Solid Advice

My working class small business owner parents are awesome. They are retired now but years ago when I was in my first year of acting school they had some advice for me. The advice was simple and two fold. "Do whatever you want just buy a house as soon as you can. Even before that. Honey, turn your rent into a mortgage payment." AND, "Do commercials. From where we sit commercials are how you work smart."

Of course, I was furious. Furious in that young you don't understand me kind of way. The same way where I could find money for rent and shopping but buy a house? Ya right. Do commercials? As if!

That summer I received a scholarship to study at the Banff Centre and it didn't seem logical to get a job for the few weeks that I was going to be in between studies ... so I thought I'd work on my tan. I'd received a scholarship, why would I get a job right? Three days into the suntanning my mama suggested I audition for a commercial.  I thought she was crazy but she had seen a casting notice in the paper and ... well, I had auditioned for commercials before (twice actually and didn't get either one) and thought it was going to be a big waste of time. I ended up going to the audition and the following day was cast. My first commercial. The problem was it was filming on the day I was going to be traveling to Banff. Reluctantly and willingly I rearranged my travel plans, filmed the commercial and still made it to my first day of class at The Banff Centre. 

From that commercial, I made enough money to pay for my second year of college. Oddly enough buying a house was a lot easier. I assumed a mortgage about two years out of university and never rented again. 

I love my parents. 

ps - the Family Guy spots on the right were filmed the summer I got married and the Air Canada ad filmed in Buenos Aires with the nicest actors on earth