FESTIVAL ENTRY EXAMINES THE META-DRAMA BEHIND THE SCENES

By T.T. Stern-Enzi

The acting class is a niche populated by segmented categories from across the social and cultural strata, although, intriguingly, every member desires to breakout by figuring out how they can slip in and out of as many of those categories as possible. Which group offers the greatest challenge? Well then, that’s who I need to convince people I can become when opportunity knocks. But with all the methods and the madness, it’s not easy; yet, the act of maintaining your own individual identity can be the trickiest role of them all.

Writer-director Marcus Mizelle, from North Carolina (like yours truly), settled in Los Angeles and has directed music videos for the likes of Poet (from the Black Eyed Peas) and Aloe Blacc, as well as more than 30 short features, but “Actor For Hire” is his first foray into the full-length narrative feature world. And he has chosen the actor’s dilemma as the subject for what feels like a lived-in (meta) exploration into the trials and tribulations of a struggling actor named Jesse (Jesse O’Neill) who drove across the country with his girlfriend to pursue the same dream that has been the siren call for countless strivers since the dawn of the movie age.

What sets Jesse apart is a somewhat common quirk—he’s white and bald—that leaves him on the outside looking in through a smudged window. It’s not clothes that make the man; it is hair, and the more styled and processed, the better. Who cares how well you read lines, inhabit characters or even perfectly play yourself, if your hair (or lack thereof) becomes a distraction?

Jesse quickly realizes that acting is about adopting a new persona, to the point of having to play the role in real life, which is what happens when he slips on a cheap wig (that he buys after selling his word processor) and finds himself the toast of his rather insulated milieu of industry freaks and geeks. Part of the fun derived from wandering around with Jesse through this savagely unreal landscape is the realization that Shakespeare was onto something with the idea that “all the world’s a stage,” which kicks off a monologue from “As You Like It.” Jesse, in fact, is a far smoother actor when he’s shifting from one absurd real-life encounter to the next; these broad and terribly silly situations are instantly familiar to audiences weaned on television comedies and the rom-com affairs that litter both mainstream and independent screens. The real joke here is that Jesse proves to be a more distinct person with real character while playing a role for the intimate audience he encounters along the way than when the camera’s rolling.

And Mizelle does a subtle job of making a joke about diversity without doing so at the expense of the idea. Jesse is white and bald, definitely a niche in Hollywood, but the movie showcases a surprising degree of diversity in an industry not known for being such a champion in that realm. People of all races, ages, ethnicities and sexual orientations populate the narrative, bumping and grinding up against one another in all sorts of ways without drawing overt attention to themselves and their stereotypical characteristics.

In the end, “Actor For Hire” proves to be the perfect kind of film to introduce on the festival circuit. It will attract like-minded folks, allow them to laugh at and celebrate themselves and the anecdotal moments they share with those close to them, and remain a fringe favorite. That sounds like a loss, from a big picture perspective, but it is not. It is just an acknowledgment of the realization that this is what happens everyday to those working just outside focus of the frame.

“Actor For Hire” screens Tuesday, Aug. 18 at 9 p.m., presented by The Film Festival of Columbus (FFOCOL) at The Gateway Film Center, S. Campus Gateway, 1550 N. High St. For more information, please visit filmfestivalofcolumbus.com.