boys don’t cry.

At last night’s Word of the Actor session, I chose to do a scene from “Boys Don’t Cry” with my scene partner, Ethel. For those who’ve watched this awesome film, it’s the scene near the end before Brandon & Lana have sex. I knew it was a difficult scene to do – because of the subject matter – but I really wanted to challenge myself this week.

It’s a girl-on-girl scene, but with a twist. I played Teena Brandon (originally played by Hilary Swank, who won an Oscar for Best Actress for this role), a transgender male. One review described it as “a sad song about a free spirit who tried to fly a little too close to the flame”.

The scene was so good… It was awesome. The feeling when I was Brandon – it was really liberating & I totally forgot I was a girl. I was just him, being in love with a girl who he has lied to continuously, but finally comes clean with. It was an intimate scene that felt so right.

Thank you, Ethel!

I wore a shirt & put my hair up in a cap to be in character, but didn’t capture a shot of that.

I love you.

I watched the film today, never having watched it before. It was heart-wrenching, but I felt so much love for Brandon. He was really a lost soul crying out for help.

Had an awesome session with Kelvin Ke, our director for the day.

It’s been a crazily busy week, comparable to last week’s hectic rush. And the week is only half over! Spent Mon & Tues at an NIE Training Video shoot, where I played two different teachers for different case scenarios. Mon & Tues was also spent at a theatre workshop & a rehearsal for an upcoming performance (details below!).

On Wed, I went to watch my 10-year-old students perform at an exhibition in school, after which I did a voiceover for a Mandarin TVC – my first time! I did the English VO for the same TVC last week… And as expected, they had some trouble with my American-accented Mandarin, but I think I did pretty okay.

Wed night was spent workshopping “Boys Don’t Cry” , then today, I had an early morning 1-scene shoot for a TV drama. Just finished a rehearsal for an upcoming short film with another NYU Tisch Asia student – I’m playing a corpse. Hahahaha.

Last week, I had a couple of interesting shoots.

NYU Tisch Asia 1st-year student’s short film

Untitled as yet, but I call it “The Body Parts Fetish” . Haha.

This was another one for Lasalle, titled “Slayer” .

And the week is not yet over. If all goes according to plan, I’ll be playing a professional music composer in a corporate video over the next 2 days, and a druggie in a weekend shoot with another NYU student.

Conclusion:

Angry Teacher. Daughter seeking for parents’ love. Dying girl who finds hope. Girl turned boy. Real Estate client. Corpse. Professional Music Composer. Druggie.

One week’s work. Phew.

COMMERCIAL BREAK:

ShowOff6 Performance

26 & 27 Nov 2009 (Thu & Fri)

8p.m.

The Substation

Four plays – “The Circle of Truth” (which I’m in!), “Old Friend”, “Not Crazy” & “Going Nowhere” – presented by Faithworks.

Get your tickets from GateCrash today!

P.S.1 My friends said they saw me in a TVC – the one I did with Derrick & Steve & the whole ensemble – but I’ve not been able to see it yet! No time to watch TV.

P.S.2 I’m hooked on the recent Taiwan serials “桃花小妹” (Momo Love) & “ 下一站，幸福” (Autumn’s Concerto) starring 黄靖伦 Wong Jinglun & 吴建豪 Van Ness Wu respectively. They’re so different, but so captivating! “Momo Love” is laugh-out funny & far-fetched with adorable characters whereas “Autumn’s Concerto” has great acting & a relatively strong storyline.

P.S3 I want to catch Jinglun when he comes to town over the weekend, but it looks like my schedule is packed. Sobz

P.S I’m trying out this P.S. stuff because it’s a trademark of Jinglun’s blog (which I’ve been poring over) & I’ve got so much to say but no way to categorise my thoughts. Haha. Okay, I’m done.