One Hour Photo

Now that I have an agent, I only have two more of my stated goals to achieve: get paid acting work and become Fabulously Successful.

Getting an agent can be a key to the former, if not the latter. But first I had to tell her what I was and wasn’t interested in doing. Theatre – yes; theatre in education – no. Feature films – yes; student films – no. Indies – yes; undies – no.

Towards the objective of getting paid acting work, I have gone on a few auditions. The first was really just a photo shoot. I told Cheri about the audition.

“It’s for Fitnesse, you know, the cereal.”

“Oh wow, you got an audition for a serial!”

“No, not a serial. A cereal. You know, breakfast – the most important meal of the day?”

“Right. Yeah, that’s great. Uhh, breakfast is important.”

I don’t know why I was even sent on the audition. I’m not a model. No matter how much America’s Next Top Model I watch, I still can’t seem to get the poses right. (Note to self: must learn to use self timer on digital camera.)

As it turned out, they wanted “real-looking” people, not models, so they put the call out to actors. At the audition, I had to fill in the standard form: shirt size, dress size, trouser size, shoe size, height, weight, age. It all feels a bit demeaning. Once they have me on film, why do they need all those other things? If they are going to do the casting based on size, then why not just ask my agent to fax the details and save me the trek to Kentish Town?

I see the photographer’s assistant hand the next girl in line a form to sign. She took a dubious glance at the questions.

“It’s for wardrobe,” the assistant clarified.

I pretended not to notice or care, as if I’d filled out similar forms a hundred times before.

When I got called into the studio, I was expecting to walk onto the set of a full photo shoot. It was just one woman, one camera, no special lighting.

“What’s your age?”

I lied.

“Okay, face the front.”

I tried what I hoped would be a flattering pose.

“No, just keep your head straight and face the camera straight on.”

I did.

“Now turn sideways.”

“Like a mug shot?”

“Ha ha, yeah, sort of. Okay, that’ll be all.”

Afterwards I called my agent: photo shoots – no.

Method

Although short of being controversial, “The Method” is still a much-discussed and debated technique (and not only on Inside the Actors Studio.) To boil down The Method technique, the actor calls upon his/her own past emotional experiences to create the character’s emotions. So when your character’s child gets run over by a train, you think about when you had to put your dog to sleep. Does The Method mean that actors with dramatic and turmoil-filled pasts have an advantage over actors who’ve had a happy and uneventful existence?

I’ve noticed that some great actors, while not renouncing The Method, have stated that they don’t draw upon personal experiences – they try to be “there” with their character and feel what the character is feeling, not what they’d be feeling in a similar situation. This got me thinking: yes, you can use The Method to become a good actor, a competent actor, even an entirely believable actor. But great actors have something else – probably something on a different plane. It’s about letting go of who you are; not holding onto it.

The follow-up e-mails I sent after the showcase seemingly paid off. I got an audition for an agent. When I got the invitation I was so excited; I jumped up and down, then quickly thought it must be a scam. However, I called Equity and the agent was legit, so I prepared a monologue.

On the audition day, I sat in a waiting room (really just an area sectioned off by a black curtain) with a few other tall blondes. Agents need to fill their books with all types, and not too many of any particular type, so it looked like we were all competing for the same opening.

I heard some yelling from behind the curtain – part of someone’s scene, I hoped. When the yelling stopped, an assistant opened the curtain and announced it was my turn. As I walked in, I immediately regretted wearing the spike-heeled boots. I was teetering all over the place. No balance… and I hadn’t even started the monologue yet.

I delivered part of a scene from a new play called Married Men. My character was talking about how she never sees her workaholic husband. Nikolai, the Easter European director listened intently. Then he said “Very good. Now, what do you think she was feeling inside? Is she angry?” I remembered the yelling, and didn’t want to do a repeat performance of the last victim. “I think she’s really sad, actually.” Nikolai told me to think about someone that had made me sad. “Now, let’s hear what you would say to them.” After improvising a scene, I was instructed to do the monologue again, “in your own time…”

I thought about being there; being the character and not me; being on a higher plane… and then, I thought about putting my dog down. I gave the monologue, and I cried.

