Plus-Size Horror

I went to college with a lot of trainee, wannabe actors. They were, even in their late teens, even when they were close, personal friends, pretty shameful characters. One of them ended up as a domestic-abuse victim in The Bill. Another appeared as a drooling, knife-wielding stalker in a z-grade Australian soap. The only other one who ever got a job spent six months on a cruise ship performing in a Bucks Fizz cover outfit three times a day. Clearly, "show" people are different from us. But how different? Well, different enough to make one reader exclaim:

This is making my teeth bleed, tell the cunts to stop! I WILL KILL AGAIN. I WILL KILL AGAIN. MARK MY WORDS!

Begin forwarded message:
From: "Marc Kruskol, MJK Public Relations"
Date: 6 May 2008 20:16:43 BST
Subject: WEBSITE CONTACT

Hey there folks:

"My very first audition was for a short film and I had to walk on a guy’s back in high heels. So here I am, wobbling around in my high heels, wondering “What on earth have I gotten myself into?” Yeah—the guy was like a hot rock walker, he knew how to do this stuff. But even so—I walked in, a little nervous, I mean, I’m a plus-sized girl. I wasn’t sure whether he was going to live through all this! There were spotters on each side of him, for me and nine others, just like me. We’d start at the bottom and walk along his back. Then we’d get to his head and leap off! That was pretty much the audition. I didn’t get cast, which was the first time I could actually say I was glad I didn't land the role."

“…Oh, did you hear about the actor who had a pizza made with his headshot embedded in the middle of it and sent one to every casting office in town?”

These are the stories that inspired Julia Flint’s Cast This!, the hilarious, edgy internet sitcom (www.castthis.net ) in which she serves as the writer, producer and star. The acting (and casting) business is familiar territory for Julia, who caught the acting bug in 4th grade. She has been a working actress for seven years in Hollywood, 10 before that in New York. Julia has gone on countless auditions, scoring roles in TV series including Life, Jericho and Strong Medicine. Information about and links to Julia’s other projects, as well as a link to Cast This!, are available on her website, www.divadproductions.com .

We would like to be very grateful if you would share this witty “webisode” series with your readers.

Originally from the East Coast, Julia was transplanted in 2000 to California. Before the move, Julia, who developed her passion for writing in second grade, wrote, produced, and starred in a two-woman show called 3DTV, which celebrated the “plus-sized” woman by presenting re-written sitcom shows such as Three’s Company and Get Smart as if they had been cast with large women. A terrific success (sold-out shows in New York and Connecticut) prompted her to “take it on the road,” as it were, and she moved west to California. As Julia continued to build her acting resume, she saw the perfect opportunity to combine all her loves into one exciting new project: the internet sitcom.

Please contact me with any questions.

Best regards,
Marc Kruskol
MJK Public Relations
(818) 997-0534