Tara Karsian has appeared recently on such television shows as CSI, Desperate Housewives, Six Feet Under, NYPD Blue, Everybody Loves Raymond, Complete Savages, and Reba, among countless others, including Emeril! (often considered one of television’s worst sitcoms. For the record, she didn’t think it was that bad).
Tara is a member of the LA-based Echo Theatre Company and has appeared in several of their productions, including the world premiere of Paul Zimmerman’s Pigs and Bugs. She also proudly teaches for Act Out, the Echo Theatre’s outreach program for incarcerated youth. More information is at https://echotheatercompany.com.
Tara is grateful she gets to do what she loves (to act. She hates writing bios). More information about Tara is available at https://imdb.com/name/nm0440160.
I was basically raised in the industry so I knew at a young age and asked my parents. Friends of theirs would say, “You should try to get her an agent.” And my parents would say, “Absolutely not.” My mother—Pat Carroll—said to me, “When you turn eighteen, you can make the decision for yourself.” My father was not as pleased about that. So, when I turned eighteen, I said, “I don’t want to go to college. I want to start acting.” They had to let me go. I just knew it was something that I wanted to do and at eighteen, I didn’t feel that need to go to college. The first thing my mother said to me was, “You’ve got to find an acting class.” I did. I was very lucky. I found a woman who was wonderful, Lynette Katselas. I don’t know if she’s teaching anymore. She was a brilliant teacher. Everybody in the class was young and working. I was the only one without an agent.
How did you get your first agent?
It took a while. It took four years for me to get an agent. I put together a showcase with some friends. I think we were all kind of sitting around talking about it one night and I knew I didn’t want to do any of the pay-to-do-a-showcase things. I said, “We know enough talented people that I think we can do this.” It was incredible. It was a great experience. I didn’t quite know how showcases worked, but this young guy came up to me afterwards and said, “I think you’re wonderful and I’m with an agency and there’s no way they’re going to take you because you have no credits.” And I said, “Well, what do we do about that?” He said, “You keep me informed as to what you’re doing.” And I said, “I’m doing a play in a few months.” He said, “Good!”
So, I was doing the play a few months later and he brought the whole agency to see me. They fell in love with one of the other actresses. I’d had a shit night. I was just so off that night. I’m thinking, “Here they come and they’re going to love me and, hey, why are they talking to her?!?” The agent called the next day and said, “I’m so sorry. But I have an idea. I want to bring them back under the guise of seeing her again.” At that point I’d already given up. The big thing was, the head of the agency never stayed for a second act—which I find incredibly rude—and there was a huge buzz outside after the show when I walked out the door. The agent said, “He stayed! He stayed for the second act.” The head of the agency then came up to me and said, “We’d love to meet with you this week.” They signed both of us actually, so it worked out for me and the actress they loved the first time.
My dad was an agent and then became a manager. He was actually my mother’s manager, which I’m sure ended their marriage. I think my father saw all of the horrible parts of the business. Still, he was very compassionate with actors. He was at the William Morris Agency, so he was dealing with celebrities. He hated the bad parts about the industry and I think wanted to protect any child of his from having to go through that. I think, in a weird way, my father was against it until I started working and he saw other people saying that it was okay. My mother was the complete opposite. My mother was always supportive. The showcase I produced, she came to see. She had never seen me do anything professionally. Afterwards she called and said, “Can we have lunch tomorrow?” I thought, “Oh, God. Here we go.” We had lunch and she said, “After what I saw, don’t ever give up. If you do, I will kick your butt.” And to this day, when I get depressed, she will call me up and say, “You know, the miracle is right around the corner!” So, I’ve had both types of input and that’s a lot of how I see the industry. I see both sides. The question I ask of aspiring actors is: “Is it the only thing you want to do?” If it isn’t, go do something else. You’ve got to want to be a lifer. It’s not a hobby. I get a little bit annoyed with those who treat it as such.
What was your first paid gig?
Who’s the Boss? A guy I had met who is now a big casting director, Greg Orson, was the assistant to Vicki Rosenberg then. He got me in on a general and I met with Vicki’s associate. She told me about a part that I might be right for and I got it and it became recurring. I thought that Who’s the Boss? was just the beginning and that it was like a corporate thing. I thought I’d just keep moving up the ladder from Who’s the Boss? and that didn’t happen.
