Unscripted - A Blog for Actors - Backstage

Thanksgiving with Palm Trees and Lobsters...

It's hard getting into the swing of the holiday seasons here on the West Coast.

It's always sunny. And there is perfect blue sky everyday.

The leaves do change, but winter does not whisper here. 

It's almost surreal; like it's a lie. Time.

Growing up on the East Coast, the holidays were always cold and snowy; and the air hard and brisk, biting at the cheeks.

Like it's supposed to be. There is no weather intro to the holidays here.

Not in Southern California, and definitely not in the Valley. It can be hard to remember just what you did yesterday. There are no seasons to mark the time.

And yet time can fly by without anything in life having changed at all. 

This is not the case for me. It's already Thanksgiving in the year 2009, and I am in a very different state of mind and body than I was this time last year; a very different state of mind and body. 

I feel clear, healthy, certain, and almost at home.

I have much to be thankful for besides sunny skies, palm trees and lobsters...

A Night 'Up in the Air'

One of the perks about being a SAG member are the free screenings of films and Q&A's with the cast, before the movies themselves hit theaters.

Most recently I attended a screening of "Up in the Air" at the Paramount Studios with a few hundred other SAG members and stayed after to meet and chat with Anna Kendrick (Twilight) and Vera Farmiga (The Departed).

The theater is gigantic and the seats are plush and lush and oh so comfortable!

There's a nice intro by the lady in charge about the history of the film and most of the time you bump into a familiar face.

Corporate offices have beer carts that get rolled around like dim-sum trays in the office on fun Fridays; SAG actors...go to the movies.

Everyone has their cell phones turned off. No one is unwrapping candy. And no one is talking during the film. We're pros. We're there to see the movie.

I had no idea what 'Up in the Air' was about before seeing it. Only that George was starring, or as some crazed fans, making his name multi-syllabic, would call him, George-guh!

Birth of the Little Mighty

So it's been a lucky fall season of getting to see myself on screen. Apparently, three's the magic number.

First there was "How to Seduce Difficult Women", then "The Brooklyn Heist".

And last Friday night I attended the private screening of "Carla", the indie short about American female Iraq War veterans coming home with post traumatic stress disorder.

This one is not a comedy.

This is a huge social-political statement of what is currently taking place in the midst of the Iraq war on our side of the fence and nobody wants to fully acknowledge it.

I was nervous. I knew my scene encapsulated the short's heavy subject matter.

And like any actor, couldn't help but wonder which take made the film and which were left on the cutting room floor; or I guess, in today's age...the digital 'recycle bin'. 

Wow! Isn't that funny? It's 'Recycle Bin' now, and not 'Cutting Room Floor'.

As in, "Did you make it into the movie or did you end up in the 'Recycle Bin'." Okay, I digress...

Bloggers and Beers!

Last week, a few nights before Actorfest, a lovely editor and some multi-talented blogger/actors got together for some custom roasted peanuts, frothing beers, and animated conversation at my favorite birthday locale in West Hollywood.

Though we all knew a bit about each other from our blogs, most of us had never met before.

I had been looking forward to this night and had a minor hand in party planning it myself, now that I"m a locale Los Ann-geleno.

Another Red Carpet

What is that saying? Reap the rewards of seeds you've sown? Run around and sow your oats? Reap the harvest? Harvest the harvest?

Oh, whatever...it seems like the seeds/films I shot in 2006 are all opening or being reaped now, one after another, in the Harvest/Fall of 2009.

Another red carpet screening/invitation is taking place on December 2nd at Theater 80 on St. Marks Place in New York of the independent film "The Brooklyn Heist"; formerly titled "Capers".

The film stars Danny Masterson, Dominique Swain and Michael Cecchi; with another 'doctor' scene performance from yours truly -- Ann Hu. 

Director Extistential

In between events while in New York in October I had meetings, voice lessons, brunches, auditions, etc.

One of the meetings was with a well-known director in the theater community, whom I will call Director X.

Director X has that 'IT' factor about him. Tall, lean, striking, mysterious, perceptive, and still.

Everyone wants to work with him, nobody's really sure if he likes them or not, and if you're lucky, you get to spend New Year's Eve at his 'should be featured in Architectural Digest' apartment downtown. 

He's also one of the few people I've made a consistent effort in maintaining a personal and working relationship with throughout the years.

Not only does he direct me well as an actress, he knows me as a person and he can see right through me. I like that. 

And every time I meet with him to talk about life, art, his latest project, my latest endeavors, I feel as if I've experienced some sort of paradigm shift within my world, my stance in Life; a psychological earthquake.

Thus the name, Director X. Who shakes your Matrix? 

My Second Red Carpet

You know, I almost didn't go. I wasn't sure it'd be worth it; flying all the way over from LA I mean.

I'm only in one scene, two maybe, if you're splitting hairs.

But with everything else that I got done in New York the last couple weeks of October (voice lessons, meetings, auditions, catching up with friends, etc) it was worth it.

What am I talking about? My first film premiere, my second red carpet. Damn New York scaffolding!

There weren't any fancy shenanigans this time around. Just the screening with the cast and then an after party at BLVD. It's a true indie after all.

I guess I felt a little cheesy about making a big deal out of all of this to my friends in New York.

I have friends who have been hacking it a lot longer than me, mostly in LA, who have had many Hollywood major motion picture premieres, so I guess that would be a bigger deal. 

My First Red Carpet

One of the additional incentives to being in New York during one of the most beautiful months of the city, was to be able to attend a red carpet awards ceremony for a non-for-profit event with my good friends, Lisa Jay and Mark, last Monday. 

I didn’t think I was actually going to be able to go at first, just figured it would also be great to be in New York while two of my best LA friends were there.

Lisa Jay frequents these types of events all the time. This is my first.

Founded by Joe Pantoliano, the goal of this non-for-profit  is to 'remove the stigma attached to brain dis-ease through education and the breaking down of societal barriers.'

It’s called, No Kidding Me Too. My friend Lisa Jay is on the board of this organization. She invited me.

NKM2 had just gotten back from a tour in Iraq where they spoke with troops about how to understand and cope with cases of post traumatic stress disorder specific to veterans of war.

And being that I had just shot a short film about female Iraq war vets struggling with the same mental illness, I thought, “No kidding, me too!”

But now, the real mental challenge…what to wear?!

The 'Sounds' of Music

Last Friday night in New York I took the subway to Brooklyn to listen to my friend Rodney perform live music at a restaurant with his band.

The blocks in Brooklyn are bigger. I’m getting the urban work out I need. 

I’ve known Rodney for almost ten years. We met randomly in front of a closed Staples on Union Square and have been friends ever since. 

Yet I’ve never heard him play. What?! What kind of friend are you Ann!

A girl can’t leave the house at 12:30am to go to a jam session when she’s got rehearsal or a voice to take care of early the next day.

The 'Rebound' Show

I have stated before that I believe all of life’s questions can be answered in the impromptu, inspired conversations during ‘rehearsal’.

I now believe that the conversations during ‘Happy Hour’ are also part of that remedying slice of life.

It’s one of my favorite things to do in Los Angeles, Happy Hour! The deals are a steal!

And now, while in the Big Apple, perhaps with the recession forcing things to be discounted even more, happy hours are here to stay and so are the conversations.

After about four rounds of champagne each, at $3.00 a flute, Aussie Auds, a devoted television audience member and actress/singer; said one of the most profoundly obvious things when it comes to the success and failure of network television shows.