Some Old and then Some New Tricks

Back in 1983

When I got involved in the entertainment industry, I was just a kid. I'd be lying to you if I told you that I remembered everything about it-- I really don't. My earliest memory is watching my father playing Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, then jumping up and yelling, "Don't you hurt my daddy!" when someone held a sword to his throat. I was really upset, because the lights went out - the intermission, unbeknownst to a five year old - and then my dad and all of the other people on stage were gone when the lights came back on. 

A man dressed in black with a headset on came up to me, my mom and my sister and said that he would take me to see my dad. We went backstage, and my dad was talking to the guy that had just held a sword to his throat. To this day, I remember everything about that man's face-- Brown hair, brown beard, brown eyes, wearing a blue tunic, thin, tall... You get the idea. He was a scary dude-- At least, he was to five year old me. Anyway, my dad told me how they were really friends and how they were pretending to fight on stage so that they could tell a story.

I was fascinated.

Photo by Molly Garcia

I really think that is the moment in time when I was bitten by the acting bug. I wanted to pretend, too. I believe the way that I believed. I wanted to tell people stories. I wanted people to make people clap, laugh, cry and, most of all, believe that I was the character that I was portraying.

Soon after that, I watched the original Freaky Friday with Jodie Foster. I would only use the name Annabel, and I couldn't understand why people didn't want to play make believe with me. My dad explained to me what actors are.

To be totally honest with you, I never really wanted to be a professional actor. Sure, it looked like fun, but it wasn't my dream. I wanted to have more control than that. I decided that I wanted to be the person that wrote the stories that people were acting out. I wrote my very first play - A Journey to Chocolateland - when I was in third grade. I majored in Dramatic Literature in college, at The George Washington University. Several of my plays were performed, and I even started a production company that was in action until 20011. (Technically, it's still around-- I just haven't done any productions recently.) 

Click the link to purchase my play

Right before I got married in 2005, I was published by Baker's Plays in Boston. I actually received the galleys (author's copies) the day before I got married, which was really cool since I dedicated the play to my soon-to-be husband. Last year, Samuel French bought the rights to my plays, which is wicked cool. All in all, I have four different plays published with Samuel French: The Lovesick Cat, The Woodsmen & The Fairy, The Lion & The Mouse and The Tortoise & The Hare. They are performed all around the world, and I get a nice check once a year. It's really cool.

But I've been blocked lately, and haven't written any plays. I need to get back on it, because I do have some good ideas. I'd really love to write a musical, but I don't know the first thing about writing music.

Anyway, I digress.

When I lived in Los Angeles (Jan 2001 - Jan 2004), I had an agent. My agent was awful. She kept telling me that I needed to lose weight-- Like 30lbs. Thirty pounds is a helluva lot of weight to lose! Why would you sign someone that might not lose that weight? If only I knew now what I knew then... 

Today was a good day.

This agent did NOTHING for me. I think I got one audition from her in 3 years. Well, as a talent manager, I see a lot of breakdowns-- And there are TONS of roles for people my size!!! It's nuts. Tomorrow, I'm shooting a movie called Life Itself in Manhattan. On Monday, I've got an audition for an industrial that films in San Francisco and pays over $2000 plus travel.  And this morning, I was signed by MSF Talent - Print Division to be one of their plus size models. 

So, yeah, today was a good day in the life of Candice.

I've gotta say, I was a little nervous about signing an exclusive agreement with MSF. I've been submitting myself and landing gigs. But, they only wanted me for print work, which I really don't do all that much of. (Yes, working with Steve and Desiree was a print job, which is what I started this entire blog on... But I get more acting parts for myself than not.) So, I signed the agreement and sent it in. I will give it 6 months. If I feel that I can do a better job than they can, I will end my agreement. But, I have never had an agent in NY-- Let alone one that wanted me exclusively. They take 20% of my gross, which is 10% more than what I get from the people I manage. So, we shall see where this takes us over the next 6 months...