So it’s been about three months since I completed the move to Los Angeles. Despite the financial pain I’ve been feeling since I moved here (thanks to a very untimely car repair), I think things are going sort of all right. I’ve done some extra work and completed a student short film and I’ve been auditioning like crazy lately. Which brings me to the latest episode.
I currently am still looking for a day job (NOTE: if anyone has any leads, pass them on) which means money has gotten insanely tight, up to and including the fact that I owe my incredibly generous and tolerant roommate for my half of the utilities. Over the last two weekends I’ve had a dozen auditions — all for non-paying projects — and it comes down to two productions that directly conflict with one another on the calendar. Details later. I get a callback for one and while I’m at the callback I schedule an audition for the second one on the off-chance that I don’t get cast.
A few days later, I go to the second one, which was a bit of a drive, only to find out that it was a last-minute casting and rehearsals start that night. I nail that audition and get cast, but I started feeling queasy at the read-through, because I hadn’t heard from the first one yet. (Honestly, I was hoping I was sensing an immortal who was going to lop my head off.) Turns out, after I get home , I get a late-night email that I was cast as the lead in the first play! Sonofa–
An ominous choice lay before me, because I committed to a tiny role in this second show. I hate going back on my word and I talked to several people whose opinions I value before making the choice to back out of the second show. For a better role? Oh, yes. Guilty? Hell, yeah. But if I made an enemy or a mistake, I’d rather make these mistakes now. The lesson I learned? As much as we as actors need to keep hustling work, this kind of thing is vital to watch out for so that you don’t step on a lot of toes on the way up. I don’t know what consequences I’ll incur in the future for this action, but I can only hope they aren’t too severe…