Act Natural is an original, dry comedy series about the surreal world of commercial actors. It follows the lives of three less-than-perfect actors with visions of success but very different viewpoints as they try to make careers for themselves in film & TV. Think Flight of the Conchords, It’s Always Sunny, and Arrested Development. The show is comprised of short, web-only episodes 5-10 minutes in length.

This is a no-budget, beyond-indie web production, but you never know with these things. I’m looking to build a great up-and-coming cast and crew who can learn, grow and find opportunities through the project. My plan is to build a small following for the show on the web, and then leverage that either through sponsorship, syndication, or reproduction for a larger media body.

Casting is taking place May 17th through the 19th, and the pilot is shooting at the beginning of July. I’m casting for three leads and a bunch of great supporting and recurring characters.

You can download the script here.

Are you a member of AACTION? They’re doing much of the heavy lifting for me on this, and I encourage you to submit through aactionauditions.com if at all possible, purely in the interest of making my life easier.

I’m casting for the following leads:

Gary 20s/30s
The good actor. A nice, well-mannered guy from a small town. Gary followed his dreams to a 4 year degree program in Theatre performance, and then to Toronto to try to make it in film & television. He’s a great actor, but isn’t exactly matinee idol material. There’s something non-threatening about him, and he’s always felt like a bit of an also-ran. Gary thinks the world should be a meritocracy, and is always a little frustrated that less trained, better looking, more confident people get picked for things over him. He’s a bit of a loser, but a sweet one. He’s always willing to try harder, he just might not be great at deciding where to focus his energy.

Shawn 20s/30s
The manipulator. Smart but rebellious, Shawn’s been getting into trouble his whole life. He’s a bit of a benevolent sociopath — able to mimic emotions but not necessarily feel them. His cocky, cynical perspective puts a lot of people off, but like most “charming rogues” Shawn just wants to feel loved, and he wants to be a successful actor mostly for the respect and adulation. He’s taken a few classes, but is otherwise an untrained actor. He relies on his charm, instincts and luck to see him through.

Mel 20s/30s
The future cat lady. Mel is a smart, pretty girl who is sincere but a little defeated. She was a geeky girl, into comics and romance novels, and her love of make-believe led her into a theatre minor during her Creative Writing degree. Acting is one of Mel’s many “backup plans”. She auditions for the loser girls and frumpy friends, never the heroines. She wishes she could be more like the girls Gary and Shawn seem to like. She has a cat and likes to watch vampire movies. She has a fantasy in which Gary is a vampire and comes to her in the middle of the night to sensuously bite her neck. She’s not sure if she’s secretly in love with him or not.

And the following principal roles:

Mike Kelly (recurring) 20s/30s
The ad man. Mike is Gary’s foil — successful, tall, good-looking. He’s a former frat boy football hero who’s now an accounts guy at a big-shot ad agency. Mike has always been an effortless winner. He’s cocky, confident, and jovially dominating. He’s Don Draper if he was played by Burt Reynolds. He knows Gary from high school..

Casting Dave (recurring) 30s/40s
The camera operator at the casting place. Dave has nothing but contempt for actors, and lords his position over them. Secretly though he probably wishes he could have been an actor.

Director (1) 30s/40s/50s
Most episodes have a nameless director in them, and he/she’s usually the most ridiculous and over the top character in the script. This one is the passionate helmsman for a pretentious perfume spot.

Julie (recurring) teens/20s
The bitchy casting girl. Julie’s the cute, ambitious girl who works at the casting place as an assistant and seems to get all the plum roles without auditioning.

Plus a nerdy guy and a metal head to dance in the audition scene, and people to play ad agency hedonists and “male actors”.

Want to audition or help out? Get in touch!

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2 Responses to “Casting notice: Act Natural, a short comedic web series”

1. Stephanie Secharan says:

   May 6, 2009 at 2:28 pm

   Hi Good Afternoon,

   My name is Stephanie Secharan I am 18 years old and I am seeking a career in the acting industry, I actually cam across you’re idea and it’s sound extremely interesting. I have been taking acting lessons for about a year and a half now at John Robert Powers and i am always looking to work on new projects and I believe you’re looking for a Julie well i read her character description and i think we have a match!!:D please get in contact with me at either Stephaniesecharan22@hotmail.com or home#: (905) 426-6571 Cell#: (647) 409-6571 Thanks for you’re time, hope to hear from you soon,

   Stephanie Secharan

   Reply
2. zdriverMovie says:

   December 23, 2009 at 11:08 am

   #1 read

   Reply

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