Acting From a Model's Perspective

A week ago, I was on set for a tv show filming for the first time in my life. I did not know what to expect other than what I have experienced on modeling sets but the truth is modeling and acting are entirely two separate worlds.

I have gotten casted just the day before of the filming day. My stomach churned with excitement, and a bit of confusion. Could I have act? How big was the show? I tried to prepare as much as hastily I could despite the short notice. The next morning, I met with some of the actors and the crew members at where our shuttle was taking off. For some of the cast, this was their first acting gig just like mine.

After our arrival to the studio, we met with all the crew members and received more information about the gig. There was some nice jazzy tunes playing in the background. As for those who are getting to know me, jazz has been one of my favorite genres to listen lately! Among the crew member, I met Chris Zimmerman, the young brother of Deadmau5! … You know, the famous dj with the mouse mask! Chris was mainly responsible for preparing everyone’s food for the day. I think we had around 30 people on set for 12 - 13 hours and I have to say we were all full up to our throat by the end of the day. I honestly could not believe to the abundance of food. In most of our modeling sets, we would be lucky to have a bite or two. I have to say; I have eaten longer than I acted in front of camera. A nice change of pace for sure!

There are more to contrast between the two professions from my first observations other than the food. One of the challenges of acting as a model is we strive to appear as perfect in shoots. As a model, you are very conscious of your appearance and that is all you can think of. Modeling is very ‘rigid’ in terms of shooting. In most cases, either the model or the photographer is static. In a modeling shoot, minuscule changes in a certain part of your face, to a small adjustment in lighting or angle can make drastic differences. Even the sharpness of the model’s eyes can become a factor of an excellent photo or not. Whereas in acting, I found it a lot more ‘fluid’. Constant motions, constant changes in facial and body expressions, and even the fact that certain noises are needed to be created. Acting, in a sense is a lot more natural and progressive than modeling. I had an amazing time at the set and hopefully I can be a part of more productions.

Here’s to my least favorite part of acting. Waiting ... It can be dreadful. My scenes probably took around an hour or two to film. However, I obviously had to stay for the entire call time in case I was needed. The filming of the scenes are not followed by a chronological order of the script so you don’t really know when you are up next. Everyone has to be quiet when the camera is rolling. Not even allowed to take a step. I would say this was the worst part of the experience.

Looking back, I am incredibly grateful for being able to partake in this shoot. It instilled a new passion for me, and I will work towards building careers both as a model and an actor even though it is very very different .. I have grown very fond of acting after this experience. So there you have it. My thoughts about the both spectrum of the entertainment industry.

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