Well... that was interesting

My last post left off after I'd just had a very blurred and rather hurried conversation with... some lady, where I was left with absolutely no idea who she was or where she was from, asking me to come in for a job interview at 4pm that day, with the only information I could make out was "dress in professional attire".

Not having a clue what position/job/company/field this interview was for I tried to prepare the best I could. Seeing as she had asked me to dress professionally I guessed that this was to be for one of the computer related jobs I had applied for, so I bought a nice shirt, printed out a few copies of my resume', and rehearsed any computer related questions they may ask me during the interview.

Yeah, it wasn't quite a computer job. And when I say quite, I mean not at all.

The job was in Hollywood, always an interesting place to visit. I find the building, find the room... and was in no prepared for what I'd walked into. Around the room there were dozens of headshots of famous actors and posters of movies, with everyone else in the waiting room thoroughly dressed up, some looking like movie stars. Yikes, didn't expect this! A plastic-fantastic girl behind the counter asks me to sign in and take a seat. Okay... so not a computer job that's for sure. This must be for the TV or movie extras position I applied for, cool!

This was definitely a job I really wanted, to simply just sit in the background of a TV show or movie, pretending to drink coffee or something, and get paid for it? Win! Not to mention what a cool experience it would be! Although... why do I need an interview? And why do I need to dress up nice? And why is everyone else looking like movie stars for what is only an extras role? And what's this piece of paper I have been handed?

I read the paper. On it are about 9 lines of character dialogue. The top has the following instructions:

- If you have any previous acting experience, let us know

- If you already have a headshot, please hand it in at reception

- You don't have to memorize this script, you can just read it from the sheet

Wait... What? I don't have acting experience, why would it even be required? And a headshot? Seriously? And what does 'you can just read it from the sheet' mean!?

This is not what I pictured in the slightest. All I imagined, in my ideal situation I'll admit, is I get to be a zombie in a movie, running around moaning and chasing the hero, falling over dead... you don't need lines for that. Unless an audition of "ergghhhhhh.... brains!" is required. This sheet of paper had a lot more dialogue to read then that.

I start small talk with the guy next to me in the hope to sort out what all this is about.

"Hey man, you an actor?"

The guy was about my age, and in the way he answered I could immediately tell he was in over his head like I was. Good, means I am not alone at least.

"Hey, ha, nope, have never done anything even remotely close to acting" he stammers back in reply.

"Oh good! Me neither! I'm a backpacker, thought I'd do this for a bit of fun"

"Ha cool, yeah I'm in photography school, thought I'd do something different also"

He keeps reading the dialogue over and over.

"Dude... I didn't know we had to act today, I just thought we show up!" I say, trying to fish for more details.

He laughs "Ha same..." His name suddenly gets called. He looks extremely nervous and gives me a shaky smile as he leaves.

Everyone else was busily reading over the dialogue, silently mouthing the lines out. I honestly didn't bother doing even that, figuring whatever happens, happens. My name gets called. I enter the room to find a lady behind a large desk, she seemed friendly upon her introduction which was comforting. She explains what's going on, and asks for some information about myself. I list 'Australian accent' as one of my skills.

"Okay well let's get started. What I want you to do is read out the dialogue in anyway you like and I'll see what you can do"

"Ha... alright. To be honest I had no idea we were meant to be reading lines for an extras role. I don't have any experience or anything" I reply.

"Well sometimes we have small roles that need to be filled as well so we like to see what people are like first"

Fair enough, let's do this! Surprisingly I was extremely calm. Actually, come to think of it, this whole L.A experience thus far has been kind of stupidly crazy thus far so I am really learning to just roll with things these days, so that's pretty cool I guess.

I read the dialogue out loud to her, adding a bit of a 'smart-ass' tone for emphasis, and for the fun of it... which I admit wasn't really a stretch for me. She scribbles things onto her clipboard the entire time. Upon finishing I immediately look up to she her expression, but it was unreadable.

"Well done, that was great Aaron. What I want you to do is call this number tomorrow at 9.20am and ask for Teresa, and she will get you signed up. Thanks for coming in!"

"Umm, yeah sure no worries... thanks!"

And that was that. Will see what happens shall we? Haha!