Today I was booked for one day’s shoot with actor/producer/director Brian Hooks. I got up at 5 am and drove to the location in the Harbor in San Pedro one hour south of LA.
It’s always exciting to discover the dynamics and energy on a new set. What’s the pace, what’s the tone etc. etc. Today was a nice surprise. Everybody was fun, pleasant and low key and the scenes we did were pure comedy. Brian is a genius when it comes to improvising. He made us all crack up during the takes. It was a riot.
Here are a couple of shots between takes:
I’m wearing: Diane von Furstenberg green silk top, Zara leather skirt, Object suede dress, Versace tiger striped jacket,
Brian Hooks & I.. Gotta love his side burns hahaha
‘back to one!’
Nylon shirt, fake sideburns, shades and flannel pants. This brother knows how to get the biatches…
Touch up
Hello Miss Finland & Miss Denmark!!!Liisa & I – 2 Scandinavians connecting in front of the fireplace.
I’m having one of those days where nothing much goes on inside my head. Know the feeling? Like my body and mind is regrouping and I need some peace and complete quiet to do so.
I need to relax and let serendipity work it’s magic. How I love that word!
”Serendipity is a propensity for making fortuitous discoveries while looking for something unrelated..”
It’s acceptance of the absolute unexpected. To give up, to give in and just go with what’s there….. right in front of you. Not trying to force anything. It’s about trusting that inner voice, the gut feeling.
I read a script by a very talented Italian writer and director the other day. On the most obvious level the story is a about a man who escapes from prison to live in the forest alone, to contemplate and to find him self. The point is that a man will never be a man before he has spent a certain amount of time alone all by himself in nature. An idea that rings very true to me. Remember Sean Penn’s movie ‘Into The Wild’? Besides that Emile Hirsch is a bad-ass actor, who killed that part, ‘Into The Wild’ deals with the same subject matter. Searching for truth, going back to basics in nature, being a pilgrim and doing things in new ways. Traveling the road less traveled.
It’s funny how that flick ’spoke’ to most of my male friends. Everybody was going on road trips, climbing mountains, going hiking …. and then again, some guys were taking the more easy way: a walk in the local park. but hey! – It was a first for them in years…
It makes me remember how clear sighted I was just after I came out of the 10 days of completely silent Vipassana Meditation in Fresno. That was November 2009. It was unbelievably hard. Retardely hard! Like being in an effing prison. I kid you not!!! But I gotta give it to the technique; The last 3 days of my stay at the meditation Center and many, many weeks after, everything was so clear, so easy to understand and to accept.
A lot of times we get in our own way because we try to interpret a given situation. In fact, we do that most of the time. Around the clock. It takes us out of the moment and we get caught up in stupid and ridiculous drama. Why not for once just try to see things as the are. Not how we want them to be. And know within ourselves that things are subject to change. Nothing is permanent. Neither happiness nor unhappiness. I’m not permanent. Every hour I’m one step closer to death. Tomorrow the sun rises and sets no matter if I’m here or not. It’s a fact. It’s kind of nihilistic, abstract and complex, but really not when you think about it and begin to just let go and not dwell on details or everyday drama. Who the F cares really about little minor bumps in the road in the long run?
Back to LALA reality: I got up at crack of dawn and drove my roomie to the airport. Ugggghh – kinda depressing that she is leaving…. Miss her already. the apartment is so big and empty with out her….hmmm…
Then I had an audition for a feature film. It was ok… We improvised a bit and joked around besides reading the actual scene. I wasn’t nervous… but auditions are always weird since you have so little time to prepare to actually be another human being. It’s crazy when you think about it.
Anyways. Then I did something completely nuts in LA terms; I walked to my lunch meeting. Oooh eeeM Geeeehhh!!! It’s a walk that takes about 1 hour one way and here in The City of Angels that is probably the most absurd thing to do: to walk anywhere. Almost more absurd than to get a lobotomy. Or I’d say more people have their boobs done in this city than you will see people walking from A to B. Welcome to LA!
Anyhow, on the way to my lunch I stopped by the hippie store MAYA on Melrose and bought myself a small golden septum ring he he… A fake one of course. But even so, it’s still soooo bad-ass (sorry it’s become my favorite word of the month). I predict it will be the new accessory of the season. But you gotta wear it with class and tons of fierceness. Tribal just went to the next level people. Watch out!
Now I’m sitting with yet another new script that I just got today in my inbox … let me count…. that’s number 5 script.. I think..? yeah… So I’m really not complaining.
Actually I better get to it people.
I have another 10 days in LA until I fly to NYC where I booked a gig in The Hamptons. Yesterday I got word that I have an option for a job in Budapest from July 6th – 9th. On the 14th I have to be in Copenhagen and on the 15th I’m off to Greece.
So I guess my body is right… now is the time to regroup and find peace before the next journey into the future….
The wind is definitely blowing changes my way…. And I’m surprised that it surprises me. The feeling of ‘Aha’ should be so familiar by now. Hence, it isn’t. And I guess that is the nature of the unenlightened…
One thought came to my mind today as I was driving home from a meeting in Santa Monica; I think it’s interesting how it seems that you have to be open to them – the changes – before they will make a proper appearance before you. Like, you have to get on the same page with the changes and once you get there you realize they have been waiting for you to catch up for a while. Suddenly, they sit there and stare you right in the eyes with a provoking smirk. Like a change is the most obvious and simple solution to everything. And hands down – it is.
Am I making any sense? Maybe not…. However, the changes I’m talking about today is not revolutionary over night happening out of this world changes, but small yet solid changes that leads you on to new pastures.