So maybe I’m not great, but I can be good, which – was luck would have it – was good enough to get an agent.

L.A. Story

INT.

PRESENTER

Lucy McGinn’s meteoric rise from “quirky neighbor” to A-list celebrity was a Cinderella affair. This is her story. This is the E! True Hollywood Story.

SCENE 1: GROWING UP

PRESENTER

Lucy grew up in a small Midwestern town where she caught the acting bug at an early age. Along with her childhood friend Betty, she used her tape recorder to make her own radio dramas. In high school, she starred in plays like Snow White...

CUT TO: EMBARRASSING YEARBOOK PHOTO

PRESENTER

And The Wizard of Oz.

CUT TO: EMBARRASSING PHOTO OF LUCY IN LION COSTUME

SCENE 2: HIGH SCHOOL INTERVIEW WITH ACTING TEACHER

MRS. TOMAK

Oh she just had that spark. She really made a great lion.

SCENE 3: THEATRE SCENE

PRESENTER

Mrs. Tomak recognized talent in Lucy’s high school performances and recommended that she start taking classes at the local drama school. Lucy tried her hand at the local theatre scene, but it wasn’t until she moved to London that she got her big break.

CUT TO: COMMERCIAL BREAK

CUT TO: MONTAGE OF SHOTS OF BIG BEN, TOWER BRIDGE, LONDON BUS, WEST END MARQUEES

SCENE 4: TUBE STRIKE

PRESENTER

It was in London that Lucy began making a serious career out of acting.

CUT TO: RICHARD AND JUDY JUNE 2007 INTERVIEW

LUCY

I always knew I wanted to be an actor and London just felt like the right place to be.

CUT TO: PRESENTER

After a stint at the world famous Edinburgh Fringe Festival, starring as “Viola” in Twelfth Night, Lucy was able to land an agent and quickly got sent on auditions around London. A string of rejections nearly led Lucy to give up, until she received a call from an old acting classmate. There was a role available in a Soho Theatre production that was perfect for her, and they needed an understudy. Lucy jumped at the chance and, like every other understudy, hoped the lead would get strep throat. Instead, a tube strike left the lead unable to make curtains up and Lucy took center stage. Not only did she steal the show, she impressed one very important audience member.

CUT TO: COMMERCIAL BREAK

SCENE 5: "VICTORIA STATION"

PRESENTER

When Lucy filled in for the lead at the last minute, she had no idea that Harvey Weinstein was in the audience. Weinstein contacted Lucy’s agent the next day. There was a Miramax film being shot in London the following month and Lucy was asked to do a screen test for the small but memorable role of “quirky neighbor”. The movie, Victoria Station, went on to gross more than 50 million domestically, and it wasn’t costar Joaquin Phoenix that had Hollywood buzzing. It was Lucy McGinn.

CUT TO: VICTORIA STATION PRESS JUNKET INTERVIEW

JOAQUIN PHOENIX

Lucy was great to work with. We had a lot of fun. Why has it taken Hollywood so long to discover her?

SCENE 6: ON THE RISE

PRESENTER

Victoria Station led to a string of other commercial and critical successes including: Business Class, I.T. Girl and Killing Thyme. But there were bumps in the road ahead...

CUT TO: COMMERCIAL BREAK

SCENE 7: FALL?

PRESENTER

After three top-grossing films, it seemed Lucy had no where to go but --

[DELETED*]

CUT TO: COMMERCIAL BREAK

SCENE 8: COMEBACK

PRESENTER

Lucy bounced back with her comeback film Stopwatch which she co-produced with Drew Barrymore’s production company Flower Films.

CUT TO: OPRAH INTERVIEW

DREW BARRYMORE

When Lucy came to me with that script, I knew it was going to be a hit. It's such a powerful film and it really, really touched me, you know?

CUT TO: WRAP UP

PRESENTER

Lucy’s comeback was awarded with a Golden Globe and an Oscar, and she hasn’t looked back. After a late start, and a lot of hard work, Lucy McGinn became an “overnight success”. A string of hits, an Oscar and her own successful production company. Lucy’s story is an E! True Hollywood Story. The only question is “what will she do next?"

*Deleted to avoid bad luck.