Still Taking Those Baby Steps.

I enrolled in an Actor's workshop back in May. I did it for several reasons. I wanted to challenge myself, face my fears and more than anything, I wanted to find out if I was just wasting my time thinking that I could act. I have never done any extensive acting and even though I always felt like I could, I never had the chance to find out and get feedback from a professional. So jump forward to today August the 10th. The day was finally here! What would it be like? Would I know anyone there? Would there be tons of people with extensive experience staring at me? Would I feel like I belonged there? Would my nerves get the best of me and cause me to freeze? I just didn't know. So, I decided to leave all of those questions and doubts at the entrance door and go in....

The workshop was being held by Tommy Ford. www.tommygotajob.com  Now, this man has been acting for 25 years and has starred in many television shows and movies. I must admit I was a bit intimidated at first. To my surprise, he walked in with his family, jumped right in and instantly made us comfortable. He told us that he didn't mind the fact that there weren't a lot of people there. In fact, I found out that the workshop was almost cancelled because the Mr. Ford usually doesn't do the workshops with less that 30 people. But, as the universe would have it, he decided to come anyway. I am so glad he did. 

We started off the day doing a variety of acting exercises. I had dreamed of doing these things and here I was doing them. It was gritty, emotional, humbling and very funny at times. I laughed, cried and learning so much. I got a little nervous when at the end of our most intense exercise, I saw him handing out scripts. "Oh God, we have to do a scene", was the first thing that ran through my mind. Duh!! Acting Workshop!! 

The scene I had was deep. It was a scene where I had to go from laughing and talking to my supposed best friend, to standing up and cursing her out. We did our scene, and Tommy congratulated me and my scene partner on a job well done. I couldn't believe it. I just did my 1st dramatic scene in front a group of strangers AND a Hollywood actor, producer, director and got congratulated on my work. Can you say, 

"Dream Come True"? I thought I would faint. But, I held it together and tried to contain the extreme feeling of happiness and accomplishment that was coming over me in waves. 

We watched the rest of the actors do their scenes and learned about how to use our past experiences to develop our characters. After all that was done, we had the chance to mingle and talk to Tommy one on one. He said, that I had a gift and that I should continue pursuing my acting career. It was and is still hard to take that and believe it. I guess I am afraid to think of myself as a good actor because I really haven't done much. But, do believe I have tons of potential and I really hope to be able to find out just what I am capable of.

So the dream of becoming a professional actress continues. Some would say that I am already there with the 14 years of experience I have being an extra. I say, "I have only scratched the surface, but I am more than ready for my closeup".