Just wanted to write a bit about some things I get asked about very often. Everywhere I go, people ask me whether or not I am still actively acting or even interested in it. The answer is…yes. I am always interested in finding work and being involved in great projects and with great people. (In fact, i just finished shooting scenes for a short film made for festivals last month.)

More on that later, let’s talk about some other things that come up in discussion on a regular basis.

Being an actor is an easy thing to say you do. Actually acting (read: working) is the difficult part. Of course, alot of people say if you’re not in a film currently or on a tv show that’s is on the air, then you are NOT an actor. I don’t agree with this sentiment…entirely. I do feel that if someone “fresh off the bus” in L.A. or New York that has no contacts, no experience, no resources and no f-ing clue of what this business is about…then no - they are not an actor. They are someone who is interested in becoming one. On the contrary, if someone has done the homework, put themselves in a position to allow themselves access and opportunity and began the long, difficult endeavor, then they are on the right track.

Of course, my situation is a bit different. I started working in this industry at a very young age as many others did that are currently big stars. Most people would be surprised at the number of people that are on their favorite shows or films that have been around FOREVER! These individuals have put in the time (years) and effort (determination) to achieve the level of access that leads to success. This is the norm, not the exception. A lot of people think most stars are “discovered” and hit it big in a few weeks of being anywhere near Hollywood.

Um…no.

This is the exception. Yes….there are plenty of stories of people that are discovered and become well-known. But even most of these situations are not “overnight”. Hollywood, the epicenter of the film/tv business, is where most folks interested in the industry head to. But they don’t “hand out sit-coms at the airport”! (great Swingers line). These people need to get headshots, an agent or manager and be able to get into auditions and be in places to meet the right people. This is what leads to working in the industry. Most people also need some instruction or, at the very least, consultation on what to expect.

I am saving ability, talent and skill for another blog.

There are of course instances where some cute girl or hunky guy is waiting tables or working the door becomes the next hot thing…but again, ask them how long they were doing other things before they were rubbing elbows with movie stars at The Chateau Marmont.

*NOTE: DO NOT MENTION REALITY SHOWS TO ME HERE!

THEY DON”T COUNT*

This leads to another aspect. Most people, even working actors, have large gaps of time in between being seen on tv or film. The odds of getting a starring role on a network show are so astronomical it would blow your mind. There are so many people vying for a few spots…spots that are still available after the already recognizable people turn down! That leaves even less chance!

You have to soldier through it and go to the next thing. If you can’t take rejection…don’t be in this industry…actor, director, writer ANYTHING! The old saying “You will hear 1,000 NOs, before you hear the first YES” is true. The problem is, most humans don’t take continual rejection very well.

Imagine for a minute that you asked every girl/guy in your high school out. Now, imagine how you would feel if they all turned you down. It would start to wear you down. Again, more on this in another blog (I have some real interesting views on this).

This is the most unique, different, wierd, fucked-up industry on the planet. It’s not rocket science, but it IS harder to comprehend. That’s because rocket science has rules and people act and operate under those rules and inside an understandable framework.

The entertainment industry does not. It operates on a different set of physical and theoretical laws. Laws that are constantly changing and will come back to contradict themselves. Think Newtonian and Quantum physics.

With that said…I am still interested in this business on many levels. Why?…because It is something I have a long background, experience and understanding of. I happen to be one of the lucky individuals that actually has that experience spanning a large and very evolving segment of time. I have seen this industry change and change and change, yet stay exactly the same over the last couple decades. Of course, going from a little mop-top to teenager to college and professional has given me the opportunity to view this industry (as well as others) from many different perspectives, both from the inside and outside. This, I believe has enriched me and my character more than most get a chance to discover. This I appreciate and do not take for granted.

So, acting is still something I do and am interested in. I have just been focusing on some other endeavors (like my own company) the last few years. But, when someone calls and asks me to be involved in a project I would be glad to look into it…and knowing how this business is…would be grateful that they called.

Andre.

Most of the time, they want connections and resources that I (or people I know) have so they can start their quest to be actors. Other times, people are looking for a reference, contact or suggestion to get into another part of the industry, i.e. writing, directing, casting etc.

I usually try to find something that might help in some way or at least point them in the right direction to get to the next step.

However, I cannot and will not hand-hold someone all the way to the red carpet. If I had that sort of magical power…I would do it for myself first!

