We’ve got another acting podcast today! Actor Angel Parker (The Rookie, Marvel’s Runaways) joins us on the Box Angeles podcast episode 363. Angel stops by the bungalow and discusses commuting to Los Angeles, her relationship with her reps, how she tries to do stuff for her acting daily, and more!
“You don’t need to be [in Los Angeles], especially if you’re booking one or two jobs a year.”
— Angel Parker
Beats
00:00 – Angel slates.
00:11 – Introduction.
02:10 – Moving to St. Louis and commuting to Los Angeles.
13:24 – Self awareness to turn down work.
14:22 – Work as a local hire.
18:26 – Relationship with reps.
27:21 – Advice to young actors.
29:37 – Optimism about show business.
32:50 – What Angel does to “Touch the grass”.
35:46 – Continuing acting education.
37:03 – Quitting.
39:40 – Supporting other actors.
43:54 – ‘The Rookie’ role growing over seasons.
48:44 – Guest stars struggling on set.
50:24 – Pay growth on ‘The Rookie’.
56:15 – Who took a chance on Angel.
More Angel
– Check Angel’s IMDb.
– Follow Angel on Instagram @angelparkerla.
– Listen to Angel’s first episode of Box Angeles, #190.
Transcript
ANGEL PARKER (00:06)
Okay, hi, I’m Angel Parker.
MIKE ELDER (00:11)
Hello, welcome to the Box Angeles podcast with me. I’m your host, Mike Elder. Thank you so much for listening to the show, whether you’re on the treadmill or running down the street or going for a walk or watching this on YouTube with some popcorn, or maybe you’re falling asleep to me. People have said I put them to sleep, so maybe that’s what you’re doing. No matter how you’re listening to this, thank you so much for listening to it. It means a lot to me. We’ve got a really good episode this week.
I talked to actor Angel Parker. Angel did the podcast back in 2017. I had her back on because she’s such a delight. You’d recognize her from shows like The Rookie, All-American, Lab Rats, The Recruit. She’s been all over your television for many, many years, and we had a really good conversation. We talked about she left LA. She no longer is based in LA.
Well, she gets into it. She doesn’t live in LA full time anymore, but we talked about how hard that is and how easy that is now with self-tapes. So that was really exciting. We talked about how she quits every weekend and then restarts in the business on Mondays. That’s funny.
We talked about needing to step away and like recharge elsewhere and touch the grass and just get fulfillment and joy outside of the show business world. That was really helpful. This was a nice conversation. Angel’s so sweet. She couldn’t be more kind and generous with her time. And this was a good conversation.
So I don’t want to waste any more precious time of yours. So without further ado, I give you Angel Parker.
🎵 ROCKFORD (01:31) 🎵
You wanna talk to me? You wanna talk.
ANGEL PARKER (01:36)
Hi, Mike.
MIKE ELDER (01:37)
Hi, Angel.
ANGEL PARKER (01:38)
Hi.
MIKE ELDER (01:39)
I’m so pumped to see you.
ANGEL PARKER (01:40)
I know. Thank you for having me back.
MIKE ELDER (01:42)
I had you on in 2017.
ANGEL PARKER (01:44)
Has it been that long?
MIKE ELDER (01:45)
Yeah.
ANGEL PARKER (01:45)
God, that’s nine years.
MIKE ELDER (01:46)
Yeah. And I fucked up the audio and I’ve never forgiven myself for messing up your audio.
ANGEL PARKER (01:50)
Don’t fuck it up today.
MIKE ELDER (01:51)
I’m not going to. There’s so much redundancies and backup plans here. So all of this is like better work.
ANGEL PARKER (01:58)
I do feel very well taken care of. So thank you.
MIKE ELDER (02:00)
Oh, that’s nice.
ANGEL PARKER (02:01)
Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (02:01)
We went back and forth for a while. So thanks for sticking with me. Sometimes when that happens, we lose each other.
ANGEL PARKER (02:07)
No, I’m down. It’s just sometimes life gets in the way and I commute now to LA. So, you know, you got to catch me when you can.
MIKE ELDER (02:14)
Yeah, that’s wild. Can you talk about that real quick? Like, has that, you’re commuting now?
ANGEL PARKER (02:18)
Yes.
