The casting director for "CSI" recently told me that he casts about seven roles each episode for up to twenty episodes a year. For those 140 roles, actors send him over one million headshots. Since he's unable to sift through the horde and figure out who may be good or bad, he winds up tossing them all into a dumpster behind his office, and instead brings in actors he's met in casting workshops. Advantage: me.When I'm not kicking back in the petite dog crate that is my home, I'm spending my nights and weekends at casting workshops. Every time a friend calls or texts me, I'm on my way to one, so I feel obligated to explain what they are.
At the beginning of every month, I'm emailed a calendar filled with casting directors from TV shows and movies, and I sign up for so many I'm contemplating having my gas bill forwarded to Hollywood and La Brea.
There are about twenty actors at each workshop, and we each hand a headshot to the casting director, who then pairs us up and gives us scenes, which we rehearse for ten minutes and then perform. There's a fee each time, and it's worth every penny– I get my face in front of the big decision makers in this town, and separate myself from the pack.
So next time you text me, picture me receiving it in my car, celly in one hand, Chicken Hot Pocket in the other, steering with my knees toward a TiVo near you.
