Back in May, while I was doing Steel Magnolias, I started having a bad case of eczema. I was going through some intense therapy and the eczema was my bodies way of dealing with the stress of it all. The hardest part was when the eczema would break out on my eyes they would swell up. And this was unpredictable. When I had a flare up it would last a few days. I was finally able to get the proper treatment for it, but at this point in May I had a flare up and didn't have the medicine to treat it, I just had to wait it out. Luckily it had been a couple days since the the main flare up and I was coming off of it when I went into film this commercial for a local community college. I did my own hair and make-up for the shoot and it was hard to make my eye look "normal", but I did the best I could. It was embarrassing when the lighting technician was trying to light my face and I could tell he was trying to make me look good. He never mentioned anything about my eye of course, but fussed for a while with the lights and the brightness. I was pretty mortified when could hear him talking to his assistant about some solutions. They kept making the lights brighter and a fuse blew! I seriously was dying inside. They fixed the problem, lit me the best they could and we shot the commercial. I went home...
Cut to July 30th and I fell going up some cement steps while on my way to meet a friend for lunch. The majority of the impact was to my left cheek which resulted in a black eye. This photo was taken about a week after the fall with heavy make-up covering the left side of my face. I was going in for my first audition after the fall. As you can imagine, any kind of skin condition or bruising can impact negatively on someone who acts or models in front of a camera. It is so hard to mask things like this on film. Theater is a whole different story. No one in the audience noticed when I had a flare up, only cast members who stood close. But, on film it is more apparent. It makes you appreciate your make-up and lighting people a whole lot more.
Before my fall in July I did a small part in a film playing a paramedic. I had a speaking part and I felt pretty cool wearing the uniform. These were my fellow paramedics. We had a fun day on set.
I had cut my hair only a couple weeks before and I was adjusting to that. I really like how I can disappear into the look of a character. I like being a character actor and having parts like this where it takes a second for people who know me to recognize me. I think that is a good quality to have as an actor. At least I like it. I don't mind not looking "pretty" all the time. And I plan to not have ANY cosmetic surgery or procedures done to enhance anything. That may hurt my career somewhat, but it also may be a good thing for projects where they need an older woman who looks like the average Joe.
This photo was taken back in March when I landed a great part in a Lifetime Christmas movie. My character's name was Nicole and I played the sister of the lead in the film. I was actually the antagonist. Which was very fun to portray. Here are some photos from the set:
This was one of the promotional posters for the film and below are photos I took while watching it:
I learned a lot from the lead actress, Emily Rose. She was so professional and a great collaborator. She had a very natural acting style. It helped me to know how much to pull back as an actor. I was rehearsing Steel Magnolias at the time so I had to go from being very focused and subtle on film to a comedy with a huge dramatic scene at the end on stage. It was interesting to make that transition each day. The commonality was honesty. Just keeping it all honest, yet bumping up the energy and expression for the stage.
Here I am with Chester and Roger at the screening. The production company rented a dollar theater downtown in American Fork and we saw the film on the big screen. What a cool experience! Then I watched it later on TV with my family and friends at various times. I am grateful for these experiences and for being cast in such great projects. I am learning so much. I watched parts of the Hallmark Christmas film I did last year and compared it to my performance in this one and I can tell that I am getting the technique down and understanding how to act better in front of a camera. That is all that really matters to me, that I learn and get better at what I love.
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