MIKE ELDER (02:18)
Is that affected how much you’re working?
ANGEL PARKER (02:22)
Yes.
MIKE ELDER (02:23)
Negatively, obviously.
ANGEL PARKER (02:25)
Well, it’s just, it basically removed commercials from my life.
MIKE ELDER (02:29)
Sure.
ANGEL PARKER (02:29)
Because post covid, during covid, commercials were all online. Like we would audition online. It was annoying because you’d still have to do a lot and some commercials still are online, but you really kind of got to be here for that. And that was a big source of income when you could book it, right? So that has kind of gone away. I can still tape a few, but then they’ll want you here for the callback or something like that. But when it comes to other work, every other theatrical job, I still audition on tape and mail it in and then fly to the job.
And usually that job is not in Los Angeles, even though now that I’ve relocated to St. Louis, my family moved there, I now have been working in LA. I’m like, of course, of all, like I didn’t work in LA for a decade. And now that I moved away from LA, I’m recurring on two shows that actually shoot here, which is so rare. So don’t you just love the universe?
MIKE ELDER (03:24)
It’s funny. Like, and it gives me hope though, weirdly. I like hearing that because whenever I leave town, I get an opportunity. I’m like, son of a bitch. Are you kidding me? Of course. But it’s like, I do wonder, like, what is tying us to LA?
Like, why do we need to be here?
ANGEL PARKER (03:40)
Well, the weather. Let’s be clear. The weather cannot be beat.
MIKE ELDER (03:45)
Of course. The good points of LA are amazing, but there’s no reason we should be tied here. And you are right. Like I get so many commercial auditions that are in person now that just are not flexible. I was just in Portugal for two weeks. I got like a voiceover I could do in my bed. I put it, I was under the sheets in the hotel doing the voiceover, but like.
ANGEL PARKER (04:04)
Done there. Been there, done that.
MIKE ELDER (04:06)
Yeah. They’re in person and they’re like, next week they shoot and you’re like, fuck.
ANGEL PARKER (04:10)
Yeah. And so it’s back to that. I think it’s easier for them. It’s actually easier, you know, if you’re not remote for the actor, because the setups for those auditions for commercials were so gnarly. It was like three different takes and this and you need these props. It was like making mini movies. And I used to just walk into the room, get the explanation, do the thing and walk out.
I used to do that for voiceover as well. I’d go to my voiceover agency and do the recording because they would do it well. They had the best mics. They’d give me a little direction and they’d send it off in the format that it needed to be done. And now I find that I’m not booking as much voiceover because I am so bogged down by the technical. And I’ve figured out the technical for on camera, obviously, but mainly because the phones are so much easier now. So, you know, as long as you got a decent lighting and decent sound, you’re good.
But, and I still do think that the acting reigns supreme, but in commercials, it’s really a look and a touch and a, you know, a smirk and a vibe. And you can’t really create that when you’re bogged down in technical.
MIKE ELDER (05:10)
Let me ask you this. In your tapes for theatrical, are you saying you’re not currently in LA?
ANGEL PARKER (05:15)
No, I say based in LA, currently in wherever I’m at, because I’m not always in St. Louis.
MIKE ELDER (05:21)
Right, right. You say you’re in wherever you’re at.
ANGEL PARKER (05:22)
I still say yes, I do, because they need to know. It’s not fair to them not to know because they could, the booking could be tomorrow, you know, and in theatrical, sometimes it is that quick where they’re like, we need you to fit tomorrow and you shoot on Friday or whatever. So they do need to know that just logistically. Also, it’s kind of fun in your slate to be like, oh, I’m, you know, based in Los Angeles because a lot of times they will not fly you to LA.
And I am based in Los Angeles. I do still have my home here and I have a lot of friends. I could always stay here. I see you got a couch. Like, you know, like I can, I can crash any. I’m from here, born and raised in LA. So that is not an issue.
It’s more just the flight and getting here. But luckily St. Louis has an airport that has tons of flights daily. So there’s like five direct flights a day and then there’s also a ton through Denver. So it’s, it’s an easy, not easy, but I can get on a flight that day.
MIKE ELDER (06:16)
Yeah.
