Whoops!

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by Alexis Orth

I was two weeks away from graduating from college with my B.A. in theatre arts when I realized I didn’t want to act for a living. Whoops.

I had been preparing to be onstage for as long as I can remember. I’ve taken dance classes since I was four years old. I minored in Flamenco in college and always took any dance class anyone would let me into. Unfortunately, by the 5th grade, I became too tall to be a ballerina. Oh, and I really like that eating thing, so I knew professional dance might not be for me. But acting–I knew I could act.

My sister and I performed countless plays for our parents. And I performed in plays before large crowds literally every year of my life since 7th grade. My favorite role in high school was Audrey from Little Shop of Horrors. In college, it was April from “Hot L Baltimore”. Rehearsal was my way of life. The companies I was part of were closer than family. My range was huge & I loved acting enough to make it part of my major in college. So, it was upsetting when I realized that it didn’t matter how much I loved acting or how good I was at it. It was networking and auditioning and schmoozability–not talent–that I needed to be an actress. Whenever I talked about acting to people, they laughed and made a joke about waiting tables. I didn’t want to admit it at 20, but I absolutely lacked the determination to be rejected over and over and still smile about it. The ugly fact that only 10% of people trying to make a living at acting actually succeed stared me in the face, and I backed down. Now, I did go on auditions after college, I did get my headshots, and I had a great resume, but no paying acting jobs ever came of my efforts.
My sister has virtually the same story. The love of acting, great talent, encouragement, acting in college, and then after all the effort, deciding that acting as a career was someone else’s dream, not hers. It was hard to honor her decision to stop. Can anyone else identify yet?

It seemed that God had planted this acting desire in us–for what?!?? Looking at jobs vs. careers plagued us. We would sit in the backyard late into the night playing “what will I be when I grow up.” And we both found our “dreams”, our acting aspirations, to be on the back burners. Jobs that we could actually get, that would pay the bills, would be in the front of our minds. We could find so little peace in what we did professionally: waitress, teacher, hostess, nanny, store clerk, store manager, set carpenter, set designer, set dresser, prop shopping & building–as I write this, my sister is about to begin police academy training!!!

Peace about my career didn’t come until I began this adventure with WYSIWYG in 2004. Get this–I actually entered a new life via an acting audition for a crazy Christian film company! I brought my head shots, prepared a monologue, had nice hair, good makeup, clean clothes, and I made sure to get really nervous before being called in. I hadn’t put myself through the audition rollercoaster-meat grinder in over 3 years at that point. It was scary and fun and made me want to throw up.

But this wasn’t just any audition. I didn’t know it at the time, but God had put this audition in my path to change my life. God didn’t make the preparation or the process easy, but He saw to it that the connection I needed was made. The people running the audition were sweet–God turned these people into my coworkers, my church family, and my best friends. What a crazy amazing God we have! He used just about everything to see to it that I’d prosper. I love Him so much.

I remember telling the people behind the camera that I really loved acting, but it was only icing on my cake. What I really needed was steady work in the world of prop making and set building. They took me in right away and put me to work. Even though there was no steady paycheck, there was constant work, and with the support of my then fiancé, I FINALLY found peace. I knew I had a job that was career material and I was finally part of a “company” again. I hadn’t even realized how much I missed that.

I’m currently a props person, a set builder & dresser–a foreman in these departments (!!!). I help with ideas and creative conundrums all throughout this crazy film company, AND I HAVE PROJECTS TO ACT IN FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE.

I found peace when I stopped asking, “God, what do I want to do?” and finally started asking, “God, what do You want me to do?”
–
Jesus Rocks.

Alexis Orth is the team leader of prop design for WYSIWYG’s next feature film “Gravity.”

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