Scenes From A Charmed Life

Land of the Free, Home of the Brave

2008-07-10T00:36:00.000-07:00

In the inimitable words of Blak Jesus, I'm BACK modasockas!

Greetings to those of you just tuning in from Naija, perhaps after peeping that little article of mine in you-know-which glossy magazine. In case you're hungry for more, here are a few other professional actors answering that timeless question, How I Got My SAG Card. Also, if you enjoyed my ramblings, all prostrations and genuflections may be tendered at the feet of Kemi Ogunleye, my big sis and my own publicist. I learnt the hard way that I have a paralyzing fear of being misunderstood, and sadly this means that I cannot open up to just anyone. Or, like my girl Jewel says, I'm sensitive, and I'd like to stay that way.

With July 4th just gone by, I owe a belated Happy Birthday to the country that so warmly welcomed little-old-me donkey's years ago, and which shares its anniversary with my ride-or-die-chick from back in the day (she knows who she is). I'm also particularly pumped today, as I get to say Happy Birthday to my handsomest and most talented cousin Chiwetel. July peeps are almost as cool as June-os!

That article also got me thinking (as always) about identity, and how I'm still on the path towards discovering who the hell I am. Funny that I had to move to America to learn that while I might not yet be a proper Ada Mazi or Adiaha Ete, I am most definitely a Shakespeare dahling, a shiksa goddess and an original omo Eko. Unless you've been living under a rock (or not been paying close enough attention to the television show Lost), you know our fair city by its Portuguese name - Lagos. These days though, we call it Las Gidi (or Githi, if you're really down). This daughter of the soil is here to say that in spite of all you've heard, Eko o ni baje o, and us new-generation-Nigerians know just as well as anyone that where there is laughter, there's always hope. Take it away boys.

Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch

2008-06-05T09:34:00.000-07:00

Wishing Mark Wahlberg, Ron Livingston, Brian McKnight and all my 5th of June peeps a very Happy Joint Birthday - may every year feel as awesome as your 3rd!

Yes, We Can (Even If We Not American)

2008-06-04T13:23:00.000-07:00

If you have even the faintest interest in that complex and confounding country we like to call Nigeria, abeg take a minute or two away from your (understandable) excitement over Obama's victory to think about what also might be possible in the one-time giant of Africa. I've been saying this for a long time now - there is a Naija Renaissance underfoot and my friend if you sleep on this, na only you go siddon sobbing into your Samco. Three major opportunities below await your attention - if you have what it takes, get off your backside and step up to the plate. Never again do I want to hear, "Chimamanda is lucky" (as I've heard in the past even on this blog!) Sistergirl is a talented writer and not at all bad to look at but if you think her success is down to anything other than old-fashioned hard work, you must not know a lot about the business of art. The Americans have done a truly historic thing this week - why can't we?

* Timbuktu Media: Wowoweewow! Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Dele Olojede is heading up a new venture that will totally revitalize the Nigerian and international media space. If you do a little Googling and still have doubts about getting involved in this thing, you are simply past prayer.

* Creative Writing Workshop led by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (w/ Dave Eggers, Binyavanga Wainaina & Marie-Elena John), August 19 to August 29 2008 in Lagos. Further details at Ore's Notes and on UKNaija.

* Farafina Magazine: Just finished my first copy and have no problems telling you this is easily the African sibling of Harper's or the London Review of Books. I have been waiting for a journal like this since the day I busted out of my diapers, sorry, nappies. More details on the About Us page, but submissions of up to 2500 words on any Africa-related topic are always welcome by email, in Microsoft Word format only, to submissions@kachifo.com.

For all my non-Nigerians, quit waiting on crumbs from the table of The New Yorker or Iowa/MFA - this is your chance to get in on the international literary scene while the getting's good. Snooze, you lose o!

Growing Up Isn't Easy

2008-05-09T08:44:00.000-07:00

Been thinking a lot lately about the old carefree days, before the rent and responsibilities and this whole being an adult business. Why does no one tell you when you're 5 that life will be this hard? Grrr. On this gloomy rainy day (where I am, anyway), I bring you a few clips that have been keeping the sunshine in my smile.

First up, flying Dutchman Rem Koolhaas and filmmaker Bregtje van der Haak take a look at Lagos, the childhood pal turned ex-lover I wish I knew how to quit. This is from Lagos Wide And Close. The whip-smart and eye-pleasing Funmi Iyanda also pops in to lend some homegrown insight:

Next, we head back to the cheesetastic '80s for The Worst Witch, with actors whose names I now know to be Dame Diana, Charlotte Rea and Fairuza Balk.

See, this is what I do remember being told at 5, that the worst I'd ever have to deal with would be the mean girls at school and my own awkwardness. Surely they could have gone into a little more detail with that theme song.

And finally - yess preciousss, The Last Unicorn - a children's movie unlike any other, and where I first heard it said that in life, there are no happy endings, because nothing ends.

