Monday, January 17, 2011

Me on TV, kind of

Growing up I was always involved in Theater groups and acting. I like the arts and theater is one of my favorite things. I remember doing plays and loving it, but I also remember doing kids birthday parties and having to dress up as a clown!! That was the worst job ever, no respect!

Since moving to LA I've always been busy with school, work and now family. Before kids I did a few things on TV mainly in Spanish TV, I also did extra work in a few movies. After the kids started preschool, I found I had a little more time and started taking a few acting classes.

A couple of years ago I took an acting class that got me a job in General Hospital, I was cast as Maria Zacchara. Let me tell you a little bit about Maria, the Zacchara family is a Mob family, Maria married Anthony and had a son; Johnny Zacchara who is one of the main characters on the show. Maria had been dead for 20 years and nobody knew how she had died. At first I was shown only as a picture frame on Anthony Zacchara's desk. They later called me to shoot my death, Johnny is now in his late 20's and had a flashback of when he was 8 years old, that's how they showed that Anthony was the one that had killed me, unbelievable! He was trying to kill my precious son, but I jumped in front and gave my life to save him, because that's the kind of thing mothers do, plus Johnny is a main character so he had to live, I on the other hand had to die, that's how it works.

Me as Maria Zacchara with Johnny Zacchara

It was a lot of fun, I even did my own stunt (dropping dead and bleeding to death while holding a bouquet of roses, wearing a gown and lots of jewelry, very dramatic, you get the picture). The cast was super nice and very professional, soaps are like a well oiled machine, they tape everyday and the cast has to learn an incredible amount of lines on a daily basis, don't feel to bad for them they make lots of money.

I saw Brandon Barash (Johnny, my TV son) a while back while shopping at H & M, I asked him to be a good son and remember his dead mother and make sure he has more flashbacks :). We had a good laugh, he is so handsome, do you think he takes after me or his father? LOL

Brandon Barash AKA Johnny Zacchara, now all grown up

I also played a caterer at The Bold and the Beautiful. I did that a couple of times, the last time they had called me I was pregnant, I told them that the catering uniform was probably not going to fit me, specially the tight vest they had me wear, so I had to pass. On Tuesday I received a call from B & B and they asked me if I would be interested in shooting "Open Titles", which is that video they show everyday when the show starts were they feature the cast and play some music. Well, it was a 2 day shoot and it would mean a little bit of money on residual checks for as long as they show the Open titles. I told her I would talk to my husband and call her back. I was really nervous about leaving William for 8 hours, I had never done it and I knew I would really miss him and I like to think he would miss me. We decided it would be OK so I said yes. Matt and our babysitter took care of him while I "worked", if you could call eating, sitting around and talking to people while you wait for your 10 minute turn work.
The new open titles are set during a fashion show (by the way, the models were so tall, thin and beautiful, we were all feeling very short and plain) I was one of the fashion show viewers and the next day I was a fashion show photographer. I'm not sure when they will show the new open titles, but when it airs you might be seeing my hands clapping, my boots, the back of my head or me holding a camera at the end of a runway, I'm telling you I should win an Emmy for this.
It was a fun experience, I met lots of interesting people, one of the extras I sat next to was Drew Broadrick a singer actor guy from the UK, check out his youtube video, he's also on itunes. Most of the people there were in their late 20's or early 30's like me, they were all single with no kids and found it very interesting/unusual that I had 3 kids, most of them would have a bunch of questions about married life, one person told me: You've been married for 10 years! In LA that counts for like 30 years! I thought that was funny and sad at the same time.
I thought they were all very interesting, most of them were from other States, they all moved here to pursue their Hollywood dream and they have to work hard in this very competitive industry. A few of them have had temporary success, others are still waiting for their shot, all of them have to work doing other things while they pursue their dream.
After the 2 days were over, I was glad to know I had my family waiting at home, that being a mom/wife is my job and that I have a pretty simple life.

6 comments:

Jenna said...

I remember your death scene! It was awesome! So believable, in fact, that I was shocked when you showed up at my house for piano lessons the next week. I was like, "Wait, what? You're ALIVE?!" And boy, was I relieved! (Cause I'd really miss you!)

Very cool that you got to do some more filming! Kind of a fun little bonus to your already very cool life.

Liz Stanley said...

Wow, you've done some amazing stuff. Thanks for popping over and saying hello on my blog!

jmommy said...

What a fun experience, Brandon is so cute!

happyanne said...

You totally look like I imagined Maria Zachara would, I love the dress you wore, very classy.

Jennifer said...

so cool! i use to watch general hospital with my grandmother - she loved her "shows"!

Ashley said...

How fun!

B&B is my mother-in-law's favorite show and really the only soap I used to watched. I will have to take a look. I think they have it here in the UK.