To My Ladies on Superbowl Sunday

Shout Out to my ladies who don't know anything about Superbowl Sunday. Just like me!

Superbowl day and lots of people are excited.  But I don't really care.

I don't even know who is playing or what time it's going on.

I'm not that impressive knowledgable lady fan who can talk the talk with the rest of the guys.

I have never been that girl and I've stopped trying.  But good for the girlies who have it in them to pay attention (to those long what is it 10 hours) to a pigskin ball.  The game: a football tossed from one side of the field to the other.
Men get injured; NO HEALTHCARE is set up for these athletes for their health issues during their career, or their families.

What I do know; I have an audition at 10 on one side of town and a show at Noon in Hollywood.  You could say I'm playing my own kind of football, I guess.  If you get the analogy.

Honestly, I'm celebrating the real reason this un-official holiday was made up. To eat, and binge on our favorite foods and snacks.

Yeah, America!, we can get fat and get heart disease together (1 in 3 women will suffer from Heart Disease).  So just like all my fellow Americans I'm making sure I'm eating all my favorite foods.  Yes sir, I'm binge-ing.  Next I'll be sitting or laying down probably watching a movie on Netflix on my iPad, while everyone around me is rooting for their favorite team.  Of course I'll pause just in
time to watch the half time show.  But really why wasn't #Beyonce back this year.

Shout out to my girls on this Sunday.  Heed my words, this too shall pass.

#netflix #superbowlSunday #cadena3

Emotions, My Power & My Kryptonite

I'm sure you have watched Superman as a kid or perhaps even now as an adult.  Then, you know that Superman's power is his super human strength and of course you know, Kryptonite weakens him.  Well, my superpower & my kryptonite are my emotions.

Emotional power as an actress allows me to feel everything, I feel the soaring of a bird in the sky.  I feel the lines on the paper.  In Acting, I am the character when I'm on.  I've taken training to be more in tune with my emotions.  It is what drives me in my career and in life.  It is why some people are attracted to me and a very, very, very few are not.

I grew up singing through intermediate school and high school.  Then I took a hiatus and started production studies.  I directed my first project at my University, for GMU News.  I also edited the broadcast.  It was great.  I loved the opportunity.  It was part of the STARS program.  Thank you to all my friends there.

Anyway, I digress.  Where was I?  Oh yeah.   Emotions, My Power & My Kryptonite.

With my emotional superpower, I can tune in to people's emotions so much so that I take them on.  So I've had to learn how to shield myself from them.

I always root for the underdog.  At times I feel I am the underdog
when my emotional power is at odds with my Kryptonite. There are times where I can't turn it off

and I can't stop it from seeping through my entire being.  It holds me like that red ray holding Superman back.  I stay in it and I get weak.  I get emotionally weak in all senses to the point where my body gets weak.   I can't think.  I can't move.  I can't get up.

I'm learning to control my emotional power, slowly now.  I try to walk away when I'm feeling weak, which is all the time.  I sometimes wish I could shut it off completely.  I didn't ask for this superpower.  But since I have it, I wouldn't have it any other way.  It is my #GIFT.  I am THANKFUL for it.  I have to use it, I need to use it.  I need to express myself constantly.


Most importantly I've learned, with Great Power, comes Great Responsibility.  (spidy sense)

Chasing Your Dream

It is definitely challenging trying to make it in Hollywood as an actor.  But let me tell you I have some awesome experiences.  

In one day my journey takes me from pushing paper or serving a plate of Salmon to Helen Hunt and Orlando Bloom, to shaking hands with & giving 27 cents to a celebrity while in line at PC Greens, in Malibu (when I hardly have two dollars left to my name).

I wake up early to make it from one audition in Pasadena, for a role as an insurance agent.  I fight traffic, fight time and I fight nerves.  When I get there I run in to find I'm there earlier than the production team.  Finally, I audition before one person in a cold room.  I run out to my car parked at a meter, I thank my lucky stars I didn't get a ticket, and head to Santa Monica while I'm running out of gas.  At the same time I'm changing in the car to play a young mom.  I somehow make it on time to the second audition.  But it doesn't stop there.  I have to head to work and let all that stress go for a different kind of stress.  

Oh did I tell you I haven't eaten all day.  

Unless you come from money and your parents are paying your way,  most actors I know have to juggle four jobs to be able to chase that dream. Most people that make it have parents in the industry and already have a path paved just for them. It gets real.  Some of my friends have lost their jobs due to an  inflexible schedule which has no time for an actor trying to act on weekends or evenings.  On top of this most non-union plays hardly pay any money to help pay bills, and sometimes they don't even pay at all.  Acting takes money. 

Of course everyone believes they can act! In America the general public hardly has respect for the art.  In fact, I just had a conversation with someone the other day telling me just this, “don’t take this the wrong way but I think anyone can act.” I responded, “don’t take this the wrong way but everyone that says they can, doesn’t know what acting is".  (They don't know their act from a whole in the ground.”

Overseas there is so much more respect for the art.  Children get trained very young to have an acting career. That is why American movies have so many British, Australian actors.  I really don’t understand why American studios are hiring so many foreign actors.  I know so many actors who are good and deserve that job.  Like me, for instance.  Don’t be surprised by this statement.  I live in America; I am going to be pro-American actors.