Before I became an actor, I never thought that I was one for the fantasy genre. Guess I forgot all the time I spent crying along to this movie and Mia Farrow's off-key notes (which, now that I'm a woman and know better, I still prefer to the sterilized version the kids in Germany were listening to.)

I'm constantly shaking my head at what the Western media - literature, film, television, the press - attempts to pass off as 'authentically African'. What exactly is that, anyway? What is 'American'? What is 'Asian'? What is 'European'? If you read this review of his Lagos/Koolhaas film linked above, you'll see that even the urban planning king himself couldn't quite put his finger on it. It may make peeps feel comfortable to think of Africa as the poor / dark / unenlightened / savage / email-scamming continent, but we're really not that different from you, if you just take a minute to look.

Wanna Be Startin' Something

2008-04-15T12:58:00.000-07:00

That pilot audition at NBC last week was for a new lead character in the upcoming episodic version of The Starter Wife. Rather pointless for me to expend any energy on the outcome of this particular meeting, but I will say that I am totally geeked to have started up a proper relationship with Jennifer McNamara and her associate Katja Blichfeld. Until I'm one of those offer-only type cats, I'm never going to book every gig I go out for - them's just the facts. But I can control what I do once I'm invited into an audition room - be consistently fierce. Those of you who've been keeping track might recall that CD Suzanne Goddard-Smythe brought me in 3 times on both The Game and Girlfriends before the audition on which I finally struck booking gold. Consistency is key, as there's so much more that goes into this process than that mystical, super-subjective thing they call talent.

So don't fret for me, friends - these two NBC gals cast a whole mess of great projects and I've a feeling it won't be long before my next trip up the elevators at 30 Rock.

Homecoming

2008-04-08T05:15:00.000-07:00

Last week on the schedule, there was a SAG LifeRaft Seminar with Mari Lyn Henry (promoting the latest edition of her seminal book "How To Be A Working Actor") and agent Margaret Emory (promoting hers, "Ask An Agent"). I go these things as much to hear from the industry speakers as to gauge the current temperature of the acting pool - what questions are NYC actors asking? Exactly how competitive is my competition? Am I on the right track?

Guess I'll be finding out sooner than I'd expected - NYC legit agent just hooked your girl up with her first audition appointment - all I can say is that it's for a pilot, it's a series regular role, and it'll all be going down at that world landmark of television comedy - 30 Rockefeller Plaza. The last and only time yours truly has been invited up the sanctified elevators of 30 Rock was for a teeny-tiny little bit on Saturday Night Live. Hey now, weren't we just talking about movin' on up?

On Leverage

2008-04-02T09:44:00.000-07:00

If I could change one thing about working in the U.S., it would be for actors to not have to choose between Los Angeles and New York, between film/television and theatre work. It's only one of the reasons why I think British actors have such an advantage over us States-side cats. Because everything casts in London, they get to build better-rounded resumes in film, television, radio and theatre simultaneously, without having to pick one medium or one city over another. Right now, I'm curious to see exactly which young Americans Sam Mendes & Co. will be able to get for their Bridge Project to match the resumes of the young Brits who've already signed on.

Anyhow, since I've been back in NYC, my primary strategy has been to leverage the work I've done in my 2+ years in LA into NYC bookings. Hence the Shakespeare work in LA resulting in the Twelfth Night gig with The Queen's Company. Hence that Girlfriends credit turning itself into auditions for the Biggie biopic Notorious and the Broadway revival of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf. These last two just happened to be cast by CDs Twinkie Byrd and Chemin Bernard, both of whom are primarily based in LA and both of whom also happen to be black, so maybe my having been on a much-beloved black sitcom and having been directed by Debbie Allen might have contributed to my getting seen sans-agent. Even with acting credits - it's not the size that counts, it's how you use it.

But speaking of agents, I got a referral from a dear friend that turned into a meeting that resulted in an agreement between this legit agent and myself to work together and see what other trouble I can get into while I'm here on the right coast. The hotness. I also had my first audition through my NYC commercial agents last Friday for Lactaid @ Liz Lewis Casting, so glad things are moving along there. Much less work to be had out here than in Los Angeles of course, but I'm scratchin' and survivin' (Good Times!) and just like George and Weezy, doin' all I can to finally get that piece of the pie.

For Foreign Actors Who Have Considered Suicide When The Visas Ain't Enuf

2008-03-02T13:02:00.000-08:00

Hopefully Ms. Shange will forgive my re-appropriation of her title, but I have it and her both on the brain lately. Here's an article from Backstage about the immigration issues involved in working as an actor in the U.S.: Awake To The American Dream.

It's hard but it's doable - I should know.

A Good Day To Be Foreign And Sexy

2008-02-28T05:22:00.000-08:00

Don't look now, but after that complete sweep of the acting categories by non-Americans last weekend at the Oscars, seems like everyone's suddenly wondering whether a foreign passport is the secret to fabulousness. Peep Playbill's piece on Permanent Aliens: Life As An Expat In New York. So yes, foreign actors are the hotness, but all this interest and attention is still way too Anglo-centric for my blood (English-speaking actors do come from countries other than the UK, Australia and Ireland, or am I imagining things?) Sounds to me like something somewhere needs fixing. There goes that Uku again, always asking questions and poking her nose in where it's not called for...

