Acting In The Age Of Covid: A Year Later Into the Pandemic
By: Eddie Ramos | March 1, 2021 6:00 AM
A year later into the pandemic and the world looks and feels different. The acting industry has been changed too. In this article, we uncover the future for actors. Here's everything you need to know about acting in the age of Covid.
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We’ve come a long way since the first case of Covid-19 was reported to the WHO on December 31, 2019. Over a year later the world looks and feels very different.
Because we’re all pretty much into mask collecting now, facemasks that is, and can eyeball six feet without a tape measure— it can be hard to remember where we came from.
Just months ago, we were watching the spicy ‘Zoom flirt’ between Brad and Jen during a virtual table read. Tv hosts were broadcasting from their homes and John Oliver was giving us “blank void” vibes from his studio.
The acting world is “trying” but still stands in the balance of returning to normal or facing another year of doing what it does the best, improvising.
Braving The Shutdown
In the two-week span between the time passengers aboard the Grand Princess Cruise were held at sea and stay-at-home orders went into effect in California, thousands of actors worldwide went on their last in-person auditions.
I remember my last audition was with the producers for NCIS, and my biggest concern was making it back from Paramount Studio to Encino in time for my shift at work. Shamefully, it wasn’t until the next day when the NBA shut down, that this became really real for me.
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Across the pond, theatres were shut down immediately in London’s West End with the uncertainty of the pandemic looming over the U.K.
Broadway, whose sacred utterance is “the show must go on,” had faced closures in the past. Theatres closed for 48 hours after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, yet never shut down in 1918 during the Spanish Flu Pandemic, with the exception of only a few smaller theatres.
This time was different. It closed its doors with the unpredictability of when they would reopen.
The entire industry had to come up with a new plan overnight.
The Year That Wouldn’t Zoom By
2020 felt like it lasted forever and each month brought on new devastation that somehow managed to be worse than the last. There was one company, Zoom Technologies Inc, that became the unsung hero for many of us sheltering the lockdown alone. It brought families from miles away closer together, allowed businesses to run again, and gave the acting industry a push into the future.
Brilliantly, casting directors utilized the platform to hold auditions and callbacks, making the term “zoom audition” part of the lexicon. However, the integration process took a little getting used to.
Actors had to create makeshift studios in their homes. I oftentimes shot outside on my balcony for the light it provided. We became directors, gaffers, and sound designers with very little experience in either of these trades.
Self-tape studio owners, who once would have taken care of these technical matters, battled with the high transmissibility rate of the virus and keeping their business running. “I was definitely a bit worried about opening back up again,” Chelsea Mee said, owner and founder of Self Taping LA.
“Tons of thoughts went through my head. Am I being safe enough? Am I sanitizing enough? Am I far enough away from my clients? Is this Lysol smell too strong? But ultimately, I did what I opened my business to do, and stayed communicative, open, and honest with my clients.”
Watch Below: I Booked This Role on Shameless at SelfTaping LA.
Many artists and creative directors shared the same feelings and although Zoom solved a lot of technical issues, the very nature of its technology came at the expense of ours. Can you connect deeply with another person virtually? Can you be moved emotionally staring into a tiny camera lens as you would gazing into the eyes of a scene partner?
In essence, no. I don’t think it’s possible to achieve the same chemical subtilities or reactions that make our art so visceral when the wifi drops or when there’s—what’s the term? Poor connection…
Many actors I’ve spoken to are wary of taking an online class, even mine, and those that have taken the leap feel something is just missing. Yet, most working actors are happy to be doing almost anything that engages them creatively, albeit a bit strange and unfamiliar.
The Bubble
Getty Images/SN Illustration
No matter when the coronavirus inevitably came to be, its timing would have never been perfect. As is the case with the NBA. With more than half of the season completed in March, the league was conflicted as it weighed its options—crown the team with the best record or forfeit the season completely. There was a third option and hence the NBA bubble was formed.
The concept was simple. No one enters and no one leaves once the bubble is created. Players were to be tested daily-to assure the virus had not entered, and all non-essential workers were prohibited.
As we’ve now seen, the league was successful with this experiment and the film industry followed suit.
In early March, many of the shows and films that were in mid-production went into hiatus, but sadly many were canceled. The question of how to keep all those involved safe was on everyone’s minds.
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Months went by and through much deliberation between the studio executives and the unions, a safe and effective way to curb the virus from spreading on sets was arranged. However, the silver bullet would come with a heavy price tag.
Cast and crew would need to be sequestered in hotels or at their homes for 1-2 weeks. The cost of daily testing and hiring Covid safety officers—not to mention locations being under lockdown—made it nearly impossible to film anything.
High-budget projects would make it through, but for the Indie and Short Film crews, 2020 would present some significant challenges.
Where Do We Go From Here?
“I’ve been tested 52 times,” a makeup artist on NBC’s, Mr. Mayor proudly told me when I guest-starred back in November. I myself am well into the double digits at this point. As I am writing this, in February 2021, the spread of the virus seems to be slowing down. We are very much still in the throes of a relentless pandemic, however, optimism seems to be a feeling more readily available.
For many actors, the virus stopped dreams dead in their tracks. Ronak Gandhi, co-collaborator for The Modern Actor, and I both experienced the loss of a role simply due to not having enough time between test results and filming. Such is the nature of the beast we are facing. Unfortunately, unlike film and television actors, our comrades on Broadway and stages worldwide struggled to find some reprieve this year. Broadway remains closed through May 30, 2021.
How does an actor sum up this entire year? Not without taking a heavy drink first, this year has been been a series of progress and debilitating restriction. Of sorrow and reflection. Wild creativity and incredible strength. To quote my college professor, Gerardine Clark:
“The arts originated so far before the dawn of history that we are able to only guess at their conception and the course of their evolution…It is evident that at a time when the survival of any indiviual and the race itself was seriously in doubt, when every effort was necessarily spent in the effort of survival, human beings still found time to make art.”
I remain optimistic.