Dear Bonnie, I live in a small market where it’s nearly impossible to make a living as an actor — or in any one phase of this industry. Many people in our market wear different…
Know Thyself (But Not TOO Well)
I was talking with an actor last week about her TYPE. Ah, yes, that dreaded and essential element of an actor’s career: identifying and marketing to her primary type. Well, I wasn’t going to write…
Thank You for the Advice!
Last week, our Your Turn topic was about saying NO when you’re being offered a role but getting a gut-instinct feeling like it might be a bad idea to accept it. We talked about how…
The Spiral
I was talking with one of my besties a couple of weeks ago and we began discussing patterns in lessons we’ve had in our decades in this industry. We noticed that we both — and,…
The Bliss of Flow (AKA: Growing Up Gillespie)
For all of the not-so-goods that came with growing up me, there were a lot of goods too. A lot of really goods. But one of the not-so-goods involved living in a house in which…
Declining a Role
Hi Bonnie, First, I really love your column. I’ve gotten a lot of info from reading your current and archived articles! I was wondering if you had any tips on turning down a job. I’m…
Remembering Melissa Martin
By now, I’m sure most readers have heard that top commercial casting director Melissa Martin has passed away. These past couple of weeks have been tough, for we lost Melissa, plus casting legend Sylvia Fay,…
Twitter has ruined me for blogging.
That’s really all it comes down to. I no longer go to the trouble of logging into Movable Type, choosing the appropriate blog in which to compose, composing a blog entry, finding appropriate image files,…
Thank You for Your Hot Bod
Dear Bonnie Gillespie, THANK YOU for “Your Hot Bod.” It was so encouraging and validated the decision I made recently. I’m the mom of a lovely, talented, bright 14-year-old girl who just had headshots done…
Your Type Is a Shortcut
I recently engaged in a little online conversation with a new-to-LA actor who was finding the whole “type” thing discouraging. Specifically, she’s not too into the Hollywood obsession with actors playing their primary type “over…