MY HANDS ARE EVERYWHERE!!!

well hello!!!

this has been a really fun week! let me tell ya bout it...

first off, last night, i got to see a screening of the final version of love naturally! parker came with me to the film school:



it went really well. for a student film, i think it turned out great! i wish there was a way to put it up here, but hopefully i'll have several parts of it on my reel, and that i'll post on here eventually. it was fun to see myself on the big screen again, and i think darlene was a success!

secondly, i had a BIG week because i auditioned for, booked, and shot a NATIONAL COMMERCIAL for expedia.com!!!!!!



now, don't get too excited, you'll only see my hands...ok, yeah, go ahead and get excited!! so, i booked the commercial as a hand model, and spent this past wednesday morning at the paramount pictures lot filming the 30 second spot!



it will air nationally, regionally, online and as an industrial for expedia. i'll definitely let you know when it comes out, but start watching in a little over a month from now, the main visual of the spot is my hands moving blocks around, and the storyline is going on inside each block! it's cute!

being on set was so great--i seriously got treated like a star--custom breakfast and coffee orders brought to me, on set manicurist (who has done the nails of a ton of celebs: gwen stefani, lindsey lohan, jessica simpson, vanessa hudgens, etc. etc.)



so much fun!!! i really hope that i get to do more hand modeling work soon! not a bad job, i'd say!!

thirdly, things in general are still swell! wedding planning is a lot of fun, and i get more and more excited to marry parker every day :) other than that, i'll be looking for more hand modeling work, and i'm still working with my ladies on their writing projects, so no complaints here!

life has been absolutely filled to the brim the past few weeks, hence my absence from the blogging world! that's a good thing; i'd rather be busy really than virtually :) although...some of my business has been virtual. if you saw my last post of announcement, my official website finally went live. check it out if you haven't already at: www.laurenparrent.com



my friend, matt, and i sat down for a few days and put together the footage that i'd filmed last year to have a hosting reel. that's on the Reel tab, so definitely have a watch at that, too. matt did a really great job on it, and if you're an actor or someone who wants some kind of reel, let me know, i can hook you up with him!

in other career highlights:

1) i participated in a performance for the young storytellers foundation, an organization that my friend, alex, volunteers for. i'll hopefully be able to write more about this in its own post, complete with pictures, but for now, just a brief overview. al asked me if i would act in the "big show," a final performance of screenplays written over weeks by about 10 aspiring 9-year-old screenwriters and their mentors. um, duh! yes, please! i was excited about it, because stars like dustin hoffman, jennifer aniston, and rachel bilson had acted in it in past years, and i thought it would be fun. even though there were no big names associated with this year's show (well, a couple you may recognize, but you may have to wait for pictures!) it turned out to be one of the most fun performing experiences of my life--no exaggeration! it was basically two hours of improv. we got the kids' scripts, and with no preparation, they cast us and we had to act them, reading them as we went, of course, on the spot!! SO much fun! and it was a major workout! i can't wait to do it again!

2) unfortunately i did not end up booking this job, however, i did get a callback for a major national television commercial!



yes, my hands could have been featured in a national pyrex commercial--how funny is that?! the auditions were hilarious; i had to pick up baking products in slow motion and sketch whisks and measuring cups. :) ahh, the jobs i have...anyway, i made it to the final 6 actors, so that's good! someone recently told me, i should thanks every person for their "no" on a part, because i'll need about a hundred more and then i'll get my "yes." this crazy business!

when i was at that first audition, i also had the fun experience of crashing another audition. it was casting out of the same waiting room, and so i just asked if i could audition, and they said yes! it was for a .com company, and it was a mockumentary-style commercial spot. it sounded funny, so i had a good time auditioning for it! no word on it, and i doubt i'll hear anything, but it was fun nonetheless!

