What would you do

...on camera (or stage, but I'm going to concentrate on camera). First off, for those of you thinking an actor should gratefully accept any role and do whatever the director wants -on set- until reaching A-list status, you are wrong. Well, at least as far as the second part goes. One should always be grateful. And one should never sacrifice their morals.

This goes beyond the standard nudity example which is complex just by itself. If the producers reach as certain dollar amount, do the clothes come off? What about implied nudity? Just your butt? Lot to think about. Highly recommend deciding before the powers that be ask for your decision.

Two off topic comments about nudity.

1. If it is not on camera, it does not need to be exposed. Even if it is your chest and your bare back is on camera.
2. There is no reason to suddenly write your clothes out of the script. So don't be pressured out of them. If you're willing to do it, fine. Just make them renegotiate first. And charge more than you usually would. After all, most places charge extra for rush jobs.

So, besides nudity, what else should an actor consider?

• Would you do a scene wearing just underwear?
• What about underwear designed with the opposite sex in mind?
• How about clothing with intimacy in mind? This includes everything from the lingerie stores at the mall to kinky leather bondage stuff.
• Would you portray a gay character with make out/sex scenes?
• Would you do those scenes if the character was straight?
• Are you willing to smoke? Herbal cigarettes? E-cigarettes?
• Are you willing to alter your appearance? I mean in such a way that your current headshots won't match your appearance for the next six months.

I suppose there might be other things to consider, but you get the idea. Notice how all the bullet points are things that cannot be faked. That's why drinking is not on there. You can take apple juice and call it beer or pee or alien mind control fluid. You can even stretch artistic license to the limit and call it apple juice. But you cannot stick a ballpoint pen in your mouth and call it a cigarette.

Turning Down a Role

The other day, I went to a play audition. It is a new play so there was not much info on it. Actually, I think this will be the first performance other than stage readings. I am not going to go into the particulars about how the audition was conducted because it is not important for this discussion. Let's just say I feel genuinely good about my audition and honestly feel it would put me at the top of the consideration pile.

I turned it down. Why? At the audition, I learned the play has nudity. I do not do nudity. It is a religious issue. The director said to email her after the audition (but before the posting of the cast list) if we were to decide the play is not for us. Since the audition does not involve nudity, even if it is a nudity scene, and the director implied we were still free to audition even if we planned on passing due to the nudity issue, I stayed.

Why stay if I was not going to do it? First, I want to point out that right after the director brought up the nudity, she mentioned emailing her afterwards if we decided the play was not for us. This told me she was not expecting anyone with issues regarding nudity to leave the audition room. Otherwise, I would have politely bowed out at the start of the auditions. So, why did I spend the evening auditioning for a play I was going to turn down? Honestly, I had no real motivation for staying at the time other than I was there and no one had told me to leave.

Am I glad I stayed and spent the evening auditioning for a play I planned on turning down? Yes. I followed the director's directions regarding turning down the play. My audition rocked and I'm sure the playwright (who was there) will write other plays, the director will direct other plays etc.

Any bummer parts? The fact that I feel my audition rocked and I had a real chance at getting cast. It would be nice to do another play. While I have done film work, it has been awhile since I've done a play. And the fact that I will probably never know if I would have been cast.

Do I feel bad about turning down the play? No. After all, as I mentioned it is a religious issue with doing nudity. If you are putting plays, films, etc ahead of your beliefs, you probably have your priorities mixed up. Or you are a member of that religion in name only. Of course, if you are turning down a role because the character is a murderer and murder is against your religious beliefs...