Last weekend, your favourite New York expat did her Duke Orsino bit in a workshop/open rehearsal of Twelfth Night with The Queen's Company. This is something the company likes to do to get the work up on its feet in advance of the full production. As it stands now, said full production won't take place until the fall at the very earliest, so heaven only knows whether I'll be in NYC and/or available to join them then. Either way, I very much enjoyed this sneak preview and hope there's more in store.

Also this week, there was an audition for a new play at the Classical Theatre of Harlem, to be directed by Christopher McElroen and penned by well-respected New York actor Ty Jones. Turns out Ty went to the same grad school as the Artistic Director of my beloved Independent Shakespeare Company in LA - amazing how small this business is. See, it's possible to be an unconnected, un-trust-funded, no-famous-relative-having, sisi Eko and still get someplace! Remains to be seen exactly how far, but I ain't in no hurry. Well actually, yes I am - I just try to maintain that cool exterior so you can't see all the unsightly sweat.

Look Ma, We're Employed Again

2008-02-15T06:43:00.000-08:00

An overdue update: I've been cast in Twelfth Night with The Queen's Company! Most excellent news not only because I finally get to work with one of my idols (A.R.T. MFA grad Aysan Çelik), but also because Twelfth Night happens to be one of the plays in the Independent Shakespeare Company's 2008 season! So, assuming they are kind enough to offer me a role as well, I'll be just that much more prepared. Hurray!!!

In this Queen's Company outing, I'll be playing the right honorable Duke Orsino, lover of the ladies and of himself a little bit. Typecast again, for my sins.

It is Finished

2008-02-12T19:42:00.000-08:00

Finally, it's official - the writers' strike is over!!! Gotta love folks who are willing to fight and truly sacrifice for what they believe in, so I salute the efforts of my WGA brethren and union workers everywhere. And have I mentioned how much I dig studio execs lately? No? Clearly an oversight on my part - they make all the magic possible, after all. Now we can all be BFF and get back to work again. Kiss, kiss!

Once More Unto The Breach

2008-02-08T18:20:00.000-08:00

Another busy week at the ranch. Tuesday afternoon, my buddy Colin offered to drive us out to the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey so we could attend their Equity Principal Auditions right on their home turf. I've known Colin since 2002, back when I was an eager beaver in my first-ever acting class (Austin Pendleton's scene study at HB Studio), so this was another nice bit of New York City nostalgia. We both got a chance to read for Associate Artistic Director Joe Discher and casting assistant Robyn Berg. Fab.

Wednesday, I had a callback for The Queen's Company - the play in question is Twelfth Night and since they're an all-female company, I was quite tickled to be asked to read two male roles. Anyone who's met me in person can attest to my having a highly un-boy-like figure, but with the signature Uku low register and just a little bit of swagger, trust that your girl will be getting the ladies in no time. I might even have to steal that old lip licking thing from LL!

Right after the callback, I hit up the latest reading in the New Works series at The New Group. This one was called The Whipping Man, by playwright-to-watch Matthew Lopez, and featured actors Carlton Byrd Jr., Corey Sorenson and Clarke Peters. Oh yes, the one and very same Clarke Peters who plays Lester Freamon on (wait for it) The Wire! They need to just quit playin' and bring that thing back for a 6th season already so Franny can assume her rightful place on it. This is now past the point of addiction. Associate Artistic Director Ian Morgan runs the staged reading scene at The New Group, and he apparently remembered me from our first meeting at Equity before I first took off for sunny LA. Again, it's nice to be back where it all started.

Also this week, I happened to run into my future agent at an industry do. He, naturally, had no way of knowing that he will very shortly be representing the cute little missy engaged in another conversation right next to him and she, naturally, was far too cool to introduce herself. But you guys should know the drill by now -> watch. this. space.

The One That Got Away, Or Did It?

2008-01-31T11:52:00.000-08:00

I just realized I forgot to fill you in on the US premiere of AC Grayling and Mick Gordon's Grace, which I caught at MCC last Thursday. It's the one I auditioned for last fall and became instantly smitten with. Well, I'm proud to confirm that my initial feelings about this play were completely justified, and I'm begging you to go check it out either here in NYC (at the Lucille Lortel until March 8th, use code 'HUMN' for a snazzy discount) or catch it whenever it comes to a regional theater near you. And I'll say just one more thing - if all my acting-jobs-that-got-away fostered the sort of wonderful relationships that this one has, I don't think I'd ever need to work again.

