Los Angeles Acting blog by David August

Friday, January 14, 2005

As unpopular as this opinion may be with those living outside the major acting cities, I think area code matters. Maybe I'm being overly picky here, but, to me, a long-distance phone number implies a long-distance actor. And a long-distance actor implies possible problems or at least additional effort on the part of those casting. For example if I am casting something and see a (707) or (215) number, my first thought is that the actor is submitting from those regions. This is unattractive, in that I don't want to call them only to find out they can't make it out for my small-potatoes project - or worse, that they plan to fly out or make a major drive just for one two-minute audition. Talk about pressure.

Long-distance area codes also give the impression that actors are not here, not committed to their careers. It seems a little like they have one foot out the door - that either they aren't pursuing it full time, or they are keeping their old numbers so they can return to their old lives if this "acting thing" doesn't work out