It’s 4 a.m. and I’m listening to the snow creak on the roof. We got 27 inches before the storm finally moved on, but only a foot at most remains on the roof. Still, an airplane hangar out at Dulles collapsed so now I’m wide awake worrying and thinking of a million other things, like the 60 headshot prints I’ll need for the Stonehenge auditions and whether to go ahead and have them printed or wait and see if I actually get an audition slot in the lottery. If I wait I only have two weeks to get the prints.

I like my headshots. I took a bit of a risk in having them done by a portrait photographer who’d hadn’t done actors headshots before, but I wanted to be sure I had someone who would consider what I was trying to achieve and work with me to achieve it. Bonnie Miller did that.

I also did a lot of reading on what casting directors look for and studied headshots of successful actors in film and television. I knew the photo had to look absolutely like me – flaws and all – when I walked in the door to audition. That was rule #1. Casting people don’t like surprises.

Then I spent an hour with TV makeup artist Lorna Basse, who worked on the talk show I produced a few years back, having her show me what look and colors would work best for me on camera, and how I could create that look myself for auditions. I knew I didn’t want makeup sprayed on my face as some makeup artists do, because that look can be too flawless and I can’t reproduce it on my own.

Based on my research, the approach I took was aimed at creating a natural look and eliminating anything in the photo that would distract from my face:

No earrings or jewelry of any kind

Simple, solid-colored clothing, but no all black (I could have also gone with bare shoulders, but decided that wasn’t appropriate given my age)

Simple, soft hairstyle

Professional but “natural” makeup

Shots taken either directly from the front or with my left shoulder forward and turned almost full face.

No angled or “arty” shots

The hardest part was getting what many casting directors refer to as “something behind the eyes.” I’ve never seen that defined beyond that phrase, but what I think it means is an expression that conveys wit, intelligence, humor, charm, or at the very least somebody home. To achieve that, to the extent that I did, I tried carrying on a non-verbal conversation with the photographer – thinking of things to say to her, but letting my face convey the words.

Bonnie took 400-plus shots with a rapid-fire digital SLR and then posted to an online folder the 100 most promising. I cut that list down to 10 and then contacted friends and family, gave them the password to the folder and asked them to tell me which they thought looked most like me and most conveyed that elusive “something.” That’s how I arrived at the four shots I use.

For printing, I asked Bonnie for minimal photoshopping - largely softening shadows and eliminating stray hairs and any evidence of my pierced ears, but leaving the “consternation” lines. I went with borderless prints and, departing from the standard, decided on no name or contact information on the front – again, because I didn’t want anything distracting from my face. I did have my name printed on the photo I use for my postcards, however, since that's a follow-up item and it seemed appropriate to reinforce my name there.

Do the headshots work? I think they do. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised to hear the producer of the short film I’m now in say that she’d noticed my headshot online and thought I’d be perfect for the role. That raises the issue of being cast largely on your "look" - at least initially - but that’s part of the business. Anyway, I just need to decide which headshot to print and when, and I guess the which will depend on the monologue I finally decide to do.

So, time to remove small cat from my lap and put him back in his room. Maybe milk will help me sleep. I hope so. Stop creaking, roof!