Last night I stayed in downtown Hollywood!! There are quite a few hostels on or near Hollywood Boulevard, and as I had to be in Burbank early this morning I decided to stay overnight in the city. I found a quiet little hostel just up a side street, almost right behind the famous Chinese Theatre, where actor’s hand and footprints are set in concrete.
I was planning to catch up again with my friend Ari, the voice-over artist who I met last year when I first visited LA. So I settled into the hostel and made my bed, and then headed out to Sunset Boulevard, where I met Ari in a lovely little Indian restaurant.
It was good to catch up again, and compare notes on what we had both achieved over the past ten months or so, but I was more excited to find out that Ari had come out on his Segway, and after dinner I could have a try on it if I wanted. Ari was very pleased that I had never been on one, and that he could introduce me to a new activity.
I started slowly, and soon got the hang of the unusual machine, and Ari turned it up to full speed. Simply leaning forward or backwards makes the thing speed up or slow down, and a twist of the left grip turns the machine left or right. It was surprisingly quick, and great fun!
Afterwards, I drove the Segway back to Ari’s apartment, where he showed me his home voice-over recording studio, and then gave me a lift back to my hostel in his Merc convertible. A great evening all round.
This morning I was up early, and took the metro then a bus, ending up in Burbank to go to Central casting, hoping to get listed as a movie extra. The place was packed, and after the initial introduction the queues of prospective fellow actors began to form.
I had a chat with a couple of the staff members, but it was very quickly made clear that I would not be able to be registered without a US work visa. Even if I wanted to appear on a voluntary, unpaid basis, it would not be possible, apparently.
This acting business is tough! I have faced my first rejection, and suspect there are more to come! I have another interview at a different agency tomorrow morning, but imagine it may well have the same outcome.