Joined SAG

I haven't had a lot to blog about the last couple of months. Like most young actors, I have to balance auditions with having a job that actually pays the bills. I was lucky enough to find a great seasonal job that pays really well, so I've purposely taken a few steps back from acting, while I get my finances in better shape. However, I've just experienced a major milestone in my acting career that I wanted to share.

As I mentioned in my last blog, my film DESPERATE ENDEAVORS opened the door for me to join the Screen Actors Guild. It took some time to get through the paperwork side of it, not to mention saving up for the large initiation fee, (which the new job made possible, thank you Marriott!). But today I opened my mailbox, and there it was. My SAG card. Even though I have known it was going to happen for a couple of months now, it's a little surreal to be holding in my hands. So many actors struggle for so long to get to this point, and I got it off of my first film audition I went to in New York. Not that I'm apologizing for it. Years of acting work and training helped prepare me for that audition. But I am definitely aware of how fortunate I've been, and I'm very appreciative of it. I went to an orientation at the SAG office the other day. During the introduction they showed a video. It was a clip from an awards show. It showed Tom Hanks accepting one of his many awards. I can't remember exactly what he said, but it was something like, of all his achievements, this was one of them he was most proud of, and he whips out his SAG card. I had seen that speech before, but it had a much more profound effect on me this time. Let's hope I can put my card to good use, like Mr. Hanks does.