Dear Tombudsman:
I am a SAG French actor who is 26 years old and have been living in Los Angeles for a year and a half. I've done some films and theatre in France (resum enclosed) and am currently studying speech. I cannot seem to get an agent in Los Angeles, mostly, I think, because of my accent. Maybe I should try to target agents or managers who represent foreign language speaking actors, but I don't have a list or know if any exist. Are their any organizations for foreign actors? I'm sure with my speech coach I'll soon be able to not have an accent, but who will trust that?
Cedric Bernardini
Hollywood
Dear Cedric:
Whatever you do in class to improve your speech, I think your penultimate goal should be to market yourself as a strong actor who just happens to have a nice French accent. I've seen enough casting calls in films calling for authentic European actors to believe that you can have a very fruitful career here, but only if your acting is of a consistently high caliber. Naturally, you'll have to speak unbroken English, but I don't think that's your concern. Having an accent makes for some interesting challenges, I'm sure, but you must know that every thespian has his own special challenge to deal with when attacking the Hollywood marketplace. As I always say, talent and looks in the film industry heavily outweigh anything one might perceive as holding them back.
You're French, and there aren't too many actors who can claim that, so use it as an asset. You'll see some pretty bad dialects being passed off on television as European these days, and you'll also see some pretty good ones, too. I'd say three out of four times‹on television anyway‹when you hear an accent, it is being done by an American. The better performers, especially those who have a European look, know that there is work to be had if they can pull off an accent with aplomb. You're the real thing, so you should win over most casters who need a European actor.
On top of that, you're also taking a speech class and might be able to come up with a fairly impressive Americanized accent of your own, should you wish to focus on that. I can only think of a few European actors who have such dead-on American dialects that they are barely remembered as being from another country. Unless you are a chameleon, you'd do better to focus on your French-ness.
Bottom line, though, is that you'll always be French, and that's where most of your work will come from. Unless you are a master at voice adaptation, no one will ever believe you're from Iowa‹no matter how many accent elimination classes you take. I don't need to go through the list of actors from overseas who have done quite well without losing their accents. Antonio Banderas comes to mind, but like several overseas stars who scored big in America, his first high-profile jobs were in Europe. You don't come here with a hit film in your back pocket, so you'll have to work a little harder.
I looked through a recent copy of Lawrence Parke's The Agencies and saw two franchised agencies listed that appear to specialize in international actors‹Paul Kohner agency and Baier-Kleinman agency. Do some research with SAG and see if they might be able to help you out. Most agencies have a least a few European actors in their files. I'd also highly suggest you get into a good play. It's really hard to sell a foreign accent over the telephone to an agency. If they see you perform in person, you'll make a much better impression. You also might consider the very lucrative yet hard-to-break-into voiceover and looping areas, two specialties which always seek genuine accents from abroad. Tough work, but an authentic accent can really be a big plus in your case. The only way to break in is to take a class to see if you like that type of work.
So your task is at hand. Focus on improving your acting skills first. Whatever you do with your accent is second to that. By the way, take your home address off your resum .
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Dear Tombudsman:
I know there are a lot of scams being pulled in this town. Unfortunately, I fell for one. I agreed to be represented by a manager with the initials C.K. I knew I should have run in the other direction when I had to pay him cash up front to, as he put it, "cover my expenses," but I slipped $170 in an envelope anyway. He refused to give me a receipt for the cash I gave him because he said he was "nonprofit and that would be illegal."
Over the next six weeks, I had only three auditions. The first came after I left a message asking why I hadn't received any updates. The manager also claimed he had only eight clients but I met two of them at an audition and they knew of more clients than that. I was also being sent out on auditions that required full or partial nudity without being told so beforehand. When I pressed the manager's assistant to tell me how much one of the jobs paid, I was told it was "meals and copy provided." Please suggest a course of action.
Jennifer
Los Angeles
Dear Jennifer:
Course of action? Start using your noggin and never pay anyone else again for representation. Your better instincts told you this guy was a crook, but you still filled an envelope with cash. Sure, you could take him to small claims court, but you have no contract and you willingly gave up your money. It would be tough at best to get your money back.
So let's take a look at this so-called manager: He charges his clients an up-front fee and submits them for what sounds like at the very least soft-core films. On top of that, the sleazy jobs pay no money. He obviously represents more people than he claims and he reports to be a nonprofit. Oh, he's profitable all right‹at the expense of actors willing to pay him fees for bad representation.
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Dear Tombudsman:
Your inquirer H. Meadoff (Back Stage West/Drama-Logue, 8/20/98) is under the same mis-impression that plagues many people‹that set teachers are just regular classroom teachers who managed to land a nice job that pays well and doesn't involve much work. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Studio teachers, as they are legally called in California (although not elsewhere), must hold both an elementary and secondary teaching credential, preferably in an academic subject, must be a regularly credentialed teacher in the state, and must have passed an examination qualifying them to be licensed as a studio teacher by the California Labor Commissioner. Having accomplished all of that, the teacher is now eligible for non-union work but not studio films or television shows, which are produced under a union contract‹usually with IATSE, of which Studio Teachers Union Local 884 is an integral part. The union has strict eligibility requirements and a long waiting list.
The reason for this rigmarole is simple: Studio teachers have a variety of responsibilities including the health, welfare, and safety of the child actors on set. If H. Meadoff wants further information, he should contact the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, Entertainment Division, 6150 Van Nuys Blvd., Van Nuys, CA 90046-1467.
Michael Harrah
Joint National Chair
SAG Young Performers Committee
Los Angeles
Dear Michael:
Thank you for the excellent information, Michael. Perhaps my initial response to Meadoff should have started with a call to your office. Tombudsman receives a fair amount of mail over the year from those seeking direction to the nearest gig as a studio teacher. Your answer confirms what all prospective teachers need to know about this particular side of the business. The job obviously requires dedication, impeccable credentials, and apparently a lot of patience to make it all the way to the big leagues. Just like acting.
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