let's see, what else...ah! i moved! don't worry, i'm only about a mile away from my old place. i haven't thrown in the towel for the west coast yet ;) but i'm loving my new house (yes, a real house!). i've got 4 great roomies, and get this--my OWN ROOM!! aaah! definitely a step up from living the last two years in a shared bedroom in a loft bed! this house is such a blessing that fell into all our laps, and we're so grateful. meet the roomies (and see a glimpse of our adorable backyard!):



i could go on forever...there's so much to update! i hope to write posts soon about my trip home to indiana for my brother's graduation/memorial day weekend, AND about my best friends' from college visit out here!! so many pictures, so little time!!

hope this finds all of you well! take care, enjoy the beginnings of summer...i'm off to the beach! :)

disclaimer: this post will probably be another pretty visual one. less writing, more pictures, which i'm quite fond of, and i hope you are, too.

well, i have fairly big news for you all. i've taken a big step in my acting career this week, actually it's been a busy week, in general. but, i am thrilled to report that i signed with my very first agent!!!!!! i got the call last wednesday, april 9th! i was riding bikes on malibu beach, perfect weather, it couldn't have been a more ideal day to get such great news!! (here's a picture almost at the exact moment when i got the call, actually)



i'm now officially represented across the board with daily talent agency!!! it's still sinking in, but i am so excited to have an agent working for me, and i really hope it turns out to be a lucrative relationship for us both. i'll definitely have more access to higher quality projects. i can't wait to see where this will lead, seriously, i am so excited about it. feels like things continue to fall into place :)

i was told about my agent (haha, so weird to say!!!) by a friend, cal, who also threw me a couple other connections. one of which was a hand modeling gig i submitted for. it was funny, because i've been told i should hand/foot model before, but since there was an actual gig to apply for, i finally went and got a mani/pedi and had my friend emily take some shots to send in. needless to say, at the end of that day, i was so sick of looking at pictures of my hands and feet. but here are a couple of them for your viewing pleasure. so weird that this is a part of my job, right?!?




my friend cal, who also referred me to my agent (heehee, that just doesn't get old! ok i'll stop!) anyway, cal invited me to go to a red carpet event for a dvd release the other night. i was all excited, and got ready to go, then we got there and it turned out to be a different night, however, we got to hang out and walk around hollywood, which was fun. we also stumbled upon the arclight (a really fancy movie theater) where they'd just had a premiere for a lifetime movie starring dermot mulroney (from: my best friend's wedding, the wedding date). so i got my red carpet picture one way or another! here it is...



finally, i had a really busy yet fun past couple of days. i did extra work for a new pilot called "austin golden hour," a medical drama in the real-time style of "24." it was so much fun. as i've said before, i always enjoy meeting great people on sets, and it usually solidifies my desire to work in the industry. i just love it, despite the 13-15 hour average days. but, anyway, i worked friday and saturday as a club-goer. however, it was a bit more complicated. one day was filming a club scene where pyrotechnics go wrong, but the first day, we filmed the aftermath of the club explosion. at first, everyone got some makeup applied to look like we'd been burned by the fire, which was so fun! exhibit a:



then, they said they were going to pick a severe burn victim, which ended up being me!!! so, i was sort of featured. i got to spend several hours in makeup (the hair/makeup people were awesome, by the way; and i felt like i got the star treatment, including them spending about an hour taking off my face and shampooing all the rock-hard blood out of my hair at the end of the day...), where i got more airbrusing done, AND had prosthetic blisters and burnt flesh applied to my face, hands, and arms! i spent most of the day with dean, the episode's guest star, who was the only other person to get the full workup of burn prosthetics, although his face seriously looked like it had been through a meat grinder; DIS-gust, i know. we had a really great time!! i also got to ride on a gurney and in an ambulance. if the pilot airs, you'll see me grab the main character's arm as she rushes past my gurney--she's an EMT.






but yeah, it was an exhausting, yet great two days. today the temperature was in the 90s, and i was productive, but also tried to rest and recuperate. i'm hoping that i hear from gail, the new agent!! about some auditions this week. i'll definitely keep you updated!!