Thursday, August 26, 2010

New Headshot!

You might have noticed that I have a new headshot posted there to the right. That is compliments of the talented Jeremy Kruse, who is establishing his business here in New York after working as a headshot photographer for 10 years in Chicago.

He is also an actor and a filmmaker, so he knows what it's like to be on both sides of the camera. He's easygoing and understands that nervousness that comes over you--even if you are an actor--when a camera is pointed at your face, which is a nice trait in someone who's pointing a camera at your face.

Click here to check out a sample of his recent work: http://www.flickr.com/photos/krusephoto/sets/72157624651431550/

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

I am a girl, and I'm owning it!

You might have noticed that I changed the title of this blog from "Elizabeth Bernhardt, Actor" to "Elizabeth Bernhardt, Actress." While it seems to be the thing to do in the theater world these days to claim the gender neutral title, I like the fact that I am a woman and an actor...I mean actress. And I am doing my part to bring back that word. So there it is, on the title.

And seeing how popular this blog is, I know this change will bring a real impact to the New York acting scene as we know it.

First Refusal: Windstream

I was notified by Jen Halpern that I am on first refusal for the Windstream commercial (meaning they gave me a date that they want me to hold open because they liked my audition and might give me the job). We will wait and see!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Audition: Windstream Commercial

I auditioned today for casting director Jen Halpern for a Windstream (internet, tv, phone) commercial. It was fun. I sat at a table and the camera was positioned low to the table, so it was supposed to be a web camera I was ranting into about my bills going up. We had been given copy, but the directions were that you didn't have to follow the copy verbatim; just be yourself. I had fun making up complaints about cable company fees, and I liked the improv nature of the audition.

After my first go, Jen said that she didn't really have any adjustments for me because it was really good, but said to go ahead and try delivering it in a more mature style (maybe she meant not quite so quirky?), as if I were a little older, maybe a mother. So I slowed everything down, soothed it out a bit, and the second read went well. As I left the room feeling at ease and confident, I was grateful for my commercial classes with [casting director] Ken Lazer. Good stuff, Ken!