The best part of it all is that when you finally make the decision to ACT.  It is a difficult decision to make.  You have to give up everything to chase your passion.  You get in debt and go back to school for training.  You give up the job with a full time pay and benefits.  You give up luxury and get a cheaper car to bring down your monthly expenses.  FINALLY, with eyes closed, you jump into the unknown abyss, with the hope that you’ll land on your feet. It is such a relief when you kind of "do" land.  The duality that had been in the past is no longer there, you are finally a whole being.  It just got real.  It doesn't stop there.  The best part of it all, and I mean this very sarcastically, life decides to test you every step of the way.  Life begins to throw you challenges, some of them are tough to get over, (and I don’t think you can ever get over).  But it keeps throwing them at you to see if you really want it.  

Your passion doesn’t have to be mine.  Whatever that passion is, you can be sure it will be tested.  Patience, stamina, tenacity, health, love, money, it will all be challenged.  And I'm here to tell you, "don’t give up!  Keep at it, keep going, don't leave".  

I truly truly, truly believe that you wouldn’t be tested if it weren’t the right path for you. 

OMG HAPPY NEW YEAR! BE KIND TO ANIMALS

My message to you for this year is; Be kind to Animals.

They have such a wonderful heart, they are loyal patient, honest and very very special.  So please be kind to them.

I think kindness is a human core and it takes people like us, you and me to remind everyone else of our duty.

BE KIND TO ANIMALS.
Happy New Year www.jccadena.com 

Be a responsible Human Being and be kind.

I hope your new year is filled with rewarding chances.

#happy #newyear

Happy Holidays

This year, the holidays for me have been very enjoyable.

Usually I feel very sad because I'm an emotional being
and for me the holidays had a melancholy air
about them.

As a child I remember having Christmas with my parents
and how great it was. The entire family, aunts, uncles, cousins came over to our house to celebrate.  It was great. We celebrated Christmas Eve and the food was so delish.  At midnight we opened our gifts around the tree.

As time crept on the Christmas celebration became smaller and smaller, people started to have a family of their own and started to celebrate their Christmas in their own home.  So slowly our huge celebration became tiny and quaint. Even my sister got married and she celebrated the holidays with her husband and her husbands family and not us.  It made me sad.  My Mother passed away in 2006 and Christmas has certainly not been the same since.

But this year, I've been working on healing some of those wounds by exploring why I feel the way I feel.  By "checking in" with myself, and checking in often.  Some of my emotional responses are just that emotional and I don't need to react the way i had in the past.  So I enjoyed Thanksgiving this year.  And let me tell you I enjoyed shopping for gifts for the very first time in a very long time. Partly because I was shopping for myself.  I hate shopping, I'm just not that girl.  Though I am a girly girl.  Shopping to me is torture.  But I enjoyed it this time very much because I got a great gift, naturally.
I shopped for new bras and found that my cup size has grown from a"B" to a "D".  Awesome gift, universe.  Thank you very much.  I got new boobs for Christmas the natural way, by eating and gaining weight.  How long will this last, only till my next diet.  But I will certainly enjoy having them.

LOL. Merry Christmas.

Getting Ready for Pilot Season

Reflecting on what to write this week.  I thought perhaps I should talk about the sexual abuse allegations that are making the headlines.  And perhaps share my opinion with such a topic.
But instead I thought I would focus on the positive things and write about what fuels my soul and what I have control over, my preparation,  Acting: Getting Ready for Pilot Season.

If you are new to Pilot Season, pilot season starts from January to April.  It is when producers film their show ideas to sell to major networks. Producers hire Casting Directors to cast the roles in these projects.  Most of the time the leads are filled with known talent.  But there are other minor roles that need the rest of us.

For Pilot Season it is helpful to have an agent.  As your agent can pitch you to these casting directors if you don't have major credits.  If you don't have an agent get on it. Don't be afraid that you don't have credits.  Some agents are looking for someone of your qualifications.

A Cold Reading Class is helpful.  Some auditions are the same day with very little time to prepare.  Exercising your cold reading muscle is very important. Find yourself a class with a good teacher.  Audit the class first to see if it's something you can learn from and are comfortable with.  You can also look up the teachers credits on imdb.com.

Make sure your head-shots are good, they need to look like you, when you walk in a room.  How is your reel?  Do you need to update it, is your resume up to date?  All these items are your calling card.  They need to look professional and current.

CD Workshops are another way to get in front of casting directors.  There are many around town.  You can pay as little as $20 or up to $500.  This depends on your budget.  Again research is the key.  On a budget I recommend Actors Comedy Studio (www.actorscomedystudio.com).  They have workshops for $20 and the classes are usually small and very friendly.

These are just a few items to get started on.  I will update you from time to time letting you know what I'm doing to get myself known with Casting Directors.

The key is to be assertive.

JC Cadena in A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

I'll be performing at the Cupcake Theatre in Hollywood starting December 19, 2014.  Click the link for dates and times.  I'll be Hippolyta & Peaseblossom.

If you haven't seen A Midsummer Night's Dream, I recommend it highly.

See you there.

JC