Eye Candy

photo by Favim

Some people are born for Hollywood: perfect specimens of the human race. As I was reminded at a recent audition, I am not one of them.

A woman with a tape measure met us at the sign-in table. Actors usually just fill out a size card: height, weight, bust, hips, hat size. 

Sometimes there's a scale in the room but that's rare. We're trusted to give accurate measurements because if we book the role and the wardrobe doesn't fit, there might not be a payday.

The tape measure felt like a judge. Everyone knows curvy women are seldom cast as eye candy and here I was having a full-sized flashback.

When I first started working in TV news, I honestly thought viewers would care more about my storylines than my waistline. I didn't worry about my size; I came out of the womb BIG, the largest of five kids.

I lost weight after receiving some pretty humiliating comments from viewers.

Then there's hair and skin bias. Chris Rock's new film Good Hair reveals the ugly truth:  cain't be sportin' no nappy tresses or dark chocolate skin on TV.

Right after moving to LA, I saw a casting notice for a newscaster role.  I wanted to audition but the director only wanted to see "light-skinned" blacks. I pitched myself anyway and booked the part (Showfax magazine ran my story in an article here: http://more.showfax.com/columns/avoice/archives/2007_08_27.html).

So maybe I don't have the assets Hollywood covets:  fair skin. size zero hips. blonde hair. I'm ok with the image in the mirror. Oh sure, the booty's smaller these days but what's more important is the knowledge I do have:  no tape measure defines your value.

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