That was a blast. Too much fun! I'm full of superlatives! So. We filmed a three minute scene from the 1974 John Waters movie Female Trouble. I got to play Dawn, the Tranny. It was a blast. For this class, they only got one take, with three cameras rolling. We watched the result from one of the cameras last night after they shot, and it looks great. I'm so excited to have this for my reel. Xan and I really lucked out - the other two girls in the scene were fantastic, and the student director was great. I was so jazzed when we left last night. What fun.
As my first film experience, it was a total slap in the face as to how different it is from theatre. (Well, obviously, but I'll elaborate to make myself sound less dumb.) So many of my theatre instincts had to be checked for this - don't turn out to the audience, don't project so much or the boom operator will hate you, don't look at the audience/camera, keep it smaller, don't balance the 'stage' by spreading out from the other actors, stay close to them, stay in the frame. With this role, I was supposed to be over the top, so some theatricality was appropriate, but it was still a lot to think about. I also saw myself on film for the first time...time to get back on the diet. I'm thinner than I've been in years, but I need to keep at it. And I need to stand up straight. For real. But it was a blast.
This was also a fun project because it was partially and elaborately playing dress-up. I love that. And I love having my make-up done. For your viewing pleasure - Lauren as Dawn the Tranny:
I learned a lot about myself and my acting this week - I am very confident when I have a character/caricature to hide behind. I have no problem going crazy, being big, making choices. A throwback to children's theatre, perhaps? But when it comes to being natural, being simpler, more quietly complex, I struggle. At least right now. I had an audition on Tuesday that I walked out of knowing that I sorta sucked - I was actor-y and unnatural. The student-written dialogue was a little spotty, but I really don't think that's the reason. I've got to figure out how to be real people, and how to be more of myself with characters that are more similar to me. Sounds like it's back to basics for Lauren. Time for a class.
In other news - WE QUIT TRADER JOE'S!!!! I'm very happy about it. Seemingly as an affirmation, there has been a lot of acting stuff going on for both of us already this week. We rehearsed and shot the scene, Xan got sent on two auditions by his quasi-agent, he got called in to interview for being an HBO stand-in, I got an audition for a featured extra in a Bruce Willis film, and I got called to do a spec commercial on Sunday. We're smokin'! Being an actor is awesome!*
(* Can you get paid for doing this??? Can I get paid for doing this? Please?)
Keep it coming. As soon as I get my copy of the scene, I'll post it here. I'm so excited!
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