Alright fine - I exaggerate, of course I need to work again, so I was only too happy to haul my butt over to that Romeo & Juliet callback with Theatreworks/USA director Rob Barron. I wish I'd had the discipline to write this down right after the audition because right now I doubt that I can quite capture the feeling of sheer GIRL POWER that I had surging through me - outfit was fierce, pentameter was tight, ROAR!!! Plus, it sounds to me like a dream gig - the chance to see (more of) America, to be the very first exposure some 12-18 year olds will have to the Bard, and did I mention they are/were considering me for Juliet? Come on now. I never even knew I had any desire to play that role and now I am totally itching. We shall have to wait and see what develops. Or not wait, since you know Uku is always on the move. Next time, I'll have to tell you about the audition I'm having for NYC's Queen's Company, another place that I first auditioned for just before grad school.

Film, TV or Stage: Acting Is Acting Is Acting

2008-01-28T14:58:00.000-08:00

Since we're on the topic of my auditioning for them, I've found that quite a few actors I admire also happen to be Theatreworks/USA alums. These include Richard Kind and Robert Chew, who plays Prop Joe on my show The Wire. Check out them both out: Richard Kind's How I Got My Equity Card and Fader Magazine's Listening In On Robert Chew. In other recent Shakespeare and stage success stories, there's this NY Times feature on Pat Stewart (who I cannot wait to see in Macbeth @ BAM next month!) and another regular from The Wire (yes, I'm obsessed), Oscar-nominated film-theatre-and-tv star Amy Ryan, who recently had Lunch With David (Poland, from the magical kingdom of Movie City News.) That old spiel about it taking 10 years to become an overnight success? No joke.

These are the peeps you never hear about on E!/Perez/TMZ or any of those totally bogus showbiz outlets, but this is my blog, and old Franny is about celebrating the quality, ya dig?

Folks That Make My Heart Sing

2008-01-27T12:59:00.000-08:00

Guys, until I have some more Uku new-new to report, let's talk about some of my dearest friends who are making shit happen in the big bad world of professional theatre. Katori Hall and Jake Manabat are grad school classmates of mine who've both popped up on this blog in times past. It's only a matter of time before the ships come in for these two, so let's all hope they won't have forgotten their poor friend Franny from back in the day :-)

Actor/writer/singer/baton-twirler Katori is currently in the playwrighting program at Juilliard, is mentored by the original goddess Lynn Nottage and just had a successful off-Broadway run of her play Hoodoo Love at the Cherry Lane Theatre here in NYC. This girl has so much talent in her tiny little body that I constantly wonder if she's not a mami wata in thinly-disguised human form. Check out the video below, in which she talks about the creative process on Hoodoo Love (the very first staged reading of which I'm proud to have been a part of).

Actor/singer/Rent-alum Jake is currently playing the title role in Capital Rep's production of M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang. He also happens to be a completely beautiful person, who's always eager to lend a sympathetic ear during my frequent bouts of insecurity (thus sparing you, dear reader, from such unsightliness.) Click on the photo below to read the glowing review lavished upon him by the upstate NY press.

Yes, it is good to be surrounded by fabulousness. I highly recommend it as balm for the actor blues!

I'd Rather Laugh With Sinners Than Cry With Saints

2008-01-22T17:58:00.000-08:00

I'm really quite surprised by how hard I've been hit by this news. It's not as if I knew you personally, and when you and your then-girlfriend moved into the brownstone around the corner from mine in Brooklyn, I greeted your arrival with nothing more than passing amusement. Of what concern were you to me, were you paying my rent? Abeg continue to walk your cute baby up and down Smith Street and leave me in peace. But, with so many rubbish "actors" in Hollywood (and New York as well, let's be real), I was secretly glad that I could claim one of the quality ones as a neighbour. Of course, however smart your choices in projects and people, it would have been highly uncool of me to give you props so early in the game. Even after your understated turn in the cowboy love story, I still protested, "Ok ok, you're good, but I'm not convinced that you're great - yet." Thinking, naturally, that you'd have another 40 years at least to show me your capabilities as an artist and as a human being. I'm sorry that I won't get to pretend-hate on you anymore - you seemed like one of those rare people who really got it. Thank you, and so long.

The Difference A Day Makes

2008-01-18T13:47:00.000-08:00

Ha! Two posts in two days, shouldn't someone take my temperature? Never lose hope my friends, I may be reformed yet. Being back in New York means it's back on the theatre grind for lil Franny, so last Monday, I tagged along with my boy Downtown JBrown to watch an open rehearsal of downtown's finest Elevator Repair Service and their stage adaptation of Faulkner's The Sound And The Fury. The work brought back fond memories of training in Russia - highly theatrical, with a lot of dark humour. The hotness. It'll be at NYTW in April, check it if you're into it.

Wednesday night, I managed to get into a SAG CAP workshop with casting director Nina Pratt, who's an in-house casting director at Grey Advertising, formerly head of casting at EST (where I interned some moons ago), and one of the magic-makers behind Off-Broadway's The Exonerated. You must be sooo bored by now of hearing me say this, but yet again, this was someone who seemed convinced that I'd come in to read for her before (I haven't), or that we somehow knew each other. My best guess is that old Merck commercial got into her subconscious, and now her brain is telling her that we're totally BFF. These days I'm grown enough to know to just nod along and smile. All part of my diabolical plan to hijack the minds of every last industry buyer in New York and LA! I'm loving my union for (among other things) making it possible for me to meet these cats for free, a pretty hard price to beat. Wow - in a few days, it'll be 2 years since I joined SAG! As I sauntered on back to the subway after the workshop, I couldn't quite get over how much has changed since that day on the A train in late 2002 when I first thought about becoming an actor. Time sure does fly when you're having fun.