Regardless, helping people out is a fundamental characteristic of mine that I try to implement when I can. Sometimes, as odd as it sounds, I may not have any contacts or answers. Other times, I may have just what they need.

I had a constant stream of this as I returned to L.A. (After living in NC and Las Vegas for the better part of 10 years) in 2000. I had a friend at Industrial Light & Magic who told me a family friend was living in L.A. trying to be an actor. She asked if I would just call him to be friends since he was a pretty cool dude. I told her “no problem”.

And it wasn’t. This cool dude ended becoming a very good friend of mine. Years later and after hundreds of games of Scrabble we are still friends. While hanging out with this friend, I would hear about his trials and tribulations of being an actor in present day Hollywood. I realized just how hard it was for individuals who had no “inside” help or fortuitous connections. I also got to hear stories about people he knew that were having an even harder time.

It was interesting, seeing this from my perspective. The point of view of someone who had been in the business since the age of 5 and had grown up, literally, on the set. (However, my life experience was never limited to just Hollywood. There was a conscious effort to make the industry an important part of my life, but not the ONLY thing…more on this in a different blog).

I have always been opinionated and savvy and have been lucky enough to experience a lot of stuff most people do not. But I always assumed there were actual “experts” that were instructing people or giving advice for a fee.

Boy, was I wrong.

After a few months of being back in L.A. and being around different groups of people, actors (established), actors (not established and struggling), actors (no hope whatsoever), agents, managers, writers etc., I realized that a lot of the people that were “teaching acting” were, well…just struggling actors themselves.

Now, when I say “just actors” I mean just that. Hollywood corkboards and coffee tables are filled with rack cards and flyers advertising “acting classes”. I noticed over and over, that the people running these classes weren’t PhD-holders, classically trained or even working actors. Most of them were people that had been around for a while and worked here and there. Granted, there are some established programs run by veterans and have lots of “notable” clients etc. (more on these in a later blog as well)

Anyway, as I reviewed some of the advertisements for these “classes” and listened to people talk about their Monday night Master Class, Wednesday Improv class, Saturday cold-reading class etc. etc., I became a bit frustrated by what was happening. These people, some of whom were friends, were shelling out quite a bit a cash to sit and listen to someone tell them how to “cold-read” a scene.

(BTW, If you instruct someone how to cold-read a scene…then it is NO LONGER A COLD READING!!!! The reason a casting director or producer may ask you to read something cold, is to see if you have ANY ability at all to decipher what the scene needs and how the dialogue should be read. You can’t be tought how to cold read, you absorb the ability after time. Some have that ability. Some don’t.)

Why were these struggling actors paying other struggling actors for their “expertise” when their expanse of knowledge is based off of two guest appearances on The X-Files, three national commercials and a featured appearance on One Life to Live?

I began to wonder how weird it would be to be on an audition and see the guy that teaches my Wednesday night class reading for the same part?

Most of these classes were run by people who had tried to make it and hadn’t gotten to the top rung and needed to make a living and started charging people to attend classes.

The last straw was when someone called me and asked if I could “help her out” with her Tuesday night close-up class. She wanted to know if I could come by and give some insight and maybe even “partner up”.

I’m sorry…CLOSE-UP CLASS?

“What do you do in a close up class?” I asked.

“Well, we work on how to do a close-up on camera,” she said.

“Oh.”

It hit me.

Wouldn’t someone need to:

1. Get headshots

2. Find an agent

3. Get submitted by that agent

4. Get a request to come audition

5. Go on that audition

6. Get a call back

7. Read for the Producers and Director

8. Get cast in the show

9. Shoot the establishing shot of the scene

…to shoot a !$% close-up?

There are many steps that people need to do before they spend money on classes that aren’t going to get them roles.

It was evident to me then what the problem is. Hollywood was full of people wanting to be actors and spending (read: wasting) time and money for stuff that won’t help them at all. Spending three nights a week in different rooms “learning” how to act was getting them nowhere. And the people cashing the enrollment checks had no deep resume of work or extensive experience, except the years THEY spent in classes and reading books.

They just rented a room and assigned books to read and repeated what their “Acting Teachers” told them. Oh yeah, and their hours of on-set history. Now granted, one class most of these people COULD teach is an audition class. And here’s what the flyer would say:

“AUDITION CLASS!!”

