Miss Bonnie! With your column on Actors Can’t Read, you are so on the money! My children have said, “You know there are people who click then read, and those who read then click.” Well, I thought I would pass on a comment that my husband said he heard Billy Joel say: “The older I get the more competence is a turn-on.” It seems to be true!

Ooh, I like that line! Definitely, there is something attractive about people who “get it.” Of course, many people enjoy the spirit of the rebel. So, in case any readers are determined to break the rules in order to stand out, I’ll just make sure to mention that it’s breaking the rules with a nudge-nudge, wink-wink that works. Not rebellion due to ignorance, incompetence, or lack of interest in acknowledging that there are guidelines provided to begin with.

Hi Bonnie. I think your column is great. It really helps me in my career. I just read your column Actors Can’t Read and it hit home at a very specific time. Just yesterday, I got a call for a job which I had submitted for through Actors Access which noted AFTRA. At the moment, I am nonunion. My question is: If the casting notice reads AFTRA (which I understand you can join at the drop of a hat by paying your initiation fee and dues), is it wrong to submit if you are nonunion? I thought that even when SAG members are desired, if the right person is found and not SAG, they are still hired. In an AFTRA production, does that hold as well? Please clarify my understanding in this matter so I do not unintentionally upset more casting directors.

Everyone is AFTRA-eligible; so don’t ever worry about submitting on an AFTRA project (unless the CD has specified that you must be a paid-up AFTRA member in order to submit). I recommend you take a look at a Your Turn here, a letter my colleague Mark Sikes received here, and another column I wrote here, for some detailed tips about joining AFTRA and working once you’ve joined. Now, as for upsetting CDs by submitting for union projects when you’re nonunion, I wouldn’t worry about that at all. Certainly, some CDs may have a very different take on that issue than I do, but from the couple hundred CD interviews I conducted before becoming a casting director, I can tell you that almost all of us expect nonunion actors to submit on union projects. If we didn’t want submissions directly from actors (of any status), we wouldn’t put out a breakdown in a place where you have access to it.

Bottom line, if you’re concerned that you’re following the guidelines set out by CDs on how to submit, you’re probably going to do just fine. It’s the actors who don’t even recognize that they could potentially be overstepping a line or ignoring clear instructions that tend to rub us the wrong way.

Hey Bonnie, I just had to write and tell you how much I loved your last column. You hit the nail on the head and I even laughed out loud a couple times. (“Thud. That’s my head hitting the desk.”) Very funny. And painfully true. It must be the heat because I’m dedicating tomorrow’s column to my most recent callback sessions and all the ridiculous behavior I observed. Thank God we don’t name names, huh? Hope you’re keeping cool. All my best, Mark

Ah, Mark Sikes, my partner in crime here at the Showfax Roundtable! It’s funny, I’ll consider naming names. I’ll consider putting up a HOLLYWOOD’S MOST WANTED poster filled with bad actor behavior. But I’ll never do it. Just the venting sometimes is enough to take the edge off the truly baffling things actors do. (And I know for a fact that actors will vent to one another over baffling CD behavior, so it’s a two-way street, of course.)

Oh, and the heat is definitely doing its thing, in bringing out the “cray cray” in everyone. Wish me luck this week! I’m seeing over 200 actors at prereads for projects with three different directors. Hang on… I think I know who’s crazy now: ME! Ack!

Eagerly anticipating your callback column! Hope your AC helps take the edge off. When that fails, call me for cocktails.

Bonnie Gillespie is living her dreams by helping others figure out how to live theirs. Wanna work with Bon? Start here. Thanks!

Originally published by Actors Access at http://more.showfax.com/columns/avoice/archives/000424.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.