Confessions of a Struggling Actor

A quiet end to last week was followed by a whirlwind of activity over the past couple of days.

Thursday I was feeling lethargic.  The highs and lows I'd been thru were taking their toll on me.  Work was quiet, the evening was spent honig my Tiger Woods skills and beating my flatmate for the umpteenth time and watching a film - could have been Godfather Pt2, which is prehaps better than the first.  Discuss...

I awoke in the morning as though I had been sedated.  My body had given up the ghost and I could hardly lift my head and my thoughts were lucid, but I kept drifting in and out of conciousness like the bit in Fight Club when Norton's laid up in bed and Pitt's talking to him before he disappears.  I normally have a fairly robust immune system, but after laying waste to my innards, the body was needing to recuperate so I called in sick, but then realised that I needed stuff for the trip to Albania that they were sending me on at the start of the week.  I eventually staggered in looking like shit, printed the emails, tickets and certificate before collecting the rest of the gubbins that i required and went home, missing free drinks which went on until midnight.  there was no way I'd have managed to ingest anything if I could only just hold down the Ibuprofen I'd taken that morning.  Good news came in the form of confirmation that I was going to do the voice over for the cinema and TV ad for work.  No pay was mentioned but it would be good experience and I nedded to get something good for the voice tape I'm planning.  Home, Tiger and fell asleep in front of a film at 9pm.

I had our first pre-season friendly for the Rob Roy Reds Mk 2 at ten the following morning.  I was feeling better but a little spaced and managed to get down to the pitches before anyone else.  One of the team's founders was moving to Oz so this was regarded as his testimonial without the money.  We lost 3-0, though it was a tighter game and I could have put us in the lead, but went narrowly over the bar.  It was good to get a bit of exercise in and I played all but 5 of the 90 mins without too much bother.  Then went to the pub and saw the dismantling of our bitter rivals the faroe islands.  It was a joy, though slightly odd to be cheering scotland playing with such control.  Less of a joy was how I was feeling after 5 pints of afternoon drinking, allied to a rather pink burger I ate to line my stomach.  After the game I made an early exit, but hoped to feel a bit better later that night.  As soon as I got home i went to bed to try and recuperate, but didn't wake til ten and still felt bollocks.  I missed saying goodbye to Pete and a party at andy's, but there was no way I would have been able to drink, so there was no point in sitting in a corner feeling sorry for myself and heading home early.

Sunday was wiped out as well, meaning I didn't have a chance to visit Zoe, who was leaving for Manchester, but did allow me three films while curled up on the sofa.  I've been watching much more films than normal, but it's cheaper than getting pissed and better for me to see the tricks of the trade and inspire me.  I had to have an early night to make sure i was fighting fit for a ridiculously early start to the week.

I managed to get up at 4am against the odds to get myself ready to fly to Albania and everything went without a hitch, despite the fact that I find the whole morning thing an aenethema (sp?).  The trip across was good - Austian Airlines were top class, even if I was sitting in Business.  However, i got to Tirana and then had to pay a tax (which i wasn't told about) and had to wait for half an hour until the ATM was fixed.  Then my bag (including clothes, certificate and documents for the attempt) didn't arrive and I was told that it wouldn't be sent to my hotel until after I checked out the next day, so I arranged to pick it up in time to check it in on the way home.  That said,  the experience on the whole was really good.  The Albanian I met were rfiendly, helpful people, including my translator who had lived in London for 4 years and worked at Ronnie Scotts.  They talked of a determination to improve their country instead of emigrating which was really humbling and treated me perfectly, with respect and fun rather than sucking up which many normally do.  The record itself (a mosaic of nails in the shape of a portrait of Da Vinci) was far more impressive than I thought and the media frenzy that followed the confirmation of a new WR was bigger than I'd ever seen before.  We celebrated by going for a huge meal, though the artist couldn't eat much as he'd hurt his wrists hammering the nails for 24 days straight.  I regretted the excellent meals on the plane as more and more food kept coming and I was ilterally unable to eat anymore for the first time in years.  We finished around midnight and I went back to the Sheraton to have the greatest night's sleep on the comfiest bed ever.

I was awoken from my sweet dreams by Edi the translator who was waiting downstair to take me for a coffe.  After apologising, I used all the hotel's bathroom facilities and toiletries - no bag, remember - and headed downstairs in this swank hotel with the same clothes on as the day before.  We headed to Prince's Park - the Hyde Park of tirana - and sat chatting about his days in London, my acting and life in Albania in general.  then it was back to the hotel to pick up the evidence and I was presented with a mosaic from saimir, which was increidbly heavy and I had to lug around all day as it was my hand luggage.  We went to the airport where i picked up my bag and then presented the certificate (belatedly) to Saimir.  The journey back was easy, if delayed and my bag turned up at Heatrow, which was a blessing.  On the way home I was told that I would be recording the voice over the next day.  There was still not mention of pay, but I was more concerned about being able to do a good job at such short notice, particularly in light of my lack of VO experience.  I hung up the mosaic and hit the hay as soon as I got in.

The next day started much like many recently, with me only waking up as the tube pulled into Warren Street.  I was summoned to a meeting with my boss who told me that I'd been a remarkable candidate for the job, done better than he'd expected, but dudn't get the job based on a couple of my answers in the interview.  I was gutted, but didn't let him see and brushed it off in the knowledge that I was going to get a grand and a half for doing the VO.  You can stick your job...  The VO went really well.  It was done in half the time the previous guy took (Colin Salmon from 007 for you fact fans) and did a good job.  You can judge for yourselves when it comes out in November.  the R&J dates were confirmed and so my life will be back to the Work-rehearse-sleep pattern for a couple of weeks.  Not sure how it will be seeing Ami again, but am sure it will be OK.  After recording, I went for a couple of drinks and then back home to a celebratory thrashing of Denis on Tiger Woods by 11 shots.  Getinthahoooole!!!

Yesterday was fairly chilled and I read 'A day in the death of joe egg' and 'days of wine and roses' and started making plans for how I could convince someone to put either on and cast me as the male leads.  these days I'm finding it easier to relate to scripts and feel the depth in them.  maybe cos I'm older, more experienced?  All i know is I need to keep working and challenging myself.

Today's been a waste of a day in work, playing on MySpace and IM.  Good luck to muzz in Closer this weekend - another part I'd love to play.  Depending on the cash situation I might go to the pub for the Celtic game, though I'm not drinking in the afternoon again. Sunday I have a football tourney, Monday R&J is starting again and Tuesday and Wednesday are my last days off before R&J finishes.