So many mysterious things happen in this line of work that when the fine folks at Theatreworks/USA called out of the blue yesterday and asked if I'd like to come in today and audition for their Equity tour of Romeo & Juliet, I wasn't gonna question it. Last (and only) time I auditioned for them was probably in 2003, right before I got into grad school, so I'm shocked that they still have my deets. Timing couldn't be better - I could handle being paid to do some Bawdy Bard right now (and it is what I asked for a little while back, no?) Audition was fab - I got a callback in the room and was asked to re-appear for another round of fun and games next week. You wish me broken legs, and I wish you a very happy Dr. King Day!

Planes, Trains & Automobiles

2008-01-17T10:53:00.001-08:00

Well, so much for that New Year's resolution to blog more frequently, I guess! Happy 2008 anyway, I hope it's filled with many new challenges and even greater achievements. May your road be rough, as a late great countryman of mine used to say. So, here's that long-overdue blog post about my most recent UK holiday. Great Britain is a funny little island, one which never fails to impress with its abundant lack of sunshine or its unexpected cultural diversity. Both excellent if (like me) you find rain to be an excellent companion for melancholy *and* you are endlessly fascinated by people. Oh, and if you like tea - 'cos they really do drink the stuff around the clock! (My preference is for Yorkshire Gold, with milk, no sugar - should you, dear reader, ever care to invite me round to your crib.)

As I said in my last post, I pretty much gave London the skip this time round and headed straight up to Leeds to join the famiglia. Just down the road from the casa is the ruined monastery Kirkstall Abbey, which is open to the public and charges no admissions fee. Nothing like visiting 850-year-old grounds to remind you how puny your existence is in the grand scheme of things. My boo Eddie Izzard jokes about being from Europe ("where the history comes from"), but everything in the UK really is just so ridiculously old and poignant. Two hours to the north and east, I also spent a few days by Runswick Bay, Robin Hood's Bay, Whitby [and its Dracula-inpiring Abbey, with yummy stopovers at the Magpie Café (best fish and chips in the country, apparently), Sherlock Café (freshly-toasted scones with clotted cream and jam - oh, it's on!)], then a stop in Scarborough (where it was only fitting to roll by Alan Ayckbourn's very own Steven Joseph's Theatre and see his revival of A Trip To Scarborough). These sleepy seaside towns all seemed straight out of The Magic Ball, a television program my siblings and I spent most of the 80s watching on VHS. Funny that childhood entertainment for me is real life for entire communities of people.

Then it was off to Scotland: train from Leeds through Newcastle, Perth and Inverness, passing the amazing and formidable Angel of the North, Edinburgh Castle, all the way up to visit a mad surfer relative who lives in Thurso (where I was quickly reminded that I am African and not built for such insistent cold). Quick drive up to John o' Groats (what I used to think was the northernmost part of the UK), Dunnet Head (which is the northernmost part of the UK), then back on the train down to Glasgow for two days with lovely friends, and finally back on a plane to old JFK. Ah, New York, New York - travel's great, but ain't no place like home.

[On Ilkley Moor with hat on]

One Day Is For The Owner

2007-12-24T01:54:00.000-08:00

Bet you thought you'd heard the last from me for 2007, but alas I have a little more noise-making in store before we wrap up the year. Whizzed by quickly, did it not? I spent most of early December on the WGA picket lines at Paramount Studios (where, if you happened by the Bronson Gate on any Mon-Thurs after lunch, you might have been witness to my antics as Scream Queen - I'd have been the one hollering or pointing at your car as you honked in support). I've met a good number of showrunners, staff writers even fellow working actors during the course of this thing (quite a few of whom I'll be telling you about in upcoming charmed life stories, I'm sure). I feel prouder than ever to be a part of Hollywood, a union town.

Also in late 2007, I managed to peep some fantastic films - The Diving Bell & the Butterfly, Control, I'm Not There (which my friend Adefunke wrote a great review of here), 3:10 to Yuma, and for the gajillionth time, No Country for Old Men (which I have now seen thrice). I also saw Margot at the Wedding, but will admit I'm guilty of sizing it up against Noah Baumbach's first feature The Squid and the Whale, which I thought was a damn near perfect film. But no sweat, I'll still be eagerly awaiting whatever he directs next. As for all those magnificent films I listed first, perhaps I've grown as a human being or something 'cos lately I no longer feel resentment towards the actors in these joints - I'm just more curious to know how I might find myself in a similar situation. After all, as my beloved Papa used to say of my nemeses at school, "Do they have two heads?"

