007's secret vacation

Hello my CosmoGIRLS,
How is the summer going? I hope you are having tons of life experiences that will make this a summer to remember. For me it has already been a great one, but I was thinking earlier, it's not quite like when I was in high school or college. Why is that? Well for a few reasons. One of them being that I don't get a true summer vacation. I am working all the way through like it was any other season. This is a bit of a shame because summer vacation (you know, two or three months off straight through) was always my absolute favorite time of the year. A time to indulge in all your favorite things...sleeping in late, hanging out with your friends everyday, tons of movies, family trips, etc! For those of you who are actually on a "real" summer vacation right now, enjoy and take advantage!

I can't let this get me down right? (plus, I'm an actor and going to work is like being on vacation all the time anyways!) So, I've decided to enjoy the summer like I was on break!!! That's right - I'm not going to let work get totally in the way of the summer vacations I have known and loved! So, even though I `m at work, I'm pretending that I'm on vacation and they won't be any the wiser!!!!! HA HA! My devious plan is in full effect and it is a secret between you guys and me.... don't tell my bosses!

Here are some answers to some of your questions:

What is my average day like during this top-secret summer vacation you may ask? Well, I usually get up around 6:15AM (good if you want to get the most of your day; not so good if you want to get the most out of your sleep) if I have a 7:15AM call time. My call time in the morning means that this is when we start our "dry blocking" rehearsals. Dry blocking means that we go over all our actions in the scenes without the cameras, but with the actors and the director for the day. The purpose is to get a basic feel for the scene and to understand where the cameras are going to be. Also gives you a chance to work things out with your fellow thespians. After I finish up dry blocking I always head to the Kraft Services table, which is where we get all of our food. I have a cup of OJ, some fruit, cereal, hot tea and head to the hair and makeup room.

Hair and makeup is my least favorite part because I really don't like wearing makeup! I don't know how and why you girls put that on everyday. It is the worst!

So, with that being done, I head up to my little apartment that I share with Adrian, get dressed and continue working on my material for the day. I'll put on music and Adrian and I will chat for a while about what's happening in the news, what we did the night before or about the material we have for the day. Then I'll change into my wardrobe and our acting coach, Maria, will usually drop by. Depending on how challenging the scenes are for the day dictates how long I will work with Maria on the lines/material. No matter the difficulty of the work ahead, I always love rehearsing my scenes with her because she brings such great insight into my work and into the craft of acting. She is super sweet and it is easy to trust her with your emotions and feelings. She always will end with a complement and sends me on my way feeling better than before.

Now, it's show time baby! Make-up done, wardrobe check, rehearsals complete! Nothing left other than actually filming! So I stride onto, stage bristling with confidence, and excited to try out something new (meanwhile everyone is non the wiser of my secret summer vacation! Suckers! HA!) We start off with a rehearsal with the cameras, then we get notes from the director and they will then make final lighting, wardrobe and set adjustments. Then we film the scenes and if it all goes well, we'll do it in only one take. Some days I can be in by 7AM and done by 11AM and other days I'll be there from 7AM to 7PM. All depends on what we are working on that day and how much actual material there is. Either way, I am always joking around with my cast mates (Galen Gering, "Luis" is a favorite to mess around with) and reveling in the fact that someone actually is paying me to do this. We work hard and it can be tedious, but all in all it is such an amazing job and I still pinch myself everyday to make sure this is real and not a dream.

That's more or less how my secret summer vacation is going from day to day. They still haven't caught on yet, which means I'm winning! Excuse me now, going to watch one of my favorite movies, "28 Days Later" and get ready for tomorrow!

Adios,
Mark Wystrach

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