The agency I was with explained to me what they were going to do. They said, “We’re going to start you with Under-5s and we’ll keep building you.” And they did. There were years that I would work continually and then there was a two-year time when I couldn’t book a callback. It freaked me out. I freaked out and thought obviously something was wrong. Desperation walks in the door before you do. I got to a very desperate point where every interview became so important to me. I was at borderline panic attacks because I couldn’t figure out what had happened.
Looking back at it, I can say that the talent didn’t change; I just wasn’t prepared for the fact that the industry is cyclical. You can’t explain that to someone, especially to a younger person. If this happens to you, don’t freak out. You just have to get through it. You have to keep walking through it. It’s frustrating and scary. You begin to question everything. “How do I change things?” It can be an epiphany for some actors, but nothing had changed for me. I just kept walking through it.
The joke of it is, I said, “Somebody has got to give me a sign.” I literally had not worked in two years and the phone rang. It was a friend of mine who was a producer on Walker, Texas Ranger. She said, “Can you get your tape here overnight?” And I said, “Sure.” She said, “Great. There’s a part for a man. But we’ve read everybody. They’ve seen everybody in LA. There’s no one who can do it.” Two days later, I was on a plane to Texas. Well, that’s my sign! I began working again because I got my confidence back. I think that’s a lot of it. Once an actor loses confidence, it’s over. We all have egos and once that ego is bruised you start thinking, “I’m not doing something right. I need to do this. I need to do what everybody else is doing right now.” No. Just walk through it. Just keep walking through it. There is light at the end of the tunnel. There always is.
Even when that light has been dim, I have always appreciated every gig. Sometimes the best part of getting the job is just getting the job. I have been on sets that are miserable but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been grateful for a job. I have a great lack of patience for those who aren’t grateful. There are too many people out there who are deserving, who don’t have agents, and who can’t get in for the auditions. I’ve always said that casting directors should have a camera in the waiting room to see what they’ll actually be getting on the set. You’re going to get sunshine and lollipops in the room. What was going on in the waiting room? What do you want on the set?
Be grateful for the job. Go on the set, do your work, don’t be a pain in the ass. When you have the job, it’s the greatest drug in the world. When you’re working, there’s nothing better. When you’re not, you’re jonesin’ for the next fix. Something has got to keep you going during that time.
I was talking to a young kid from my acting class. He said, “I just want it so badly right now.” I said, “If I told you that in ten years it would happen for you, what would you do?” He said, “I don’t know. I guess I’d go do something else.” I looked at him and said, “I would love to hit my success later in life as opposed to early. I think it would be really scary to be twenty-six and washed up.” We’re not in control of it. I was supposed to have won an Academy Award at twenty-one. Didn’t happen. If you’re waiting for a job or a series to make you happy, you’re going to be screwed.
Do you ever feel like giving up?
Twenty times a day! We’re not in control. That’s why it’s so important to surround yourself with really good people who will tell you it straight. You need people who will let you know if it’s never going to happen.
My sister’s a casting director. I love casting directors who love their jobs. No, I love anybody who loves their job. I want to see that. I want the person who’s doing craft service to have a great time. I want everybody to have a good time. I think we are ridiculously overpaid for what we do—not that I wouldn’t take the money! I’ve been on some sets where I just want to slap people and say, “Nowhere else are you going to be getting this kind of money to sit around and play and have fun.” I am constantly amazed when I guest star on a show and am grateful when Friday comes around because these people are miserable. They’re making more money than God and it’s embarrassing that they hate their jobs so much. I think, “Where were you raised that you aren’t grateful for this?!?”
My mother was on a show and I was teasing her once because I had come to the set to get something. It was a Monday morning and the guest actor was walking on the set and my mom went up and introduced herself. She said, “Now, the stage manager is over there. He can answer any questions. Craft service is over there. Let me take you over.” I said, “Hey, Cruise Director Julie McCoy, what are you doing here?” She said, “You mark my words. When you have a guest on a show, if you’re a series regular on that show, Tara, treat them as if they’re a guest in your home for a week.” I will tell you, Tony Danza was that way. The lead on the first job I did stood up when we walked into the room. He introduced us to each of the cast members. Friday night taping, there were flowers in all of our dressing rooms from him. He was an absolute gentleman. How wonderful for that to be my first job! This is how it should be. I don’t want to be shocked when that happens!
