An Actor's Life - FROM DRIVE BY TO DRIVE ON

Today is my anniversary. 30 years. No, not of wedded bliss, but the anniversary of a dream come true. I've wanted to be a professional actor for as long as I can remember and on March 13, 1985, I moved from Queens, New York to Inglewood, California to pursue that dream. I had about $400. in my pocket, no job and no car. My first job application was at Universal Studios to become a tour guide. I would be sitting in the front of a tram full of tourists with a microphone in hand pointing out designated highlights of the back lot while sharing interesting stories of movie making magic. I went through the week long in-class training program and on the day of the "final" we were to give a mock tour on the tram to our fellow students and instructors. Once everyone had finished, we gathered in front of the classroom and was told that that if our name was called we would go back inside to fill out the paperwork for our new job. If our name was not called, we were to stay outside. One by one I watched my classmates cheerfully enter the building until the last words I remember were along the lines of, "Thank you very much, you can go now." I stood in front of the door devastated and oblivious to the others standing there with me. At the time I was taking the bus from Inglewood to Universal, so I slowly walked to the bus stop with tears in my eyes, got on the bus, let the tears flow and cried all the the way home.

Cut to: March 13, 2015
This morning I drove onto the Universal lot, parked in my designated parking spot outside of the sound stage where I began rehearsals for my very first job as a series regular actress on a TV pilot written by the creator of Hot In Cleveland. Every seven minutes a tram full of tourists pass by my car close enough that if the driver veered off just a little, he would scratch it. As it approaches, I can hear the tour guides on their microphones reciting the script that I learned 30 years ago. Every seven minutes I'm reminded of how far I've come, how many times I've wanted to give up and how blessed I am for each and every step that I took to arrive at this magical place in my life and career. Today I cry tears of joy not tears of disappointment.

I wanted to share all of this with you not to brag, but to inspire and to express deep gratitude. I don't take any of my successes for granted. I've worked hard, stayed dedicated and have built amazing relationships in the 30 years that I have lived and worked here in "Hollywood".  To anyone who has a dream I encourage you to never give up. And to anyone who has been following me as Stage Goddess, you already know my six favorite words:  
Be A Star Where You Are.

Ask A Stage Goddess - IS IT TOO LATE FOR ME?

Ask A Stage Goddess is a Q & A series for anyone pursuing a career in the entertainment industry as an actor, comic, writer or solo show performer.

In this episode, Stage Goddess gives advice to a 40 year wife and mother in North Carolina.

 

 

 

 

You can leave your comments or questions below the video on YouTube; here on the blog;
on Facebook at Carlease's Bits n Pieces http://www.facebook.com/carleasesbitsnpieces;
on twitter @CarleaseBurke https://twitter.com/CarleaseBurke
email: askastagegoddess@gmail.com
Enjoy!
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Director/Editor: Bernie Espinosa 

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Among The Stars - JENNIFER LOPEZ

It has always been my dream to be in a hit movie, be escorted to the premiere with my manager and walk the red carpet. On April 21, 2010 that dream came true. What was once a fantasy is now a memory. Allow me to share this reality with you. The movie I am talking about is The Back-up Plan starring Jennifer Lopez. I play Tabitha, one of the women in a support group that J-Lo's character joins. Now I don't have a lot of dialogue, but I do get some great screen time. Nonetheless my manager, the amazing Todd Justice, allowed me to enjoy every minute of my 15 minutes of fame. Not only was he the most handsome man at the event, he is so comfortable in his skin and knows this business so well, that there was never an uncomfortable moment the whole night. When we arrived we were immediately greeted by Maggie Schmidt, Senior VP of Publicity, for CBS Films who immediately made sure that I was escorted down the red carpet. "Carlease, Carlease, turn to the left, over here, put your hands down...." shouts and camera flashes all over the place. Wow, all I could think about was my face hurting from holding that smile for so long. Step and repeat, step and repeat. (As you can see, I didn't quite know how to pose for the camera yet!)

I actually did a couple of interviews as well. I learned to look on the floor in front of the press people to know who you're talking to (or who you don't want to talk to). All of a sudden one of the press people asks me to stand in one spot..."This one is for Shelley" she says. What? My publicist friend Shelley Ginsburg gives me a shout out from the red carpet and she wasn't even there! We took a picture on an iphone and sent it to her immediately. It took a few minutes, but with the red carpet behind us, Todd and I went inside grabbed some popcorn and sat down in the lobby to watch the "other" stars arrive. All of a sudden the lobby was packed and we were asked to take our seats. More mingling with the casting directors David Rubin & Richard Hicks and with Cesar Millan, "The Dog Whisperer" who sat behind us. He is so funny, he shouts out his own name when he appears on screen.
I loved hanging out with Todd on our "first date", getting a new perspective on the business from his point of view. I am so blessed to have him on my team. We hardly ever get a chance to be in each other’s presence for any length of time.

We went to the after party at the W and made our rounds congratulating director, Alan Poul, the producers, fellow cast members, writer Kate Angelo, etc. At one point I saw this beautiful woman waving at me and realized it was J-Lo! I went over to say hi....she looked stunning. Of course she was holding court, but I got a chance to congratulate her and tell her how I enjoyed working with her. She told me that she actually fought to keep some more of our scenes in. Wow. I think Todd got a kick out of me introducing him to her as if he didn't know who she was!
It was a night I will never forget and I'm still dreaming of more red carpet moments to come. Someone asked me in an interview recently to give them one word to describe Jennifer Lopez. I'll give you two and let you pick. Focused. Flawless.