But enough about work - this is the time of year that family obligations beckon, and so on the 17th I found myself on a metal bird from LAX to LHR. But before heading up north to Yorkshire (where the fam live), I caught up with old school friend Rachael Rayment and on the next day, with my new scholarly friend AC Grayling. You might remember the name from my New York audition for Grace, that play I fell in love with, and for which I obviously was not chosen. Well, I've been in touch with AC ever since the audition, and even though I found out fairly shortly after that I didn't get the role, he still wanted to meet me in person. And so we did, at the very swank Groucho Club in Soho if you don't mind, I'm obviously moving up in the world (um hello, why the smirking please?) Among the many and myriad things we talked about were projects we might collaborate on in the very near future, so who knows what's in store for your old Franny. In Nigeria, we have this saying, "Every day na for thief, but one day na for owner of house", the closest English equivalent I suppose being, "Every dog has its day." So I'm not losing sleep over this particular coup de grâce - not getting my first off-Broadway gig - we go soon arrive. In fact, my Christmas present from SAG (the awesomest union) is an unexpected and fatty residual check from the voiceover work I did ages ago on Blood Diamond. Noice! Also, if you care to see me doing my best 'UCLA kid who cares so very deeply about the environment', my episode of Girlfriends re-airs 9pm tonight on the CW. I guess 2007 wasn't too shabby after all.

Thank you as always for checking up on me, and I wish you and your family Happy Holidays.

Follow The Arrow

2007-12-03T01:32:00.001-08:00

One of my favourite things about driving around Los Angeles is running across the big yellow production signs, posted on street corners to guide cast & crew to a particular set. I love to be reminded that there's work to be had out there, and I could just as easily be the one doing the having. Which incidentally I was this past weekend, as I wrapped up shooting Aner Moss' USC graduate thesis film, When It's Dark. This is the biggest part I've had in a film thus far, and let me tell you, I've developed a whole new respect for the process. All the time it takes to get complete coverage of just one scene, all the different setups and teardowns, lighting, sound, blocking, goodness. And as an actor, you've got to immediately be brilliant as soon as #1 calls Action! Then reign the energy back in, then release it again. It takes a lot of endurance and a lot of emotional flexibility to do this work, you don't really get a sense of that when you're watching a finely-edited performance on a screen. But now I understand a little more palpably that movie-making is about collaboration, about human beings coming together just to tell a story. And I think that's an endeavour worth committing to for life.

So, because I can't get enough of this stuff, I headed straight over to SAG HQ after I was released from set to sit in on a Conversations event with sex god (and one of my favourite actors) Javier Bardem. I know I'm a big crybaby, but I am always so moved to see so much passion and empathy and charisma in another human being, and especially another actor. I honestly don't always find actors to be very giving, or very curious about matters other than their own brilliance. So I was very inspired by this Spaniard (who you should check out in The Sea Inside, Before Night Falls, and of course, in my movie of the year, No Country for Old Men). The SAG Foundation keeps these things archived over there at 5757 Wilshire, so if you're in town, I suggest you go see about viewing his talkback.

Lots of news from the past few weeks, I will back-blog those slowly but surely. Looking forward to wrapping up 2007, a year in which I've learnt so much about myself and what I want to do with the time I have left on earth. There's no set path to success in the career I've chosen, but I have this odd conviction that somehow or other, I'm going to feel my way there.

Don't Shoot The Messenger

2007-11-09T14:48:00.000-08:00

I've been doing a lot of reading and offline-chatting with folks lately about the writers' strike (see the comments section of my last post for starters). I'll write a more in-depth post on my feelings/observations soon, but in the meantime, please check out the far more lucid and knowledgeable folks @ UnitedHollywood.com. [Addendum, Nov 12th: Um, I guess you won't have to suffer through my ramblings after all, since future WGA member Bonnie Gillespie has written an article that touches on everything I've been thinking and feeling over these last few weeks. I don't know how that woman gets inside my head every Monday, but her scribblings at The Actors Voice are always eerily well-timed.]

Happily, my commercial auditions are back - had two this week @ Craig Colvin Casting (ING and Mr. Clean), plus another for a great little thing called GlobalGiving @ Judy Elkins Casting. GlobalGiving is like a big old candy store that offers groovy folks like you and me the opportunity to get involved with a bunch of pre-screened development projects from all over the world. Given my work with Link TV, with the Kailahun & Darfur fundraiser Waking Kya, with Barbara Kopple on that Merck spot, even from playing a greenie on Girlfriends, I'm always grateful to learn that an acting career and do-goodery can go hand-in-hand.

Got a callback for Mr. Clean, which must mean my stock is going up over there at Cocolaca. Awesome. Ah, and also awesome was sitting in the audience at Bonnie's CricketFeet Showcase earlier in the week, and catching a SAG/BAFTA screening of No Country For Old Men. Wowoweeewow!! This long-time Coen Brothers groupie was not disappointed - you will definitely be hearing lots about this one come Oscar-time.

