Thursday, 30 January 2014

Ich bin so aufgeregt, I am so excited!

I am sorry for the radio silence on my end for the last few days, work has just been manic and I started two blog posts simultaneously as well. Neither posts are quite ready yet as I am trying to make too many points in both of them and they both ramble on a bit - I need to edit those before I publish them. On top of that, my next vlog post is ready but iMovie keeps crashing on me when I try to convert the file - so I have failed to upload that. But I wanted to share a piece of exciting news with you as I am bubbling with joy!

I have been shortlisted for a part in a German drama series - I met the casting directors a few years ago and they remember me. There are virtually no German-speaking Chinese-looking actors in Germany - like there are Chinese people there sure but they are not actors at all. So they have tracked me down to London, sent me a script and asked me if I was interested in the part. And of course I said yes - it's just a few days in Germany, working with an all German crew with a German script and I couldn't be more excited. I've worked with European production teams in the past in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Greece, Turkey and Belgium - the language barrier is all part of the fun.
That's me in Salzburg in early January 2014.

Belgium was so amazing as I loved being in French speaking Europe (French is my second language) whilst in other places like Slovakia, I really struggled with the language barrier (my Slovakian is very limited) but the locals were so friendly and warmed to the fact that I am struggling on in their language rather than just expecting them to speak English. Germany will be a between the two extremes: I speak some German but it is not fluent at all. But let's see, I need to do this reading on next Tuesday first before I count my chickens. But if I get this part, I will be spending some time in Germany this year to film this. Who knows where this will take me? I've not exactly been having a good time with the day job of late, so fingers crossed. Wish me luck - a lot will depend on how I perform at this audition next Tuesday.

So please dear readers, keep your fingers crossed for me - I am going to be revising my German all weekend whilst you are enjoying your Chinese New Year celebrations. Gong xi fa cai to you.

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13 comments:

  1. Di Talasi30 January 2014 at 22:16

    That is awesome! Gong Hey Fatt Choy!

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    1. Limpeh Foreign Talent31 January 2014 at 00:57

      Thank you Di - I have just read the whole script, 82 pages long for that episode, all in German. I am only going to audition the first scene where my character meets his lawyer for the first time, but goodness me, it's not a small part and this character is the protagonist in this episode and it's all in GERMAN. Like German is my 7th language - it is on par with my Malay, ie. I can speak German but it is limited. I can get myself understood but it is going to be full of mistakes.

      But you know the saying: in the land of the blind, the one eye man is king. I still can't believe they cannot find a Chinese looking actor in Germany who speaks German and they have to track me down in London for this audition...

      I spoke to my German friend Lukas and he said that this is a rather popular programme in Germany that has been on air for 5 series already and is going strong and that the lead (who plays the lawyer) is a very popular actress in Germany.

      LOL, in hindsight, maybe I should have studied German rather than French at university!

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    2. Di Talasi31 January 2014 at 02:52

      Wow, when you are famous, take us with you. I hope they don't expect the Chinese guy to know gung fu. Lol.

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    3. Limpeh Foreign Talent31 January 2014 at 11:29

      But Di... you forget, I do know Kungfu. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yymkH0grxn4 Well gymnastics, but close enough.

      I've read the script, all 82 pages of it. It's drama + comedy, it's a character based drama series about the oddballs in German society, people who are not in the mainstream, people who are on the fringes and not rich and fabulous and I'm up for the role of a Chinese immigrant in Germany who needs help from this lawyer.

      I'm in two minds about using my gymnastics skills - on one hand, I'm gonna be 38 this year and whilst I am still in good shape and can throw myself around like when I was 21, I know my body cannot last forever so I am keen to make the most of it before one day I get out of bed and realize I can no longer move like I am 21. However, I am also keen to prove that I am not a one-trick pony who can only do kungfu/gymnastics types roles - you can give me a script in German about a character-based drama and I can nail it.

      Anyway Di - what you have to understand about the casting process is this: they already have a character in mind (in this case: Her Sang in the script) - they're just looking for someone who closely matches this Herr Sang they have in mind and my job is to read the script, understand the character and go in there and be the person they want to see. They really don't give a shit who I am, what else I can do (kungfu or gymnastics or anything else) or anything about me - I can't stress how unimportant anything else is - all that matters is if I can be the Herr Sang they have in mind and a big part of it boils down to my ability to speak German.

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    4. Luck of Fire 31 January 2014 at 12:16

      Do post a link of the episode when you succeed in the audition. Good luck!

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    5. Limpeh Foreign Talent31 January 2014 at 12:18

      Thanks - fingers crossed. I need to succeed first - I know I am not the only person they're seeing, they won't fly all the way from Germany to London just to see one person, no doubt they would have lined up at least a few.

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    6. Limpeh Foreign Talent31 January 2014 at 12:24

      I know there are at least 3 Chinese characters in this episode - so chances are they will be casting for all 3 characters in London (unless they have already found the right actors in Germany)...

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  2. Davin31 January 2014 at 05:30

    Guten Tag hop hop, Guten Tag clop clop
    Ach du lieber und oh boy!
    Guten Tag clap clap, Guten Tag slap slap
    Ach du lieber, vat a joy!

    Oh, ve essen und fressen
    Und tanze und trinken!
    Tanzen und trinken
    Until ve get stinkin!

    Everybody, Guten Tag hop hop, Guten Tag clop clop
    Guten Tag, meine liebe Schatz!
    So we hop our hops und we clop our clops
    Und we drink our Schnapps 'til we plotz!

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  3. Unknown31 January 2014 at 06:00

    Hey Limpeh, congrats! And happy new year!

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    Replies
    1. Limpeh Foreign Talent31 January 2014 at 11:32

      Well Ron, it's just an audition. It's an honour to be considered for big parts, but let's wait till I get the part first. I know I am not the only person they are seeing in London - though I doubt there are many Chinese actors here who speak German fluently. Let's see. Frankly I have no idea what I am up against and it's not like I am fluent in German - I've read the script and there's 82 pages of German in there. Crikey. And it's only my =7th language (equal 7th with Malay: ie. I can speak German/Malay without proper grammar, with loads of mistakes, but can understand it and hold a conversation - can get by in real life, will fail a proper exam).

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    2. Unknown2 February 2014 at 03:17

      I think that you are good with languages, so even though your German is not that fluent I'm sure that you can get by, especially since the lines are in the script

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    3. Limpeh Foreign Talent2 February 2014 at 12:51

      Well let's see. I already know of some other Chinese actors they are seeing whilst in London - so it's what I am up against and what they are looking for. My German is definitely better than them - but it's not going to be down to my German standard, for example: this character has a child and I'm like, do I look old enough to have child that age? That depends on whom they cast as the child, if they cast like a 7 year old, fair enough, but if they cast a 17 year old, then shit I'm in trouble as they will wanna pick an older actor.

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  4. Limpeh Foreign Talent12 February 2014 at 01:18

    Hi guys, just to let you know, the casting director emailed my agent today telling her that I didn't get the part even though I was very close to actually getting it. He congratulated me on the standard of my German and okay so I didn't get the part this time - but hopefully they will now bear me in mind for future jobs. I knew it was a long shot so it was good to get that far in the process and be able to hold my head up high and say, hey, I nearly succeeded.

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