Getting back to my meeting in Santa Monica; I had a long and super interesting conversation with a truly inspiring man today, who I’m going to start to work with. I can’t really call him an acting coach, because he is not. He is much more. So I will call him a mentor, a teacher or maybe a friend. We will see what this connection brings. But for now I’m pretty excited. We start this Friday and I already have a ton of material that we both brought to the table.
So what is the change about you may ask? Well, one of the reasons that I’m so excited about this new friend is, that he pretty much told me what my gut feeling has been telling me for a long time about my acting, my path and sense of direction. I don’t really want to go into details other than I was happy to find an answer to my question.
From there I was off to a birthday party and then I finally watched Sex & The City 2. Yes! I know it’s embarrassing that a New York devotee as yours truly hasn’t reconnected with Carrie yet. Sorry, but I was in Nicaragua when the SATC frenzy hit town. And now after having watched it….
Ha ha… What can I say? That film is any girl’s wet dream. Abundance of fashion, exotic locations and extremely out of this world sexy men. ‘Australian Rugby team’ Excuse me…!!!!!!!????? ha ha
And now we are touching upon the subject: Did any of You pay attention how much more skin the men were showing compared to the ladies in this film? Talk about male objectification. The only other Blockbuster I remember that happening in is ‘Troy’, where brad Pitt is more ribbed and more naked than ever. I don’t even remember if this was pre-Angelina. Now he has a lot of facial hair and a lot of kids. (Just kidding …)
Anyhow, tonight the sun sets on an all in all really perfect day in LA. Tomorrow I have an audition for starters, then a meeting with an Italian film director who wants to talk about his next movie with me. Then another meeting in Brentwood, then rehearsals for Friday’s acting ‘thing’ and then Thursday Sessions at Bardot. Hell yeah! I like the changes that the winds are blowing my way….
The one and only blond bombshell icon who has embraced both the uncontrollable sexy vixen, the ‘meow-kitten’, the entertaining, the ingenue innocent school girl and the classy presidential potential wifey to be. All in one package.
Here is to a woman who seemed like she had it all, and left us wondering and always wanting more….
”…After pictures of the Queen sitting on the loo, Monica Lewinsky lighting Bill Clinton’s cigar and Tony Blair and George Bush in a sauna, here is something a little easier on the eye. These fake paparazzi shots of Marilyn and JFK are by photographer Alison Jackson.
“Jackson’s work causes controversy, because it threatens to cross the line between the private and public life of our contemporary icons. Because we unquestionably accept the authenticity of a photograph it would appear we are being given a glimpse of something confidential, a private moment. Upon closer examination we question the reality of the image, and hopefully this makes us question our unwitting tendency to believe everything we see in the media today.” – Taschen Books
Photograph by Richard Avedon
“Hollywood is a place where they’ll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul”
So last night I attended the screening/premiere of a movie called Positive I did last year here in LA with Brazilian director Mario Amadeu. It was so nice to see the cast and the crew again. I can’t wait to work together with Mario again on future projects
Here’s a scene from the movie and a couple of pics from last night:
Today was a stressful, but fun day on many levels. When I woke up this morning I was still in a haze after some super realistic dream. You know that feeling? I must have been so exhausted from the fashion show last night and all the stuff that’s going on in my life right now that I just pulled the plug and slept like a baby in Salvador Dali Land….
I woke up to a shoot on ‘Madoff with America’. A feature film that screens in Cannes May 2010. I think already mentioned it, but the cast includes Michael Madsen, Rachel Hunter, Tom Sizemore and many other super good actors, not to mention the crew.
I always love to get on set and find out how the dynamics are and how the director works.
Like with anything there’s tons of waiting time on set when you are not the lead (and most times actually also when you are the lead). Change of location, light change, this that and the other… And it all adds up to the fact that you become better and better at adjusting super fast to any given situation. Today was for instance only improv for me. I LOVE improv! So I had a blast.
I don’t know why I just thought of this, but I remember one day when I was still a student of Bill Esper in New York, the Acting Studio had invited actress and Esper alumni Patricia Heaton to a ‘talk back’. I remember her saying something a long the lines of: ”Going on a film or TV set is like a passionate love affair”… and I know what she means. Yes, there can be tons of drama and bad vibes on set, but really…. A lot of filmmakers are very passionate and love what they do and when you are lucky enough to team up with them it’s the best!
here are a some snap shots from today:
Tom Sizemore & I both in biker jackets
hair and make up time..
I snapped a shot with my Iphone during a take
Executive producer and Director Edmund Druilhet & I
ACTION!
2 pretentious bastards he he..
Tom Sizemore, DP Joey Rassool & I @ the Boston Legal Studios
Nicolas falls in love with Sedona, and he thinks she’s the woman of his dreams. Sedona is way out of his league and has one condition. She requires a free pass every month to cheat on him. Being the hopeless romantic, Nicolas attempts to make her happy, and gives in to her demand.
Their relationship becomes a rollercoaster of great sexual highs, and dismal depressive lows. Neither of them realizes that their truly unique and dramatic arrangement has caught the attention of a watcher. This person is a serious voyeur, and is now filming their every move, with the intention of creating the perfect tragic ending.
Nicolas must find the courage to stop the watcher, save Sedona, and maybe even grow a backbone.
What’s on my mind today? Brigitte Bardot is. Her French pout and sex kitten look is undeniably alluring and timeless.
Have you ever watched ‘And God Created Woman’ (1956 by Roger Vadim)..? The movie might not be an example of the best acting in the world, but still it’s a classic and I wish somebody would do a remake.
I have something for vintage cars, old beautiful movies, good manners, style and big dreams.
