"Try to give me a little more Aretha..."
"Do it again but with more soul."
"Maybe try a more southern accent"
"I need a Gospel flair."
Let's back up a little. Not that I need to give any explanation of myself, but it does help with the context of my dilemma.
My mom was half white and half native American. My dad is black. I grew up in a town where all of my friends were either Mexican (yes specifically Mexican), or white. I had a couple of black friends and Native friends growing up, but nearly all of my friends were LatinX.
My parents separated when I was in elementary school and I spent most of my life being raised by my (white-passing) mother.
Growing up, I questioned my blackness.
People didn't start specifically referring to me as black until I was nearly in high school.
I always knew I was a little black. But there came a turning point where I was specifically and solely categorized as black.
But I did not have a lot of black friends. I didn't dress like the black people at my school. I listened to hip hop music, yeah, but everyone did in high school. It wasn't particularly my favorite kind of music. I listened to a lot of show tunes and punk too (Boys Like Girls... never forget).
So I questioned my blackness.
I think this might be a whoa for all biracial people. I remember another biracial family member of mine moved to Georgia for a year in jr high. He said he tried to sit with the black people at lunch and they told him he was too "white" to sit with them. He tried to sit with the white people and they said he was too "black" to sit with them. This is such an accurate representation as to what it feels like to be biracial and/or multiracial.
Okay, fast forward to my life now. I still question my blackness but now that I've been referred to as black for half of my life now, it is starting to feel more "me." EXCEPT when it's time to play a black person in a show.
"Try to give me a little more Aretha..."
"Do it again but with more soul."
"Maybe try a more southern accent"
"I need a Gospel flair."
These are things I've heard in the audition room. And lots of similar things like it.
At first, I used to take these are legitimate notes. I would think to myself "Okay, they want this character to be southern. I can do that! Interesting take, but I can give it a try." Then I would proceed to do something sounding a lot like a cowboy... which, as you can imagine did not go over well.
I started hearing these same notes at various auditions from totally different people which is when I realized what they were really asking. They were asking me to act more "black."
But this stereotype that people are envisioning in their heads does not come easy to me. And whenever I try to be that thing, it just feels... off. I legit would "study" by watching Madea movies and just rewind and repeat phrases to try and learn to be more black (also how I learned how to do a British accent as a kid while watching Harry Potter).
Everyone learns about typecasting in college. They teach you to learn your type and use it as leverage to get cast. Over the years I've learned that my type is: The black lady, the sassy black lady, the historical black woman, the angry black woman. But the hardest part about this is that I don't do these parts well! On top of all of that, I don't have a traditional gospel sounding singing voice even though I look like I do.
There are so many times when I think to myself "When it comes to acting, I'm only good for playing a black lady and I can't even do that."
Purposeful sidetrack: I love swing dancing. I used to go to swing dancing all of the time and I loved it so much. When I would go, not a whole lof of guys would ask me to dance. And most of the time the guys I would ask would say yes, but sometimes they wouldn't or even more often they just wouldn't be very good. Well I wanted to keep dancing so I learned how to lead. Then I started asking girls to dance and I was dancing a lot. And it didn't matter if they were very good or not, because I was a pretty decent lead.
This similar concept I've applied to theatre. I love theatre. But I got tired of waiting to be cast so I became a director, a writer, a teacher... now I don't have to wait for other people to see my potential. I help create them.
I'm in a season where I am back trying to get some acting experience because I want to stay a relevant teacher, and I gotta be honest, it's hard hearing these similar things. BUT this blog is called Acting Christ-Like so I need to show the Christ part in all of this.
God made me who I am. There is no one who has a flavor quite like me. God made me half black and there isn't a socio-cultural standard that can take that away.
I also know that God put theatre on my heart. And while I will continue to try and nail down this type, I will also continue to trust that God will guide me where I should be. When God opens a door, no man can close it.
If you are a casting director, I think my advice to you would be: I don't think it's a huge problem if you need this stereotypical black character. I think there are plenty of people who are naturally like that. If someone walks into the audition room and they are that, congrats! If they aren't I would avoid using terms sassy, gospel and especially Aretha unless you REALLY mean Aretha. Aretha doesn't represent every black singing voice that exists.
Also, I would encourage you to envision black people in different roles other than this one. Black people can plan shy, neurotic, in love, and literally everything a white person can do.
I want to thank all of the people in my past who have cast me as something that wasn't specifically for me being black. AND, thank you for those of you who have cast me as a black character. I like playing those characters too, but it's nice to know that I bring more to the table other than my skin color.