Something Picket This Way Comes*

2007-11-01T14:42:00.000-07:00

If you follow entertainment industry news at all, you've no doubt heard about the current WGA/AMPTP negotiations, the (now very real) possibility of a strike, and the possible impact of said strike on Hollywood creatives such as yours truly. Put this down to my being a yet a wee babe in the business, but to me it seems very simple - if the writers leave the building, the world has no Hollywood. I therefore cannot be any less than 100% for my writer brethren getting fair compensation for their talents (and not only because it will set a sweet precedent for us actors when our SAG re-negotiations roll around in '08). Where DVDs, internet and all this so-called new media are concerned, I say "Go scribes, Get (y)ours!"

Should this strike happen though, it might spell something of a drought in professional scripted film and television work. And thus my attentions must turn (as if they ever left) to my old faithful - the theatre. Flew back to Los Angeles last night as I was invited straight to callbacks this morning for the upcoming world premiere production of Tranced at Laguna Playhouse. In the room was Artistic Director Andy Barnicle, playwright Bob Clyman, Company Manager Wally Ziegler, and director Jessica Kubzansky (who I first met almost a year ago when I auditioned for Boston Court's Gilgamesh). I had a blast working on yet another brilliant script (after Grace, I guess I'm on a roll). I also ran into fellow ISC-er Hayden Adams in the waiting lounge, and was introduced to an arrestingly-beautiful actor by the name of Ameenah Kaplan. Later this evening, I have my first rehearsal for a USC graduate thesis film I booked just before I took off to NYC, helmed by director Aner Moss. Missed quite a few commercial audition opportunities while I was away (and even one while I was in the friendly skies making my way back West), so I'm looking forward to getting my grind back on there as well. Thankfully, the wildfires appear to have calmed down and it feels good to be back in Southern California.

(*) A nod to WGA Board Member Craig Mazin for the inspired title.

On Religion or: How I Learnt to Stop Worrying and Love My Job

2007-10-26T07:16:00.000-07:00

On an otherwise unremarkable day back in September, right after Free Shakespeare in Barnsdall Park closed, I decided that what I would really like to do next is get myself into a play in New York. And not just any play, I was thinking something at one of the classier off-Broadway houses, where I could sink my teeth into some wonderful script and work with some wonderful people. I was scheduled to go back to New York in October anyway, so I resolved to line up some potential gigs to chase while there. In what now seems to be a recurring Uku theme, on the the very day I started sniffing around for potential gigs, I got word of a project called Grace (formerly On Religion) going up at MCC Theater in January. Jointly written by acclaimed philosopher AC Grayling and theatre director Mick Gordon, the play premiered at the Soho Theatre in London last year. For this off-Broadway premiere, they were looking for a woman fitting my exact description to play opposite Lynn Redgrave. Yes, that Lynn Redgrave. Only catch was, the joint was being cast by one of New York's most prestigious and most impenetrable offices - Telsey + Company - and yours truly has neither legit representation in NY nor theatrical in LA. Oh, pish - like that's ever stopped me before.

On the advice of my darling drama school classmate and Rent alum Jake Manabat, I hop on the phone straight away and leave casting a message, "This is who I am and why you should see me for this role, expect my submission in the mail and I'll call again in two days to make sure you got it". Simple, no fuss. The next day, they call to give me their email address so I can send my stuff electronically. What, they're talking to me? Result! At this point I figure I've done everything I can do from all the way out in LA, so I decide I'll give them a week to receive agent pitches and set up sessions. When I get to NY, I have plenty to keep me occupied - overseas visitors, family, and another fun shoot with my peeps at Link TV, so I am not really sweating the fact that I haven't heard anything yet. However, by Friday the 19th I'd had my fill of the silence, so I called the casting office to find out what the scoop was on auditions. The same person who had called to give me their email address before now seemed to have no clue who I was, but promised to bring me up to his boss on Monday morning. Arrgggh, was I back to square one?! I'd have to wait a whole weekend to see.

Monday morning at 7:30am, I leave casting a voicemail message reminding them who I was and why they should see me. By this point, I had read the script, and there was no way I was going to let a play this amazing and funny and moving get away before I got a shot at it. 11am, I get an email - they're not going to see me because I'm too young for the role. Say what?! The character is supposed to be 30! I know I just did Girlfriends but that was called acting (or 'pretending', as Sir Ian/Gandalf-the-Wizard so wisely put it), I am not really a 22-year old tree-hugging undergrad at UCLA! In my panic, I decided to write to AC Grayling, the famous philosopher who co-wrote the play. Perhaps he'd intervene on behalf of a fellow humanist, perhaps he'd bring the casting folks around. Only when a project means a great deal to me personally do I pull out the stops like this. Faith, reason, religion, love and war - this one play touched on more issues I'm passionate about than a whole lifetime of acting jobs. I simply HAD to be seen.

