I had a rough morning to say the least but I needed to brush it off and head home to get ready for my audition tonight. It's for a film noir web series. I've had the sides for about a week now and been looking over them from time to time. This audition, however, was for 6 different roles! I read for all of the roles. Even the fat guy role and young 15yo kid! But anyways, before my audition I needed to make sure I had my headshot and resume ready to go. I go to grab a headshot when it dawns on me, "I have new headshots I get to use!" The only problem is I haven't printed them out yet. No worries, I'll just run up to Kinkos and get a quick print out. In and out the door. That's where the problems started...
I walk into Kinkos and the lady at the desk was very nice.
"How may I help you today?" she asked. "Just need my headshot and resume printed out please." I replied.
"Ohhhh an actor. That's awesome. Sure thing."
I get that response a lot here in Dallas. Back in LA when you would say that the guy/girl working the counter would look at you like, "no shit. Just like every other Joe Blow that walks through those doors." I hand over my flash drive and she asks, "What file is it?" and I showed her. She opens it up and says, "That's a great shot!" Again, another difference between Dallas and LA. In LA they would've said, "That's a Great shot! Who's your photographer? How much did it cost? What are you auditioning for? Do you know where I can get headshots like that? Do you have an agent? Can I suck you off to get any information off of you?" You never know if they're being genuine or not. The nice lady comes back with a great print out of my headshot. I look at it...
Then I ask if she could print my resume on the back for me. "Not a problem." She starts having some trouble with the computer and is trying to figure out how to print my word document. She figures it out and prints it on the back. What comes out is very little. It just has my name and my stats. (ie: height, weight, eye color, etc.) She looks confused. "What's wrong?" She calls over a girl who looks like she hasn't slept in days and is putting on a front so people don't think she's a bitch. She walks over and says, "It's 2 pages long." I start thinking, 'there's no way! I checked it before I left to make sure it's only 1 page.' I lean over and look at the computer screen and explain..."It was only 1 page when I put it on my drive. Just hit backspace and it'll be 1 page and we're good to go." The mean lady looks up at me with fire in her eyes and says, "I can do that but I'll have to charge you $10." $10?!?! Just to hit backspace and make my day a little better. I was thinking, 'You heartless bitch!' But some people won't budge.
I said, "Well, how bout I come back there and hit backspace for you. Then it's fixed and you won't have to charge me anything."
"No. You can't come back here. But you can use our computers out there which are $.30 a minute. Much better than $10."
Are you kidding me? Are you really saying what I think you're saying. I have an audition to get to lady! So furious, from how the day was playing out to begin with, I just paid for the headshot itself and left. I raced home angry as can be but then my phone rings. It's one of my best friends and she always knows how to put a smile on my face. I got to vent to her and she listened. She's a great listener. Then after my venting she responds, and whether she agreed with my behavior or not, she says, "What a winch!" She's the best. Then we talked for a while and it completely calmed me down and put me at ease. I get home and start thinking straight, 'You have resumes printed out for this very reason.' Sure enough I do! This isn't the first time this type of thing has happened to me so I learned from the past and prepared myself for the future. I wonder if other actors go through this sort of thing.
It's time for my audition. By this time I'm pretty much calm and back to a normal state other than the normal jitters you get before an audition/performance. I'm following the directions to the audition site when I notice it's taking me out into the country. BFE Texas. I didn't mind, it was kind of cool. I then pull into a neighborhood and the address is a house. A really nice big house. My mind starts running wild thinking, "Great. I'm about to get murdered!" Cause auditions held at houses always make me uneasy. I've only done it a couple times but it's just not very professional. But this one, however, was extremely professional (for a house audition). It was held in his home studio which was a separate guest house sort of thing. He had me read with a girl. She was really good I thought too! A bit older, but she was very good. The directors daughter was there running the camera and then his wife walked in. Its a little uneasy when there are more people watching your audition. I already feel like an idiot! ha. Auditioning is a part of the game though. Sometimes I can't wait to get to the point where I am offered roles and don't have to audition. That's happened to me a few times from past directors I've worked with and I love it! Because I know I can pull off the role, that's why I submitted for it, but at the audition maybe I was having an off day (like today) or maybe I just kill it but don't get the role and I'm left scratching my head wondering, "what happened?" To explain it for non actors, it's basically like going on a job interview only at the end of the interview you have to put on a show for your potential boss.
All in all it was a very eventful day with ups and downs. I continue to get better at auditions though and sometimes when I think I sucked, I end up getting the part. Tonight wasn't bad so I look forward to seeing what happens. Plus it's my brothers birthday. I showed up late, but made the birthday dinner.
Happy Birthday Bro.
Cheers,
Jonathan Baca
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