a 5th grade class and this audition happened to fall perfectly on my lunch break, and since I have "successfully" juggled that in the past - I figured I could do it again. Well, I got there perfectly in time for my appointment, but the casting director was on the phone for about 15-20 minutes! I couldn't think straight! All I had on my mind was the time, and the stress and worry about whether I would make it back to the school in time - which I already knew the answer....no-freakin-way! I finally got called into the room and the casting director was very nice - yet there I was wound up so tight and stressed out beyond belief! I did my scene - which was simple enough and memorized - yet I kept looking down at my sides. She asked if we could do it again and if I could ju...

I have spoken to alot of new actors who want to know what "steps" I have taken to become a working actor and when I tell them certain things I always hear "I always thought you weren't supposed to do that!". Apparently people listen to other people who tell them all these "rules" of what to do and what NOT to do. "You should never call casting offices", "I thought casting directors didn't like when people dropped by their office", "I thought casting directors preferred vertical headshots to horizontal" etc.... I just don't get how you're supposed to follow all these rules like everyone else, yet expect to stand out from the crowd and see results. Just doesn't make sense to me. I don't believe in "rules" of what you should or shouldn't do in this industry. It's about taking chances and going with your gut. When I first moved here, I didn't know anything - especially any "...

I got home around 3pm yesterday and checked my messages because my cell phone was acting up. I had a message from my manager at 2:30 telling me that iCarly wanted me back ASAP for the role of Sonya, the personal chef. So I rushed right over and checked out the new sides. They changed some dialogue, looked like they added more, which was a good thing. But they wanted the character to have a non-descript accent, where you ddin't know if it was Latin-Russian-Yukaslovian-German or anything else! I had never heard this at an audition, but they really didn't want to have the character have an obvious Spanish accent because they didn't want to make it seem they were making fun of this character - which I completely appreciate! Wow..what a concept! They actually called down the executive producer and he sat there and directed me exactly how he wanted the character. That was cool - but at the same time, nerve racking because I wanted to do it right - but I wasn't sure if ...

Despite what you see in the last picture - I had a GREAT time shooting Lincoln Heights! :) I guess I should explain before my mother sees this and freaks out! ;) The first picture is of the two cops who answer the domestic dispute call. They also happen to be series regulars and very nice! The second picture is me and my tv husband, obviously in happier times! (Actually we are waiting to shoot our first scene.) And now, the third pic....apparently my pushover husband whom I'm yelling at in my first scene snaps and takes matters into his own hands in the second scene, thus the messed up face. I'm not sure if you even consider me being in this second scene since I'm only seen being carried away in a gurney. Crazy makeup huh? I spent 2 hours in the makeup chair for that "look". I really liked playing this particular character. I got to stretch some acting muscles - because I'm not nearly as mean as her! ;) And everyone was SO nice! Feels good to pl...