Just before I hit 'Send' on a very personal email to AC (it's now 2pm, still on Monday), the casting office calls. They would see me after all, be there tomorrow at 5:40pm. Dis kain roller-coaster actor's life I lead - na who send me message sef?! There were 8 pages of sides to prepare, which isn't normally a huge deal except that the final page was a full 5-minute monologue. I wasn't worried in the slightest - them words rolled trippingly off my tongue, as if I had uttered them in a previous lifetime. I was ready. And so it came to pass that I had my very own audience with CD Will Cantler (who is also MCC's Associate Artistic Director) and director Joe Hardy on the 10th floor of 311 W. 43rd. Obviously, I couldn't tell you how it went as far as my getting the job (too many variables involved and in the end they will likely go with a name), but I do know that for the time that I was in that room, that role was mine. Hands down, the most grounded I think I have ever felt in an audition. Yes, you heard right, I am the kind of actor you can confidently cast in a leading role opposite Lynn Redgrave. Big ups to everyone at Telsey + Co. for taking the risk of bringing in some unknown, unrepresented actor from off the street. Like my little run-in with The Visitor, this is one for the Special Audition Experiences archive. Oh and by the by, don't you know I was at an industry networking event here in NY two weeks ago and was introduced to someone who said I seemed familiar. I was going to suggest the usual (HPV commercial) until she asked, "Did you audition for The Visitor?" A little taken aback, I responded in the affirmative. "That's how I know you - I worked on that movie, and I saw your audition tape." And there I was thinking all hope died when I didn't get the role. My fellow actors, allow me to loosely paraphrase the first law of thermodynamics - no creative energy can ever be lost or destroyed.

But this tale of Grace isn't quite over. After my audition, I decided to still email AC Grayling, to let him know how affected I had been by this play, and to thank him for writing it. This dude, who must get more email on the daily than he can possibly sift through - well, he sent a very nice email back. So, I got in the room with some very high profile theatre people, got to work on a very fine play, and now I might even get to meet the man himself. I think you'll agree Uku wins all-round on this one. Next!

Uku Hits The CW

2007-10-15T21:00:00.000-07:00

Assuming the production listings have this right, my Girlfriends appearance should air tonight (Monday Oct 15th @ 9PM ET/PT). You Stateside peeps can catch "Where Did Lynn-digo?" on your local CW affliate station or on their website the day after it airs. For everyone else, I'll try to get a clip up as soon as I can. Standard disclaimer though: it's a small role and it's on a sitcom, so I could end up having anything from very few to no lines. But I doubt that you'll have any trouble spotting my student activist self, doing that know-it-all thing that y'all know I do only too well. On to the next gig!

An Actor's Manifesto

2007-10-01T22:34:00.000-07:00

Kindly indulge me as I take a break from my usual chronicling of auditions, callbacks, and other work-related efforts. Which, by the way, are going just fine - I just haven't been a very good girl with the updates. A little while ago, I talked about one of the most frequently asked questions I get from non-actors, the old "What kind of acting do you specialize in/prefer/apply for?" While my answer remains the same ("anything with good script/people/greenbacks"), I'll let you in on what I often fantasize about doing, at such a time when I'm in the (cushy) position being able to pick and choose.

Theatre for starters (big shocker there, not like I talk about it much), and not just theatre, but having the opportunity to essay Shakespeare's young leading ladies in the way that all them boys like Chiwetel Ejiofor, David Oyelowo, and Chuk Iwuji have been given a chance to (all of Nigerian-British stock, you'll notice...what can one say, we're a talented bunch. And today celebrating 47 years of independence from our colonial mum!) So, call it snobbery if you like, but I think real actors are stage actors, and the theatre is the only place in this big bad world of the performing arts where a poor player can have any control (try cutting my lines while I'm delivering them in front of a live audience, Mr Hotshot Director!) And yes yes, I've been told on many occasions that the kind of career I want requires relocation to the UK (where there's much more built-in crossover between theatre/tv/film), but I was trained here, there is work to be done and change to effect here, and especially after working with ISC this summer, I would like to think that there's a place here for a brown-skinned bella like yours truly. So, I have a few irons in the fire that I'll be stoking on this NYC trip I'm taking next week - more details as they unfold but let's just say - as always, Uku is on the case...

The other kind of work I'm really passionate about is film. And more specifically, independent cinema. A year has gone by, yet still I can cheer myself up just by thinking about the awesome day at the Chateau Marmont when I met Tom McCarthy and auditioned for his film The Visitor (which just got distribution at Toronto, you'll be hearing about it soon!) It's not always about getting the job, sometimes it's just about the opportunity to connect with an inspiring filmmaker or actor who you might work with in the future. And speaking of inspiring actors, you would be a fool to miss Ryan Gosling in the new joint Lars And The Real Girl - I caught an advance screening two or so weeks ago and oh my gosh why can't I be in a film like that? Sorry, I meant to say - I could be in a film like that! Or in the next Shakespeare-to-screen venture...how 'bout it, Sir Ken?

And so there you have it - my dream career in 3 paragraphs. To see how it all turns out for your fanciful heroine, stay tuned.