Acting : The Actor's Dressing Trailer: Home Away From Home by Matthew Gross

Matthew Gross

The Actor's Dressing Trailer: Home Away From Home

My friend Dan Logwood and I are looking for commercial talent agent representation. The difficult, lonely process is made much easier with a friend. Again, it's like we're (analogy) a couple of high school students getting ready to graduate. We're hanging out at each other's pad looking over a huge stack of college catalogues (i.e. lists of talent agencies). The sky is the limit.

One thing we did last night was address an elephant in the room, the actor's dressing trailer: honey wagon, triple, double. A dressing trailer is to an actor what a cubicle is to the office worker. It can be a sterile and impersonal space; therefore, we asked ourselves an interesting question:

How will I personalize my dressing trailer, so I feel at home? If I can feel at home, I can focus on the work ahead.

Some of the items we selected include: carpeting, pillows, blanket [some trailer sofas pull out into a bed, so if it is a night shoot maybe sheets and a mattress topper], candles, framed family photographs, music, bath/hand/wash cloths, soft slippers, etc.

So, I ask you:

How will you personalized your dressing trailer, so you feel at home? What are your essentials, and how do they help you get and stay in character?

Suzanne Bronson

Bring my cats

Maurice Vaughan

How about also personalizing your dressing trailer with posters and things of the kind of projects you want to act in, Matthew Gross? Example: If you want to act in a "Mission: Impossible" type movie, get a "M:I" poster. And what about inspiring actor quotes?

Sam Sokolow

I have a friend who did an indie film years ago with the actor Craig Sheffer. Craig did so many indie films that could never afford get him a honey wagon so he bought a used one for his own and drove it to set every day so he could have one when working on lower budget films. It was the ultimate in personalization. I do believe he brought his dog in it and had photos of his work in other films and some movie posters in it. Always thought that was really clever.

Matthew Gross

I love Craig Sheffer. Huge fan. I've seen "Fire in the Sky" countless times. I'm so glad you shared that story.

Ashley Renee Smith

I know people who always make sure there are plants that they can care for and watch grow over the course of the project.

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