Many hopefuls descend onto Hollywood with a dream every day. Step one of the dream is to become a working actor, earning just enough to quit the server job. At least, that’s the dream of aspiring starlet Samantha (Tara Erickson) in Craig Tovey’s short film, Prime of Your Life.
Samantha is focused on fulfilling her dream. She practically works out of her car, rushing from one audition to the next, being an active part of her improv group, checking in on Bumble, and occasionally asking her mom for some quick cash.
“…invites Samantha to his home to talk about the possibility of finally getting that first big break.”
Fortune is about to turn when an emerging director, Mitchell (Blayne Weaver), invites Samantha to his home to talk about the possibility of finally getting that first big break. No, it’s not one of those meetings…maybe. It’s legit, but at the same time, Mitchell’s news is not what an actor wants to hear, though they’ve heard it time and time again. He then asks Samantha to tell him how she feels, and she does.
Prime of Your Life exists to remind the gods of Hollywood that actors are real people working tirelessly to perfect their craft while at the same time scraping by to simply survive. Tovey’s short also exists to show that Tara Erickson can act and pull off that all-important final speech with authenticity and passion. Quite frankly, the circumstances leading to this speech are pretty crazy, and the film could have gone horribly wrong, but Erickson’s performance is simply brilliant.
"…remind the gods of Hollywood that actors are real people..."
