
MillennialReads
An Actor’s Hell
Updated: Jul 5, 2019

Waiting for a call-back is the most painful part of being an actor.
I woke up this morning and the first thing I did was check my phone.
Not for the usual daily 20 minutes of insta-scrolling, but for the slightest sign of it.
The call-back...
No missed calls.
No new emails, other than a reminder of a student loan payment
Which I will have to defer. Again.
Not a tiny piece...of reassurance.
So I guess, I'm off to another dreaded audition.
Another “pick me, pick me,” day.
Where I have to demonstrate to a table of strangers
How I AM, what they’ve been looking for all along.
The perfect person for whatever well-written and layered character they have created.
I have to stand out and uniquely blow their minds.
Yet, you get there and you do anything but.
Well at least it feels that way.
My mom always told me how special I was:
Talented
Beautiful
One of a kind
And those are all facts.
But, at an audition there are tons of women who are:
More talented
More beautiful
More one of a kind
So you sit there, going over your sides over and over.
Side eyeing everyone; doubting yourself.
Thus, instead of memorizing lines.
You try to amp yourself up, with this mantra:
I am the shit, I’m THAT bitch
These other bitches got nothing on me.
And you take the deep breaths your Acting 101 professor taught you to take freshman year.
Because in reality, an audition doesn't define you
Neither does a call-back
They don’t make or break you unless you let them.
So when I finally get THE CALL.
I just send a quick text:
Hey Ma, you were right. They picked me.
Sincerely yours,
Just Another Millennial