ramblings of a raconteuse
Actress, raconteuse, and artivist with a serious love for zombies.
This is my journey <3
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rac·on·teuse
–noun, plural
a woman who is skilled in relating stories and anecdotes interestingly.
art-i-vist
-noun, plural
dedicated to using art to promote awareness and educate.
You can also catch Helenna every Monday at the popular blog "Talk Nerdy To Me Lover."
Written for my weekly Friday blog post at:
aka) I’m the resident “artsy farsty nerd” ;)
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I’ve been choir geek forever. I started singing in a group at my church when I was 5 years old. I then joined a children’s chorus when I was 8, sang in every choir I could in high school, and then majored in “jazz voice” in college. I am a full fledged choir geek and music nerd.
Here’s a video for proof:
Part of my love for NBC’s “The Voice” comes from my background in music and the other part, the absolute pure joy of seeing people do what they love and chase their dreams. I have the utmost respect for these people because as an actor, that’s what I do every day, and every day I get closer to my goals just like they do.
I’m not going to lie, every single episode makes me cry and this is coming from a girl who really dislikes most reality television.
But there is something about “The Voice” that’s different. The show is about taking what is unique and amazing about someone and helping it flourish, not about forcing them to fit into some cookie cutter industry mold. I absolutely LOVE it. There is no finding the people that are the worst singers so that all of America can laugh at them. No one is tearing these singers down, it’s solely about building them up.
If you don’t watch this show, I totally suggest that you start…that you at least watch the “blind auditions” aka) first four episodes. And no…I’m not endorsed by NBC or “The Voice,” I’m merely an uber fan who wants to share the love, happy tears, and some joyous music.
Sing on Nerds! Sing on!
oxox hels
tweet me at: @helslevy
browse me at: helennasantoslevy.com
email me at: contacthelenna@gmail.com
Written for my weekly Friday blog post at:
aka) I’m the resident “artsy farsty nerd” ;)
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I’ve talked specifically about the sexualization of women in the media before, but a bunch of conversations I was having this week inspired me to talk about beauty and Hollywood.
Just like my previous post , I realize that this entry is somewhat ironic. While it’s true that I oppose many of the ridiculous standards for what is considered beautiful in Hollywood, as an actress, I am also caught in the zeitgeist.
So, where did this latest train of thought come from?
Well, one of my best friends posted this photo on facebook the other day:
To which I responded by saying:
After a reply from her, I further went on to say:
We then went on to discuss the fact that a number of women at the Golden Globes seemed very very thin. Specifically women who in the past had always seemed to be a healthy body weight, and we discussed the fact that it must take only eating celery and working out like a mad woman 5 hours a day to stay so small.
I then found an article in the Hollywood Reporter about:
I don’t know about you, but I’m really OVER hearing about women and weight.
I’d be lying though if I said that I didn’t care what I looked like on camera. I do. I think everyone does to a certain extent. The camera adds 10 pounds and is not very forgiving. Hence my being caught in the zeitgeist that is the Hollywood standard of beauty and the main reason that I participated in the Body Heart Campaign a couple of years ago.
Body Heart is “ is a movement encouraging women to celebrate the ART of their own form. We believe our bodies are walking works of ART meant to be celebrated and cherished.” It is a powerful campaign, and I wanted to be involved because I think it’s important that all women love themselves just the way they are.
And the big question for me is, if we as women stopped buying into this current ridiculous standard of beauty that is unattainable for most women, could we shift everything around?
What’s astounding to me is that women are so hard on other women. We buy the trashy magazines and pick apart the celebrities that are in them. Why do we do this? On one hand we’re upset with society and this standard of beauty, but then on the other hand, we turn around and perpetuate it all by being so critical of everyone and of ourselves.
So what are your thoughts? Do you think the Hollywood standard of beauty is shifting, or are we no better then we were 10 years ago? Is this a never ending battle? Tweet me out at @helslevy or leave me a comment here. I would love to start a discussion. But before I sign off, I’d like to leave you with this awesome video…
xoox
aka) Helenna Santos Levy
Written for my weekly Friday blog post at:
aka) I’m the resident “artsy farsty nerd” ;)
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Well, this week one of the most embarrassing things EVER happened to me.
Most people would be utterly mortified by it, but of course being an actress, all I can think about now is how I can use the experience as fuel for a role, character, or story. What’s more, is that I am kind of in awe of the fact that because I’m an actress I see so many moments in life this way. And consequently, I’m kind of immune to full out mortification at this point. I instead seem to experience a gnawing “well that was extremely awkward” kind of embarrassment.
Yes, I was caught with my pants around my ankles….literally. And the old man who walked in on me in the restroom got an eye full of vagina. In fact, at his age I’m sure it was more vag then he has seen in years, perhaps decades.
Instead of crawling into a hole of embarrassed anguish, I have instead chosen to seize this extremely awkward moment as an opportunity to ponder all of the ridiculous things we as actors do over the course of our careers that help us grow a second, third…thousandth layer of thicker than thick skin.
For example, the audition alone is a breeding ground for potentially mortifying moments.
As The Working Actress explains in her blog, “Do you remember when you weren’t working? And how important that first job interview was? How much time you spent prepping for it? And how much you went over in your head what you would say, and how to be charming, and how to not seem nervous, and how to leave such an amazing impression, that you would get it. OK, great. So take that slice of life, multiply it by 3x a day, add crying on cue, memorizing pages of OTHER people’s thoughts, then hearing that you didn’t get it for no particular reason, and still going into the next one and doing it all over again. 5 days a week. For most of your life.”
In spite of all the potential anxiety this scenario can cause, we need to be at the top of our game and focused yet vulnerable enough to be really true to the scene and to the character, with anywhere from one person, to a room full of people watching you deciding if you are right for the role.
Then if you book the role perhaps there is a make out scene, a sex scene, a nude scene. Being embarrassed in these scenarios doesn’t serve anyone. If you’ve agreed to do the role, you just have to own it and rock it out.
And what about intimacy? As actors we wear our hearts on our sleeves in every moment of a scene and just by virtue of the fact that our function is to be as real a character as possible, we let the world see all of the good and bad parts of us through a thin veil of another person’s words and actions.
Yes, we figuratively always have our pants around our ankles.
So for these reasons and many others, I am choosing to see getting walked in on by an old man while in the restroom as no big deal. But I will say that I probably should have been making a peep show salary for that 4 awkward seconds.
Hopefully we never meet again Mr. Eyefull, and…you’re welcome.
xoxo
hels aka) Helenna Santos Levy
#awkward
