New York is opening up. I found that I had to turn down a recent audition, though, because I'm still afraid. The crew is supposed to be masked, but the actor, no. I don't really trust the crew to be masked. When I go to the grocery store, I'm not seeing consistent compliance at all. A lot of people have the masks off their noses, or not on at all.
I also know that masks don't really work all day. They get saturated. Plus people have to take them off to eat. Sets are often extremely crowded. Food is often served buffet style, or has been in the past -- but without the protective plexiglass over it that you would see in a restaurant.
I'm young enough to appear in a commercial. You have to be under 65, but they need people with white hair -- like me -- to play older roles. But I still feel at risk. I also have an underlying health condition, which scares me too.
I hate to pass up opportunities, though. I'd be interested to hear the thoughts of other actors on this -- particularly actors with underlying health conditions.
That's a hard decision, Anne Barschall, I get it. I wonder if productions would be willing to stipulate all of their precautions - I imagine boxed lunches would be an easy fix, but monitoring masks, not so much. But I'm glad you chose to be safe!
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Yeah, it's a tough decision.
Negotiate the circumstances. (Virtual, teleconference, green screen, virtual reality, 3 D, etc.). Studios maybe more flexible than you think.