The Cutting Room Floor

Sorry for the lapse of time between postings.  What can I say...life happens.

Recently, I booked a gig on The Mindy Project on Fox.  It was an absolutely wonderful two days of work.  I had a good time, met some nice people, liked my character and thought I'd have a good minute on film.  I had two lines, two small funny lines.

Well, the episode played this week and guess what?  One of my lines wound up on the cutting room floor.  Can I just say disappointed.  Not to mention that it was the longer of my two lines.  Instead of a minute of exposure, I had about ten seconds.  This has happened to me more than once.  It got me thinking about being cut.

I recently watched the special features for the film, Sweet Home Alabama.  It's a great little film with Reese Witherspoon and Patrick Dempsey.  In the deleted scene section, the director was talking about why scenes were cut.  Most of the scenes deleted were a secondary love thread that winds up in the movie only as a picture in a paper during the credits.  The character in the thread had a real supporting role and the director dropped her whole performance because the focus audiences didn't like her.  Had to be heartbreaking for her, especially because the director said he liked her performance.

In another film, Kate and Leopold, Liev Schrieber is at the bottom of an elevator shaft with a day player in another deleted scene.  The day player had a line.  The shot didn't make the movie.  Another disappointment.

Yes, getting cut is disappointing.  Just like auditioning and not getting the job is disappointing.  But unlike the audition, the cut job gets you a pay check.  I need to learn this lesson.  I work to get paid, not to be seen.  A job is a job.  Whatever winds up on the screen, large or small, is serendipity...totally out of my control.  Work is work.  Learn something new, do your best and get paid.  What could be better.

I'll try to remember this the next time I work.  For those of you who saw my ten seconds, thanks for not blinking.  Maybe next time, I'll get more screen time.