What do you think? Do you agree/disagree? Did I miss anything? Do you have any questions? Leave your questions or opinions in the comments below!
"Do it again but with more soul."
"Maybe try a more southern accent"
"I need a Gospel flair."
My mom was half white and half native American. My dad is black. I grew up in a town where all of my friends were either Mexican (yes specifically Mexican), or white. I had a couple of black friends and Native friends growing up, but nearly all of my friends were LatinX.
My parents separated when I was in elementary school and I spent most of my life being raised by my (white-passing) mother.
Growing up, I questioned my blackness.
People didn't start specifically referring to me as black until I was nearly in high school.
I always knew I was a little black. But there came a turning point where I was specifically and solely categorized as black.
But I did not have a lot of black friends. I didn't dress like the black people at my school. I listened to hip hop music, yeah, but everyone did in high school. It wasn't particularly my favorite kind of music. I listened to a lot of show tunes and punk too (Boys Like Girls... never forget).
So I questioned my blackness.
I think this might be a whoa for all biracial people. I remember another biracial family member of mine moved to Georgia for a year in jr high. He said he tried to sit with the black people at lunch and they told him he was too "white" to sit with them. He tried to sit with the white people and they said he was too "black" to sit with them. This is such an accurate representation as to what it feels like to be biracial and/or multiracial.
Okay, fast forward to my life now. I still question my blackness but now that I've been referred to as black for half of my life now, it is starting to feel more "me." EXCEPT when it's time to play a black person in a show.
"Try to give me a little more Aretha..."
"Do it again but with more soul."
"Maybe try a more southern accent"
"I need a Gospel flair."
These are things I've heard in the audition room. And lots of similar things like it.
At first, I used to take these are legitimate notes. I would think to myself "Okay, they want this character to be southern. I can do that! Interesting take, but I can give it a try." Then I would proceed to do something sounding a lot like a cowboy... which, as you can imagine did not go over well.
I started hearing these same notes at various auditions from totally different people which is when I realized what they were really asking. They were asking me to act more "black."
But this stereotype that people are envisioning in their heads does not come easy to me. And whenever I try to be that thing, it just feels... off. I legit would "study" by watching Madea movies and just rewind and repeat phrases to try and learn to be more black (also how I learned how to do a British accent as a kid while watching Harry Potter).
Everyone learns about typecasting in college. They teach you to learn your type and use it as leverage to get cast. Over the years I've learned that my type is: The black lady, the sassy black lady, the historical black woman, the angry black woman. But the hardest part about this is that I don't do these parts well! On top of all of that, I don't have a traditional gospel sounding singing voice even though I look like I do.
There are so many times when I think to myself "When it comes to acting, I'm only good for playing a black lady and I can't even do that."
Purposeful sidetrack: I love swing dancing. I used to go to swing dancing all of the time and I loved it so much. When I would go, not a whole lof of guys would ask me to dance. And most of the time the guys I would ask would say yes, but sometimes they wouldn't or even more often they just wouldn't be very good. Well I wanted to keep dancing so I learned how to lead. Then I started asking girls to dance and I was dancing a lot. And it didn't matter if they were very good or not, because I was a pretty decent lead.
This similar concept I've applied to theatre. I love theatre. But I got tired of waiting to be cast so I became a director, a writer, a teacher... now I don't have to wait for other people to see my potential. I help create them.
I'm in a season where I am back trying to get some acting experience because I want to stay a relevant teacher, and I gotta be honest, it's hard hearing these similar things. BUT this blog is called Acting Christ-Like so I need to show the Christ part in all of this.
God made me who I am. There is no one who has a flavor quite like me. God made me half black and there isn't a socio-cultural standard that can take that away.
I also know that God put theatre on my heart. And while I will continue to try and nail down this type, I will also continue to trust that God will guide me where I should be. When God opens a door, no man can close it.
If you are a casting director, I think my advice to you would be: I don't think it's a huge problem if you need this stereotypical black character. I think there are plenty of people who are naturally like that. If someone walks into the audition room and they are that, congrats! If they aren't I would avoid using terms sassy, gospel and especially Aretha unless you REALLY mean Aretha. Aretha doesn't represent every black singing voice that exists.
Also, I would encourage you to envision black people in different roles other than this one. Black people can plan shy, neurotic, in love, and literally everything a white person can do.
I want to thank all of the people in my past who have cast me as something that wasn't specifically for me being black. AND, thank you for those of you who have cast me as a black character. I like playing those characters too, but it's nice to know that I bring more to the table other than my skin color.
What do you think? Do you agree/disagree? Did I miss anything? Do you have any questions? Leave your questions or opinions in the comments below!