I have years of experience and have auditioned for over 100 television shows, films and commercials and almost got a few of them.

I know exactly what NOT to do in an audition and I will teach you that so you can avoid it yourself.

*If I had any skill or talent at all, I would be making a living on these shows and I wouldn’t need to charge you for a B.S. lecture

SIGN UP HERE! ONLY $175 for four sessions!!!”

It was then that I decided to have my own class.

To be continued…at some point!

I get lots of emails asking questions about the industry. Some ask about my experiences in particular, some ask about Hollywood itself. So I thought I’d put a post out here for your questions to help out others who might want to know the same things. If you have a question, just leave a comment and I’ll hopefully have the information that can help you!

Andre

Welcome to AndreGower.com, the official website for Andre Gower. If you want to know what Andre is up to, read the blog, buy a Stephen King Rules t-shirt, or follow him on twitter, this is the place to go. We’ll be adding more stuff as we go, but wanted to get the new site up as soon as possible.

“Hey gang! Finally got the site updated. I’m going to try out this twitter thing, and I’ll try to post my thoughts here more often. Thanks for your support, and I’m happy to answer your questions.”

This is the official site for Mr. Gower, however, he does not personally work on the site. That’s my job as his webmaster. Thus, all questions, comments, requests, etc. go through me to him, or in the case of booking requests, to his manager.

This is a page for fans of Mr. Gower to visit. Mr. Gower does and will answer and type every response he makes to your questions and comments, along with his own blog posts or tweets.

Plans for 2009-2010

I’m working on some things just for you fans. One of the things on the board is a talk radio show; I’m trying to decide if I want to stick with industry talk or move into current events. Also, we’re working on getting some industry-type events produced and some speaking gigs booked. Finally, my goal is to start working on my book about growing up in Hollywood, complete with blog posts about my experiences on the set. I’ll talk about my appreciation for the Twilight Zone opportunity, getting a new one ripped by the legendary George C. Scott, and even getting caught sneaking out of my own movie premiere by my dad. Stay tuned!

Andre gives an interview as part of a book. Stay tuned for publication.

Andre just completed another radio interview with Cult Radio a Go-Go! Stay tuned for the interview and we’ll post it here.

Andre talks to Jonathan Moody. Listen to the interview here.

Andre is Pretty/Scary’s Mr. October Scary Stud of the Month. Check it out!

GET THE MONSTER SQUAD HERE
IF YOU CAN’T FIND IT IN STORES!

I’m about to get back to working on my kitchen, but I wanted to stop in and say a huge thanks to everyone for showing the gang at AMC that it ain’t all about Harry Potter (much as I love that series too). This is your victory, enjoy it!

http://blogs.amctv.com/horror-hacker/2009/02/supernatural-teen-tournament-winner.php

Andre

And being encouraged to start a talk radio show since I am always yapping about this topic or that and I don’t get to blog the way I’d like to.

I actually had to be told how busy I was–I didn’t realize it. A couple years ago I could take a nap whenever I wanted. I haven’t done that since late 2007!

Or played a round of golf!

How is 2009 shaping up for you?

Just wanted to check in and say thanks to everyone that has been voting for me..er…Sean Crenshaw in the AMC website All-Time Greatest Supernatural Teen Tournament.

I made it through to the Semi Final round after taking out Teen Wolf and Hermione Granger. Up next…the juggernaught of Harry Potter himself! I admit, If I wasn’t in the tournament, I would probably vote for Potter…but I AM in the hunt and I think a character from 20 years ago still holds up to the new wizard on the block and has chance to go to the finals.

But, It won’t happen without all of you Monster Squad fans coming together and putting Sean Crenshaw over the top.

I think it says something that MS fans are still out there supporting their film and their favorite characters. Let’s keep it going and we can give Harry and run for his money!

Vote Now! and often!

http://blogs.amctv.com/horror-hacker/2009/02/supernatural-teen-tournament-semifinals.php

Thanks everyone!

Andre.

For the first round, I’m up against Teen Wolf. UPDATE: WE SMOKED TEEN WOLF!

Round 2 ends, they say, Feb 4. Here’s the link to vote for your favorite (pick me! pick me!).

http://blogs.amctv.com/horror-hacker/2009/01/supernatural-teen-tournament-quarterfinals.php