Character study

A while back, I saw an episode of Saturday Night Live hosted by Steve Buscemi. His opening monologue discussed his new role as a lead on Boardwalk Empire, and how it took forever to get out of doing character roles.



This got me thinking, though not about landing the lead in a hit tv show. If I was to do character work, what would I do? A recent audition opened up thoughts of "folksy southern waitress." I feel like I look super cute in glasses, so why not "cute nerdy girl?" I could probably do "un-cute nerdy girl" too, but pride suggests I attempt the former first. I also get compared to Zooey Deschanel a heck of a lot lately, so maybe "funny, indie, geeky girl" is a good direction.

I've also been thinking a lot about sitcoms as a direction. I feel like I'd be really comfortable with a format that seems to draw a lot of conventions from theater. I know I'll never be Angelina Jolie, or "the hot chick," and action star doesn't seem too likely either (though I wouldn't turn it down!). Why not embrace my face, and try to suit my career to the strengths I have? The only problem is, I'm not sure what those are! It'll take a lot of soul searching and experimentation, I'm sure, but I think now that I'm back in the classroom, that may become easier. I also think that cementing a "type" for myself, as vomit-inducing as it is to my inner artiste, would be a huge advantage in commercial work. We'll see.