A good translation of my blog post title for all my anglo readers is pretty much "Shoes don't make the man, except..." I had an audition yesterday. I refuse to refer to it now as a "big, French audition" as a friend kindly pointed out that even though it's for a lead in a TV series and even though it's in French, it's still just an audition. No need to make a big drama around it.
Many, many moons ago, I really worried about what I would wear to an audition. So much so that I think a lot of my preparation went out the window for this superficial aspect. These days, I had gone all the way to the other end of the spectrum: good preparation but not much of a clue when it came to what to wear.
Before my audition yesterday, I had a little meeting with my agent. Talking about the audition, she said: "So you're going to wear heels?"
Oh. My. God.
How did I not even think of that? The show revolves around the local hockey team. The character I was auditioning for is, for lack of a better word, the local town "sexpot" who works in the sports bar. OF COURSE SHE WEARS HEELS!
I had chosen an outfit that morning, but I realized I had made a very safe choice.
And here's the weird part: this was not a stretch for me. I LOVE wearing heels. I own at least a dozen pairs so why wouldn't have brought some for this character?
Resistance in one of it's simplest forms.
Shoes are one of the most basic things you learn about in acting school. When you rehearse a play, it's one of the first costume pieces you want brought in because how your character walks says a lot about who they are.
Since I had plenty of time, I went back home and rethought my outfit. I knew exactly what it was going to be this time. Instead of just a short skirt and a cute top with my sandals, I went for my teal ankle boots with the silver stiletto heel (second-hand boots that are lovingly worn out), a wide white belt to go over my skirt around my hips, and a top that I took from a friend just in case I ever needed to go to some kind of hoochie bar.
The result:
Though I felt confident in my preparation and in the lines, I now felt confident in the person I was trying to be. She was me, only amped up to 11.
I won't go into details about the audition except to say that I was happy with my work. So many external factors that you cannot control go into the casting process so I won't worry about it anymore. I will, however, say a big thank you to my awesome agent for making sure that all those factors I can control were taken care of.