Who Do You Think You're Kidding...

I would like to dedicate this blog shaped bit of ranting to delusional models everywhere.

Before I begin, I would like to preface this rant with the following statement:

I LOVE what I do. I LOVE being part of the creative process. I LOVE the people I work with. I LOVE my work crew. I count myself fortunate that in this economy I continue to get work and have managed to continue to pay my bills on time, even though my income and industry have been severely affected by the recession.

HOWEVER...

Recently, I had a casting to do. It was a HUGE job. Three days of casting nearly 50 roles from 25 age/ethnic categories. It began as most castings do. I prepared the list of roles, wrote out the specifications of what we were looking for in age range, ethnicity, and even hair colour as per the client request. They were specific in what they were looking for, so in turn, so were my casting requests.

Late in the morning, I sent out the call. It was only a matter of minutes before the submissions started to arrive. Actually, that's an understatement. They began to FLOOD the casting service mailbox. And that's fine. I expect that. In a town like HellAy, there are a ton of models and actors and agents who submit to every casting call there is. This is fine.

I started to scroll through the submissions, which had jumped in number to several thousand in the matter of an hour. This also is normal, expected and I mentally prepare myself for this whenever I plan a casting.

And here is where my ranting will begin. And it is directed at the talent submissions that came in for several of the categories I requested.

WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE KIDDING????

I asked for 18 to 22 year old college students. I got women and men who are clearly in their mid-30's. I get that you look younger than your age, and perhaps you can pass for 29 in the right lighting with really good hair and makeup styling, but there is NOT A CHANCE IN HELL that you actually can pass for 21. Really. Give it up.

I blame the industry of course, where many of us working now spent our formative years (Beverly Hills 90210 anyone?) watching 30 year olds play high school students, and that practice has warped our real vision of what under 21's look like. It's still going on. Regularly, 29 year olds play 22 and 25 year olds play high school. It's a disservice to everyone honestly and it pisses me off. So now, instead of scrolling through a manageable 400 submissions to find those kids we need with the "right look," I have to scroll through over a thousand submissions for one role, more than half of which are immediately disqualified because they are just TOO OLD. These extraneous submissions just serve to waste my time, and irritate my wrist from all the mouse clicking.

C'mon people, be nice. Your silliness and delusion makes my brain cranky and my eyes water. And I'm trying to HIRE you people. You should be nice to me so I will hire you for appropriate age range roles (which - oh by the way - I have TONS of).

In fact, in this same casting, I called for a mix of ethnicities of ALL age ranges. Seriously. So if you're say, I don't know, 40 for example, then perhaps it's best if you submit yourself for the "Late 30's" age range. I for one would be so much happier if my inbox wasn't flooded with trash from deluded people who can't see their reflection in the mirror clearly.

Not to mention, if these people would start to play actual ages, then maybe the world wouldn't have such a FUCKED up view of ages and not be able to recognize an actual 18 year old when they see one. If casting directors started a trend of casting appropriately aged talent then maybe this warped perception could shift, even just a little bit. And then maybe, just maybe - people over 25 could then stop being obsessed with looking 18 and just let themselves age gracefully and beautifully as they were meant to.

Of course, this would then put a good number of plastic surgeons in the LA area out of business, but somehow, I can't be convinced that would be a bad thing.

I work and live in a world that is obsessed with youth and beauty. It's sad actually that people my age feel that they have to look perpetually 25. I am not in that age range. I haven't been for a while now. I am better now at this point in my life than I ever was at 25. And there is no way in hell I would want to go back. I was a mess back then. I like myself now. Aging is a good thing. I keep getting wiser and funnier and just plain better as I age, and screw it if there are a few more grays along the edge of my hairline and a few more laugh lines around my eyes. I'm still cute. (And yeah, you know that's not a statement of ego, just a fact.)

I want to start the age revolution. Let's hear it people. If you're 30 - be 30. If you're 35 - be 35. If you're 45 - be 45. Enjoy your life, your world and yourself. And if you're not too busy - wanna start to help me shift world perception just a little?

XO
The Tank Gyrl