We, as actors, especially when we’re guesting on shows, our job is just to go on the set and do the best work and not be the pain in the ass. I love working with actors I know are going to be there on time. And if you ask them to do something, it’s done. It’s not a big deal. These actors who want to discuss character for three hours, it’s like, “That’s homework, folks. Do it at home and don’t waste our time.” There’s nothing more boring to me than watching an actor come on a set and want to talk to the director. “You’re a guest actor. You were hired for a job because you did the job well in the audition. Do what you have to do before you get on the set.”
I was working with a kid in acting class. I was doing a scene with him. Second week and he still didn’t know his lines. He said, “You seem upset.” I said, “If you were on a set, you would’ve been fired by now. You’re wasting my time. I’m telling you this for when you go on to work professionally. Nobody’s going to run lines with you. Nobody is going to rehearse with you. You’ll get maybe one rehearsal if you’re lucky. And that’s for lighting. And if you think the star of the show you’ve got a scene with is going to say, ‘Hey, let’s run lines!’ you’re out of your mind. It’s not going to happen. I just want to let you know what’s going to happen if you do this on a set. You will be fired.” Of course, this was in class and I believe every actor should be in class. But your work in class shows what your work on the set would be. Be ready. And say “please” and “thank you” on the set. I’m tired of the prop guy saying, “Thank you. You’re the only person who said ‘thank you’ to me today.” I’m tired of that.
In addition to keeping yourself in check in class, I think you should keep up with your feedback from casting. I think there’s a problem if you’re not being brought back in by casting people. If your agent says, “Bonnie doesn’t want to see you on this one,” or “Bonnie was a little lukewarm,” you need to look at that. “Why won’t Bonnie see me?” Most of the time, actors tend to be in a grey area. We don’t know why someone isn’t bringing us in. If you’re an actor and you’re not being brought in by someone you’ve booked with in the past, you need to look at that. Really be self-aware and then fix the problem. It really pays to look at that unspoken feedback.
My sister called me one day because her casting assistant was out: “Can you come in and fill?” It was final callbacks for this movie. I said, “Sure.” It was the greatest thing I’ve ever done! I want every actor to do that! You see these actors leaving their power out in the waiting room. The girl who ended up getting the part came in, did the job, and left. Read the room! The girl who could’ve gotten it told this long, boring story. She just went on and on and on. The energy got sucked out of the room. There was no point, no punchline. I wanted to call this girl and say, “What was that story? Why did you do that?!?” She thought staying in the room so long was great. No, honey. Read the room! I wish actors were a little more self-aware.
What is your favorite thing about being an actor?
There’s nothing I don’t love about being an actor. I had a joke with my old agent. I’d call and go, “Ugh! Did I tank in the room!” and I’d get the job. It’s the times that I go, “Whew! I was GREAT! I’ll be getting that phone call in a couple of hours,” that I’m then checking my cell thinking, “What’s going on? T-Mobile must be out!” I think there are auditions that I’ve gone, “Ugh! I can’t believe how embarrassing that was. Those people are going to take that tape home and laugh at it tonight with their family,” and I’ve gotten the job. I don’t think we know what goes on in a room after we leave. I think you walk into a room of seventeen people and you’re like, “Which one of you is deciding?” Of course, you can’t do that and this casting by committee thing goes on. And if someone thinks, “Well, she reminds me of my third grade teacher who I hated,” you’ll never know that. Instead they’ll say, “She’s not funny,” or, “We went another way.” And in a big room, how can you know who is really the decision-maker? I get so excited when I go into a room of two people. “Thank you! There’s a chance these two will agree.”
This interview was conducted on December 20, 2004, and it originally appeared in Acting Qs: Conversations with Working Actors by Bonnie Gillespie and Blake Robbins, available at Amazon.