Goals.
Ah, here we are again. A lot has happened this week compared to normal. Most things that took place this week feel like weeks ago, and yet here we are again on Sunday night in the same spot, typing away! It’s like the week has flown by!
Anyway, to business. Goals. It’s probably safe to say that actors will do anything to reach their goals. After all, we get asked to do the most ridiculous things in auditions to try and get jobs, and we rarely bat an eyelid and get on with it, without fear of the consequences.
This week I went through quite a lot to hopefully progress further and reach my goals of success. First up came ‘agents’. That’s right, I sent my first agent applications off on Tuesday. I did it all from the comfort of my bedroom floor, I sought out a few agents, composed my cover letters, and sent them off via my casting website of choice. And I was absolutely terrified! I don’t know why it felt so scary, I wasn’t going to get rejected to my face, I was safe behind my laptop screen! I think it’s because you’re seeking out people to help you further your career, and if they don’t see something in you, you feel like you’re not good enough. Anyway, I’ve not heard back yet, so I’m going to have to keep applying and hope for the best!
Later on that day came a couple of pieces of good news! Firstly I received an email asking if I was still interested in a film that I’d applied for about 6 months ago, if so, there would be a meeting in Northampton on Saturday that I was invited along to. Of course I replied yes straight away. This email was shortly followed by a phone call offering me a murder mystery for Sunday afternoon. Fantastic! One weekend of acting, sorted!
On Wednesday I tried to attack another goal, trying to make money. Large Trevor at the job centre had told me that Wicksteed Park, Kettering’s theme park, were having a couple of open days for jobs for this years summer season. He advised me that it would be best to go on the Wednesday night, as everyone would go on the Saturday. Oh how wrong Trevor was! The open evening was scheduled for 4.30-7.30pm. I decided to eat before I left, so I arrived at the park at 5.30pm. I joined the long queue and began the wait of doom.
The process was mind-numbingly slow. It took me two and a half hours just to get to the door to get inside, and at least another hour to get to speak to someone for my initial interview. I passed the first stage with flying colours, and then progressed up the stairs to the next process, talking to people from different departments that you were interested in. If any of them were impressed by you, they could offer you an interview at a later date. I ended up leaving the park at 10pm. So many times in the queue I was tempted to just walk home, the cold was unbearable, I was jumping up and down to try and stay warm, but then my body just started shaking by itself uncontrollably. I got so angry! Thankfully, on Friday I received a text message offering me an interview, so hopefully I didn’t lose an evening and all of my toes for nothing.
I couldn’t wait for Saturday to roll around for my film meeting. I made my way to Northampton, and after I ended up in the wrong location for five minutes, I rocked up and met some of the others involved. I was asked if I was there for the rehearsal, and despite being slightly confused by this, I went along with it! Everyone else turned up and we made our way inside to begin proceedings. I figured out very quickly that I was brought in as a replacement for someone, as everyone knew their characters, had notes all over their script, and all I knew was the name of the film! I was told who I would be playing and it turned out I would be the female lead! An acting coach was brought in to help the day along, and he told us that we would read the script, and then hot seat each other to try and get to know our characters. What?!? I hadn’t even read a single word, and I was expected to come up with a character on the spot?!? I was terrified. The read-through went well, and the script was very straightforward, but then came the hot seating.
I would be playing a policewoman, but being oblivious to the police force I had to ask some questions about what a ‘DS’ actually was before I even attempted to answer questions on the hot seat! I don’t know how I managed to get through it but I did, and we finished up by working on a couple of scenes, both of which I was involved in. It was good fun, and having someone there to help us out was incredibly useful. Normally with the short films I’ve done, you just turn up and get on with it, but this rehearsal day really helped. It was fantastic. I just hoped I did a good enough job!
Thankfully I received an email from the director that night expressing his sheer delight and thanks that I was able to join in at such short notice, and he was really pleased with how the day went. I was sent details of the shoot dates, it seemed like I was in! Looks like it’s time to do some police research! Gulp! I’m determined to make this a success as much as I can for this company, especially as they have been let down by this other actress. I know that it happens all the time, and it makes me so angry that people don’t think it will matter. The shoot is in 2 weeks time, so I’ve got a lot of work to do before we start, but I’m really looking forward to it. I always try my best in every job that I do, otherwise people will never want to work with you again, and you’ve said you’ll do the job, so you have to do it properly while you’re there! I’m just angry that people give actors a bad name by thinking that they’re the most important people involved. If there was no crew, there would be no film, the actors are just the final pieces! I also found out that the girl who previously had the role wasn’t even a professional, but somehow had managed to get in, she’ll never make it if she lets people down! Clearly she doesn’t have any goals! But I shouldn’t get too angry, her unprofessionalism has given me a shot and I can’t wait. Plus it’s another role on my CV, and this time I’ve got a substantial part! Yippee!
And then came today’s murder mystery! I was slightly apprehensive about it, it was a lady’s 50th birthday party in her house! We just had to turn up and act in her home! It was so strange! Thankfully the family were the nicest people you could ever meet, and after some intense interrogation, they insisted that we stay for some birthday food. They put some music on and I was so tempted to stay behind and party, but that probably would have broken the company’s rules!
I’ve had such a good week. Everything I’ve done has helped me so much, even queuing up for a ‘normal’ job. It’s been so long since I had one that I’d almost forgotten what interviewing was like!
My agent hunting has helped me to become more confident in knowing the people that I want to be in my life to help me achieve what I want, getting through to the interview stage of this job has given me the knowledge that I’m not actually useless in real life(!), and being given the opportunity of this film, and receiving the email last night has boosted my confidence in my abilities. The director was so grateful and complimentary to me that I spent the rest of the day pretty much bouncing off the walls in delight! Yesterday was the easy part, now comes the hard work in making myself good in the part! That’s my next goal. Well, apart from tomorrow’s Wicksteed Park interview!
Yes, my long term goal is probably to be a huge success and to be in demand for my acting abilities, but every now and then a week like this comes along and throws a few more goals at you, and you’ve got to grab them, work hard and get to where you want to be. And I love it!
Nxxx
Twitter: @nataliecastka Facebook: Natalie Castka Actor
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