debor009

Moving back to Los Angeles after working in the East for several years. Most of the past few months have been spent wrapping up projects, sorting and getting rid of things, packing up what's left, and saying good-bye to all my actress friends that I've been lunching with once a month. (Good luck, Girls! Come and see me!) Now I have just four weeks to rework my reels, find a place to stay, catch up with friends in the business in L.A., and get a local agent. More on all those topics in the coming weeks. Anxious. Excited. Exhausted. But I've got it all together now. (I think.)

Actresses have been complaining for years about the lack of roles (and meaningful roles) for women, but one really positive thing that has come about as a result is that more actresses are not only opting out of Hollywood and finding great roles in Europe ( Kristen Scott Thomas , for one) but many are also starting to produce/write/direct their own films. One of these is Greta Gerwig , an actress that I just loved in the quirky 2015 film Mistress America , which she starred in and wrote. This year she took a turn as writer/director of Lady Bird , which has set a new record as the most well-reviewed film of all time at the online movie site rottentomatoes.com . This is a story that will reveal more and more each time you watch it. The performances are wonderful, especially Laurie Metcalf.  Here's the trailer:

Our local actors group had an online discussion recently of ways to gather your clips together for your demo reel, a topic I’ve touched on before and worth repeating as young filmmakers especially frequently seem to have something “better to do” than get clips out to their cast. If the film or TV project you appeared in is somewhere online, there are online services that can get the clip for you. Actors have used ripit.me or clipgrab.org, which has a program for both Mac and Windows. Expect to pay a small fee however. If the project is posted to YouTube, you can easily download the whole thing to your desktop by simply replacing the “www.” in the url with “ss” (without the dot). This will redirect you to Savefrom.net, where you can click on "download video in browser" (look on the lower right third of the screen) and select the video quality you prefer. Done in less than a minute and free. If the film/TV project itself isn’t posted to YouTube, see if you can at least find the...

An actor friend sent me an interview clip of comedienne Phyllis Diller recently where she mentions Claude Bristol's 1948 book The Magic of Believing . Miller said the book had completely changed her life by giving a suburban housewife and mother of five the courage and determination to try stand-up comedy, which is no easy road for anyone. Here is an audio synopsis of the book from YouTube. It's a little "woo-woo" perhaps, like books on Nostrodamus, but I also found it interesting. I grew up hearing my father talk about the "power of positive thinking" and it also reminds me that those who succeed in this business aren't necessarily the ones who are most talented but those with the most desire. As author/screenwriter William Goldman put it, you have to want success more than anything in the world. Here Bristol seems to be saying that wanting something, and having the confidence and unshakable belief that you will get it, makes it happen. Call it God, c...

One of the things I’ve been bumping up against in the past year, with great frustration, is being called to audition for a role that seems the polar opposite of the roles I’m usually cast to play (i.e. senator, judge, executive, strong women). Blue-haired granny is the one I see most frequently – small, plump, caring, no strong identity, sometimes comical. It's like when you get older you become a ghost; just the faintest impression of a person. The only apparent fit for these roles is the age range. I’m not plump. I don’t have gray hair. I'm 5 ft. 8 inches tall. Nothing in my posted head shots or reels gives me any clue as to what the casting director might have been thinking of in asking me to audition. Blue-haired Granny? Nah. I’ve discussed this with actor friends and the responses have ranged from the limited vision of American film and TV (if you’re a certain age, you’re a blue-haired granny) to the possibility that I’m “above market” in the southeast, where many of these...

I love watching old movies and television shows and every now and then I see an actor or actress that is such a standout I wonder what other roles they did and where their career went. Actress Darlene Parks This happened last night as I was watching a two-part episode of the old Barney Miller series titled "Wojo's Girl," with Darlene Parks in the title role. Parks was a willowy blonde who was pretty bordering on gorgeous. She had great comic timing (you can see a touch of Judy Holliday ) and her chemistry with Max Gail (who is still acting at 74) was perfect. (Watch her face in Part 2 when Gail asks her why she "started hooking.") Most important, she had a face that had that special something that makes a star; she was not interchangeable, she was memorable. But Darlene Parks, after this wonderful episode, had just one more role, and then she disappeared. What happened? Did she die tragically? Did she get discouraged and quit? Did she change her name and cont...

Packing and preparing to change residences. Much to do. Will resurface in a couple of weeks when I can finally take a deep breath and focus on auditions again.