I just sent the following as a reply to an email I got from a fan of Alex's music, an actress in New York who recently contacted me although we've never met. **(Names have been changed to protect the innocent.) ;)
Hi Liz,
So nice to meet you! Thank you so much for your kind words and for reaching out to me. I'm so happy you decided to take the time and effort to do so. Alex does remember you and Mark, and wanted me to pass along his good wishes, as well.
Let me first say that your website is fantastic. May I ask how you created it? And your headshots are also fabulous! I hope I'll get some great ones one of these days... And congratulations to you for being so proactive in your career and making things happen for yourself. I could learn a thing or two from you!
As for me, here I am in Iowa. The decision to move here with Alex, although it was something I knew I had to do, was a very tough one for me because of the career you and I have chosen to pursue. I thought if I left LA that I'd be giving up, that it'd all be over before it'd even really begun. And needless to say, it's been a difficult adjustment coming to terms with my decision over the past several months. We've been here for just over two weeks now and I'm still trying to wrap my head around the whole idea that I'm not in LA anymore, but rather in I-O-WA...and previous to your email I was wondering how I was going to make this whole thing work or whether I should just give up.
I feel like I am still very much just starting out in my acting career and it's thus far proved to be extraordinarily difficult to get anyone to notice me (Wait, you mean I can't just walk down the street in LA and get "discovered" and have somebody hand me a million bucks and an Oscar? Wait, I'm gonna do a bunch of student films and then not be able to get anyone to help me edit and post the clips to my website and therefore have nothing to show for it and no tape to prove I did anything at all? Wait, FOUR agents are gonna take meetings with me and ALL pass in the span of a month? Wait, I'm gonna spend thousands of dollars on classes at "the best acting school in LA" and hundreds of dollars doing mailings and no one is even going to call me back??!?) You get the idea, and I know you feel my pain.
But when you emailed me the NY breakdowns yesterday, it was like a little (also known as huge) glimmer of hope that maybe I didn't have to give up--that maybe I could make this all work... I overnighted my headshot and resume to the casting director of "As The World Turns" this morning, and all of the sudden I am feeling SO much better--like I'm back in the game. ...So I just wanted to thank you.
I'd be honored to work with you on anything you're involved with, so please stay in touch. And best of luck writing your feature! I'll make sure that during all his fiction studies Alex doesn't forget how to write music before he gets to score it!
All the best to you,
Angela
