u/sensitivebee8885

like the title says, i decided to decline an audition today after reading and sitting with the sides and script. it was for a short film that i was initially excited about and has a decently known CD attached to, which is why i was initially thinking of just doing it anyway. however, after reading the material i felt sick to my stomach. without going too much into detail, the lead female character i was reading for along with the other lead male character (a much younger aged teen) had a super inappropriate dynamic where my character was manipulating and taking advantage of him, both emotionally and sexually. the script overall didn’t make sense either. i went over it multiple times along with my sides and just couldn’t follow what was happening for the life of me.

i’m a college student currently in my last year of getting my theatre performance degree, and definitely want to continue pursuing this professionally post grad. I was thinking, long-term, and whether this would be a project I would want to show my friends and family and would be proud of, and the answer was absolutely not. I figured if it’s something I would want to hide in the closet anyway it’s not something I should pursue.

as I’m entering the professional world, I’m learning my morals and boundaries and what I feel comfortable betraying. There’s not a lot of material that’s off-limits, I like to consider myself a pretty open book and willing to take on any challenge. However, this one just felt a little different. When it comes to things like emotional and sexual manipulation, especially in this context where I don’t feel it made sense at all and I didn’t align with the material whatsoever, I believe I made the right call.

Curious, if anyone else has had a similar experience and/or other thoughts! As artists it’s very important that we stick to our morals and boundaries while also giving ourselves the room to explore uncomfortable circumstances!

i started a new position as a barista and decorator (we also are a dessert shop) this week and i love the job! i’ve worked in food service for many years so a lot of stuff isn’t new for me. The one thing that I’m completely brand new to is being a barista. I’ve opened the store twice and closed twice, and then the fifth shift, which was today for me is where you close on your own. I feel like throughout the week. I wasn’t really given much opportunity to practice making a lot of our specialty drinks, so today got pretty overwhelmed when customers were ordering them back to back. i made a lot of rookie mistakes, but ultimately made it through and was so lucky to have such understanding customers.

to all my experienced baristas, what tips do you have to make my next solo shift easier? The main struggle for me is just our specialty drinks. If someone asks for a basic drink like a chai latte, Americano, cold brew, I have it no problem. I just struggle to get into the rhythm when making our specialty lattes and what not!

kind of a broad question, but i’ve been feeling this extra hard lately. here’s a little background:

i (20f) just finished up the third year of my theatre performance degree and am in 2 short films this summer, one as the lead and one is gonna be for a film festival. i also just found out i booked my next theatre gig for a new play to present at a new works festival (these aren’t happening all at once, it’s going to be over the course of the summer ). I’m juggling this while also taking a film/tv writing course and ongoing acting class since i’m also a writer and want to expand my knowledge. I guess you could say I also self submit pretty regularly, I try to look on actors access and casting networks every weekday and submit to projects that I see fit for myself, and i have a smaller agent who does too.

From the outside, I know how this question sounds. I seem crazy busy and don’t get me wrong, I’m so lucky that I’m able to do so much and practice my craft the way I do! But inside when I take breaks or rest, I feel so guilty. Sometimes I overwork myself too much, which leads to burn out. I was struggling with that a lot last week.

So to my fellow actors and creatives, I’m curious what practices you use to help give yourself a full life outside of acting? Logically in my head, I know, it’s just putting it into practice that is really hard for a lot of us! We have such a dedication and passion for this craft that it’s easy to get lost in it.