Called to Act Against Type

One of the things I’ve been bumping up against in the past year, with great frustration, is being called to audition for a role that seems the polar opposite of the roles I’m usually cast to play (i.e. senator, judge, executive, strong women). Blue-haired granny is the one I see most frequently – small, plump, caring, no strong identity, sometimes comical. It's like when you get older you become a ghost; just the faintest impression of a person.

The only apparent fit for these roles is the age range. I’m not plump. I don’t have gray hair. I'm 5 ft. 8 inches tall. Nothing in my posted head shots or reels gives me any clue as to what the casting director might have been thinking of in asking me to audition.

Blue-haired Granny? Nah.

I’ve discussed this with actor friends and the responses have ranged from the limited vision of American film and TV (if you’re a certain age, you’re a blue-haired granny) to the possibility that I’m “above market” in the southeast, where many of these roles are being offered (although I’ve heard the market there is changing) to the idea that I am a blue-haired granny, but don’t yet see myself that way (!!!!!!).

Another suggested that, while I wasn’t a strong fit for the role being cast, perhaps – because of my strong résumé – the casting director just wants to see me on tape.

I've thought about that, but trying to pretzel myself into something I’m not, and often for a minor role, doesn’t seem like a good long-term strategy. It goes back to advice for young actors that I read some years ago: don’t put yourself in front of casting until you’re sure you’re giving them your best or you’re going to leave them with the impression that you’re a lousy actor. When I try to play a sweet little blue-haired granny, I’m a lousy actor.

Frances Bavier

What I finally concluded is that if casting simply wants to connect with an actor, and to learn more about them and their ability beyond what they see on their reel and clips, then a better strategy perhaps is to toss out the role’s character description and to interpret the lines as you would in your strongest persona. Not Frances Bavier but Anne Bancroft, for example.

It could be that casting isn't yet seeing other possibilities and that you'll be so different you'll stand out and get the role anyway. (Remember, when they were casting The Graduate they originally thought of Ben as a young Robert Redford type, not dark and Jewish Dustin Hoffman.)

So for me, if plump with blue hair really is what they have in mind, I won't get the role but casting may remember me in a better light for next time when the role may play closer to my strengths. That's a better strategy perhaps than just groaning and taking a pass on the audition.

Anne Bancroft

Whatever Happened to Darlene Parks?

I love watching old movies and television shows and every now and then I see an actor or actress that is such a standout I wonder what other roles they did and where their career went.

Actress Darlene Parks

This happened last night as I was watching a two-part episode of the old Barney Miller series titled "Wojo's Girl," with Darlene Parks in the title role. Parks was a willowy blonde who was pretty bordering on gorgeous. She had great comic timing (you can see a touch of Judy Holliday) and her chemistry with Max Gail (who is still acting at 74) was perfect. (Watch her face in Part 2 when Gail asks her why she "started hooking.") Most important, she had a face that had that special something that makes a star; she was not interchangeable, she was memorable.

But Darlene Parks, after this wonderful episode, had just one more role, and then she disappeared. What happened? Did she die tragically? Did she get discouraged and quit? Did she change her name and continue acting as someone else? Did she opt for marriage to some wealthy producer and live the good life, if only for a time?

Searching the Internet, I found I'm not the only one to have asked.

Fate takes odd turns in this business. Some have long careers but never get a single iconic role. Virginia Gregg, a phenomenal voice actress on radio, went on to appear in more than 200 character roles on television (virtually every narrative series from the late 1950s through the early 1970s), but said, "I work steadily, but I have no identity." And she was right. Although people recognize her when they see her in a role, they don't know her name. (But think of her residuals!)

Some actors seem to get one iconic role after another: Humphrey Bogart as Richard Blaine in Casablanca, Charlie Allnutt in The African Queen; Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon. (I'd add Harry Morgan in To Have and Have Not, but that was really Bacall's picture.)

Other actors get an iconic role - Cleavon Little in Blazing Saddles, for example - but then their career doesn't seem to take off as you would expect. Little had finally landed a role in the 1990-1991 series Baghdad Cafe and had appeared in 12 episodes when he passed away.

Bogart in Doctor X

Whatever fate throws at you, the important thing as an actor is not to quit. Remember that just two years before High Sierra and The Maltese Falcon, and three years before Casablanca, Bogart's big film was The Return of Doctor X. You never know what's just around the corner.

So Darlene Parks, wherever you are, God bless you. I'm sorry you didn't have a bigger career, but you had one role that was wonderful. And when you think about it, that's a kind of immortality.

See Darlene Parks on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1tQ0bA7hL8&t=11s

p.s. When you watch old films and television series, as I often do, and discover an actor you didn't know, whose performance absolutely captivates you, learning they had already passed away can bring a terrible sense of loss. As if some treasure was offered and then snatched away. I felt that when I stumbled onto the brilliant 1980 BBC political satire Yes, Minister (and its 1986 sequel Yes, Prime Minister) only to learn that its two leads, Paul Eddington and Nigel Hawthorne, were already gone.

As such, I was heartbroken to hear from readers last year that Darlene Parks had passed away, but thankfully that has now been corrected (See comments below). According to family members, she is still alive and living in Ohio, having left acting for marriage and family.  Max Gail at the time of this initial post was still acting at 78, most recently as a regular (132 episodes) on the daytime drama General Hospital. Thanks for the correction. It made me smile.  :)