I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die

I have been asked by two different friends to write about what it's like to audition, so I posed the question to Mike St. James. Hours later I had him out of the fetal position and was able to decipher some of his fretful babble.

In a nutshell, auditions are daunting. To many actors it is the absolute worst part of being an actor, and that definitely holds true for MSJ. There are hundreds of methods and thousands of books to cover those methods. There are lists of shoulds and lists of should-nots. There are classes and more classes teaching aspiring actors how to audition. I'm not qualified to pontificate on any of that, but one thing MSJ said to me stood out and I'm going to give it a go.

There is a question that is often asked in auditions. Assuming all things are equal and everyone is talented and trained, it's the question that, in my humble opinion, sets a person apart. It is, "Tell me something interesting about yourself." So deceptively innocent! So easy to overlook!

You can be a great actor. You can exude talent and self-assurance. But if you're boring we'll spot it from the door. Your answer to the question had better be good. You see, there is a knowing glint in the eye, a mischievous twist at the corner of the mouth, an audacious curve to the eyebrow, the essence of the devil-may-care in the posture of a person who has danced off the edge of the map. We all recognize them wherever we go and we envy them. They are the intrepid ones who laugh at those who say we should not tempt fate and say rather, "Fate should not tempt me!"

Actors are like writers in many ways. They have the similar function to inspire you and whisk you away and make you for just one moment forget that you're sitting in your dockers on your couch hoping the dog isn't digging another hole in the backyard or some other prosaic pondering. For one glittering moment you think expansively or you laugh with abandon or cry without restraint. Thoreau said, "How vain it is to sit down and write when you have not stood up to live." I would say the same about acting.

So here is the Actor's Wife's test. Can you answer yes to any of these questions?**

• I shared a jail cell with a woman named Big Alice for one night.
• I lived life so hard for one weekend in New York that a bum offered me part of her sandwich.
• I have been chased down a narrow, cobbled street by a pimp in Amsterdam.
• In a drunken fit of anger I have alienated the entire populace of Australia in one fell swoop (but, oh, they had it coming!)
• I have raced my friend down a hill in a wheelchair "borrowed" from the infirmary at my parochial school and let the nuns chase me if they dared.
• I wear my love for Simon Le Bon on my sleeve to this day.
• I got so drunk in Dallas that I woke up in a stranger's backyard in Houston and couldn't remember why.
  

If you can't claim at least one similar exploit you are not ready to throw yourself onto the screen of my TV. Earn my respect. Have an adventure. Be audacious. Cultivate panache. Learn to speak French. Kiss a stranger. Go skinny dipping (I recommend Freeport Beach, in Erie, Pennsylvania).

Actors have to pull their inspiration from somewhere. They have to dredge up some experience to channel the perfect emotion into their character. It stands to reason that the more varied your experiences and the more unique your talents, the better and more organic of an actor you'll be.

And if nothing else, you'll have a good answer to the question.

**These stories belong to my very best friend Raphaela. Adventure seeks her out and she is always a willing bedfellow of mischief. Read her blog and try to keep up. I dare you. (Well, the drunk in Dallas story is Ryan's. He has great adventures, too, and they all start with , "We were drinking...")