Come to my staged reading during the UCLA Francis Ford Coppola Festival! Here's the flyer:
UCLA graduate students perform one-act plays at the Coppola Festival. Admission is free and it will be held on UCLA's campus. We're going to be second to perform.
It's my first live performance, so I'm a bit nervous.
I'm really trying to force myself to do things that I have fears about so that I can overcome them. We had our first rehearsal tonight, and you know what? I actually loved the process to just do the whole damn thing in one go. You really have to know each and every beat, objective, intention, nuance, etc. It's not start and stop like film where scenes are shot out of sequence and over multiple days, you get retakes and a lot of shots for one scene... I've never felt the satisfaction and excitement of living out the whole script sequentially and in real time. The demands on my performance then are much higher, and I'm learning so much already.
Before I thought I hated it before I tried it, but now I think I may love doing theater! I'm a bit shocked, really :) Goes to show that you should never trust the discouraging voice in your head telling you what you can't do (mine even sneakily convinced me that I didn't even want to try it so that it could maintain control). Do it anyway and prove it wrong. I feel so free now, like I can do anything!
4.24.07
I am crazy busy. Everyday I have either a shoot, multiple auditions, or a fitting. This is madness! In a wonderful way of course
I passed my promotion test and am now an Advanced Blue Belt 7th kyu. After 2.5 grueling hours I was still able to bust out 15 fingertip pushups (no knees, ever!) at the end! I love seido karate so much, 5 times a week is almost not enough. My training so far has not only been a physical journey, but moreso of a mental and spiritual journey. Osu!
I've been really fortunate that my most recent four projects are from people who want to work with me again. For the fight scene I worked previously with the director on a pilot, I have an upcoming modeling shoot with the Smashbox photographer who shot me for Eclectic Clothing, I am doing another film with a director at AFI, and then I have been cast in a staged reading with a playwright who I took acting classes with up at American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. I was offered all the roles (except for the staged reading which I had to audition for), which makes me feel really good about the impression that I leave with people!
I am sore and bruised from the fight scene that I shot on Sunday, but I'm really grateful for the experience. I had to be thrown backwards onto a mat, fall onto a hard floor, and fight for 10 hours. I didn't know there was going to be falls involved, but I just rolled with the punches (no pun intended, hehe). I have so much appreciation and respect now for stunt actors, they really don't get enough credit! I have a better understanding of the physical demands so when a big martial arts role does come up, I'll be ready for it! Even though we weren't punching/blocking/kicking for real, we still had to look like we had that intention so every bit of contact still hurt. A stunt coordinator was there to make sure that our shoot was safe, and the spec was shot on 35mm so once the film was rolling we really had to nail it!
I've never done theater, and I was trepidatious about auditioning for my friend's 2 person play. It is a really intense play and I was really hemming and hawwing about being so busy and not being able to prepare enough, but I forced myself to go to the audition. In actuality I was really just fearful about being able to carry off the material, which I'm not comfortable with. I also had a stereotype in my head about the "big" acting associated with theater, since my acting is more subtle. The playwright told me that it's good that I'm not comfortable with the material, because then I'll really grow as an actor. Then I got called for the callback and had to do the ending scene, which is the most intense of all. I didn't give in to that doubtful little voice in my head that told me I couldn't get into the scene, and there was nobody more shocked than I was when I was crying from being in the moment in the scene. Driving home I was so proud of myself.. it's these victories as an actor that are so PRICELESS. I felt so full of joy and so proud of myself that I've broken through this block I have about "theater acting" and how I felt so alive when I allow myself to just focus and act.
That in itself was reward enough, but I got also cast for it! I'm getting paid for rehearsals and the final performances, which will be at the Coppola Festival during Mother's Day weekend.
Time to go learn my Japanese lines for my AFI shoot. It's a documentary about Bobby Fischer and I'm playing a Japanese commissioner. Oyasuminasai!
4.22.07
The past two weeks have been so busy, I feel so blessed. Working on a lot of cool projects, this Sunday I will be shooting a USC project where I will be in a fight scene. Our stunt coordinator is Colin Follenweider, who was the stunt double for Spiderman 3. Fun stuff! He taught me how to fall and gave me adjustments on my moves to make them look better for the screen. When my schedule opens up I'm going to try to take some stage combat classes and hopefully get some more martial arts roles! :)
4.21.07
I am going up for my 7th kyu karate promotion on Saturday! Osu! After my hourlong conditioning class, I will have the promotion test, then THREE auditions after that, then my fight scene shoot on Sunday. Whee, what a busy weekend!
4.17.07
Had an interview today with Brian Robbins, director of "Starship Dave", the new feature film with Eddie Murphy, for the role of Lab Tech. I got booked for it on the spot! It used to be a principal role, but they cut the lines, so now it's a highly featured role with one of the lead actors. I'm glad I got the role, but of course I'll be crossing my fingers that they add some lines back in! :)
4.13.07
I shot both the ACMA promo and the Nike demo this week. I found out the ACMA promo is going to run nationally to promote the Academy of Country Music Awards airing on CBS on May 15. It is my first SAG commercial (AND first national airing spot), so it was especially meaningful for me. It should start airing soon, so let me know if you see it! :)
The Nike demo was really hard, I had to kickbox really aggressively with this other girl who held various black belts and we had to improvise. It was exhilarating and my adrenaline was pumping, but I was really conscious that I didn't want to get injured considering how fast we were kicking and punching. I think I held my own as well as I could considering she had 10 years of experience on me, but it really inspired me to be even more dedicated to my training.
4.10.07
I booked the Nike Non-Air Demo! Yes!
4.9.07
Nike Non-Air Demo @ Skirts Casting
I had to show off my kickboxing skills at the audition!
4.6.07
Booked the ACMA promo I auditioned for last week! Yay!
4.1.07
My dojo, the Hollywood branch of Seido Karate, will be giving a demo at the Cherry Blossom Festival in Little Tokyo on Sunday, April 1st from 3 - 3:30pm. Come watch if you are around the area!
244 S. San Pedro St, Los Angeles, CA