Hollywood: Harder than it looks/easier than you think
I'm always taken aback by people's fascination with famous actors, you know, with celebrities. To the outside world "Hollywood" looks so glamorous. It amazes me how some people simplify
this business. Some think its like winning a Lottery Ticket, an idea I believe originated by the early Hollywood Publicity Machine, a machine that filled magazines with stories of Actors and Actresses who were "over night sensations" by being "discovered" sipping a soda at Schwab's Drug Store.
This is just not the case. Anyone can walk into a store and buy a lottery ticket - just last month the Lottery Jackpot was at an all time high and every American was running to their local store to purchase a ticket and everyone had a chance to win (I bought a couple myself) but an Acting Career doesn't happen this way... I'm an actress, writer, producer I should know. Having a career takes determination, tenacity, courage and talent.
Recently, my best friend bought me the dvd box set of one of my favorite movies of all time - Gone With The Wind. Included in this boxed set are wonderful extras on the making of the film and Hollywood history. One dvd has the auditions and screen tests for the film. Actresses from all over the country vied to play one of the best, most complex heroines ever written, Scarlett O'Hara. These are some of the auditions and screen tests shot in 1938:
Everyone of the Actors and Actresses in this video had to work hard to even get the chance to audition and most were already "Movie Stars" at the time.
The Acting profession is like all professions; filled with many facets - like a prism. The one thing you can manage is your personal experience and that is in direct correlation to where you focus your attention. I choose to focus on the things that enrich me as a human being. I focused many years on my training, now I'm focused on the quality of life I'm living and making good use of it.
In truth there's only one real lottery and it's called LIFE, we all were given a winning ticket the day we were born. If we all continue to remind ourselves that each moment we're here we've won the lottery we will not only enrich our own lives but others as well. And the celebrities on the cover of magazines? Their lives will pale in comparison.
this business. Some think its like winning a Lottery Ticket, an idea I believe originated by the early Hollywood Publicity Machine, a machine that filled magazines with stories of Actors and Actresses who were "over night sensations" by being "discovered" sipping a soda at Schwab's Drug Store.
This is just not the case. Anyone can walk into a store and buy a lottery ticket - just last month the Lottery Jackpot was at an all time high and every American was running to their local store to purchase a ticket and everyone had a chance to win (I bought a couple myself) but an Acting Career doesn't happen this way... I'm an actress, writer, producer I should know. Having a career takes determination, tenacity, courage and talent.
Recently, my best friend bought me the dvd box set of one of my favorite movies of all time - Gone With The Wind. Included in this boxed set are wonderful extras on the making of the film and Hollywood history. One dvd has the auditions and screen tests for the film. Actresses from all over the country vied to play one of the best, most complex heroines ever written, Scarlett O'Hara. These are some of the auditions and screen tests shot in 1938:
Everyone of the Actors and Actresses in this video had to work hard to even get the chance to audition and most were already "Movie Stars" at the time. The Acting profession is like all professions; filled with many facets - like a prism. The one thing you can manage is your personal experience and that is in direct correlation to where you focus your attention. I choose to focus on the things that enrich me as a human being. I focused many years on my training, now I'm focused on the quality of life I'm living and making good use of it.
In truth there's only one real lottery and it's called LIFE, we all were given a winning ticket the day we were born. If we all continue to remind ourselves that each moment we're here we've won the lottery we will not only enrich our own lives but others as well. And the celebrities on the cover of magazines? Their lives will pale in comparison.
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All My Best,
DawnMarie 
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