ANGEL PARKER (06:16)
And so they do want to know. And I think it’s also just like cute and quirky to be like, I’m based in Los Angeles, but currently in Tennessee, you know, or in Portugal, like it’s something to kind of say.
MIKE ELDER (06:26)
Well, I was going to say, I wonder if that like is appealing to them. I interviewed Adam Shapiro like six months ago, a year ago. He’s from The Bear. He said he always says, he’s like in New Zealand or somewhere exotic, just to make them think he’s shooting something else. And then they’re like, oh, he’s busy. We want him.
ANGEL PARKER (06:44)
Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (06:44)
So I do wonder if there’s something to that.
ANGEL PARKER (06:46)
He’s very funny and just like, he’s got such a great sense of humor. I love his wife. They’re just such a great, cool couple. And they do, they do all the things, you know, and make it work. So yeah, I do, there’s been times that I have actually been somewhere very weird. Like I did, the last theatrical audition I did was recur on Reasonable Doubt, which shoots in Atlanta. And I was randomly in Oklahoma City, like rural Oklahoma, like outside of Oklahoma City, shooting a short film, a good one with some friends, and I was able to say, I’m in, you know, Biloxi or whatever the heck, the little town was.
It wasn’t Biloxi, but you know, like whatever the little town was in Oklahoma City. And it’s just kind of funny to say. And it is the truth, you know, but you’re like, I’m based here. I’m doing this. Or I’ll say, currently in St. Louis, help, you know, or something like that, you know, as a way to just connect and also give the information that casting really does need.
MIKE ELDER (07:42)
Has that ever backfired? Obviously, commercially you said it did, but theatrically, have you ever missed anything because you’re not there? And you couldn’t turn it around quick enough.
ANGEL PARKER (07:50)
If it’s a theatrical gig, I will, you know, cancel everything to do that. I’ve canceled, you know, like a lot of actors, I’ve canceled weddings and funerals and, you know, vacations. I mean, not my own.
MIKE ELDER (08:04)
You cancelled the wedding? You’re like you can’t get married if I’m not there.
ANGEL PARKER (08:05)
Not my own. Canceled my plans to the wedding. I have missed vacations. I have missed, you know, graduations. I have missed so many things, you know, book a trip, book a job is the old adage. So that just happens sometimes, but you never know what the job will do or what the job will give. There’s sometimes that now, because I have had a, you know, more work in my career, that I will look at the dates of the job and if I’m not available or I have some, like if I had a, I had a trip to Europe and I’m like, I really don’t want that one to fuck up.
MIKE ELDER (08:37)
Yeah, those are tough.
ANGEL PARKER (08:38)
And then I had like an audition for Tracker, which is like notoriously you audition for that show 10 times before you book it. And this was like the second time I was auditioning for it. And I had heard that because so many people say it and it’s in Vancouver and it was right in the middle of the dates and the role was not like fit like a glove, but that’d be one of those random ones that you would just book and then ruin this trip. And then I think like if I’m going to sit on the job and be upset that I’m there, it’s not for me. Like if I’m going to be so sad or mad that I’m going to miss, like I won’t miss my, even the job that I did in Oklahoma City, even though it was a short film, it had a schedule. It was paid. People really worked on it.
I was the lead. It was called Peggy and I played Peggy. I didn’t want to mess up that. And it was my daughter’s musical and she got a big part and it was the first time, eighth grade musical. So last year at junior high and I was like, I’m sorry, I’m not available. Is there a way that you can shift the dates, you know, just a bit? And they came back and said, no, I’m so sorry.
We have it locked in. And then a couple of weeks go by and they’re like, actually we can. We want you. I think they had another casting issue and they were just like, can we move it? I was like, if you can move it one day so I can go to her show, I’m in. So I speak up more now because that pain, that sick feeling that you’re sitting on set and you wish you were somewhere else is never how you want to feel and let somebody else have that job. And I feel like it comes back full circle.
That being said, this is my only gig. I don’t really have another gig or backup plan except for like, I rent my house on Airbnb, like, you know, diversifying income, but that is my job. So because I have a lot of days off and a lot of days free, you know, fun employment keeps you free a lot of days. It is my job to sort of hurry up and wait and jump and go. So I just sort of look at the gig and I’m like, hey, so like the Tracker audition and I’ve auditioned for Tracker since. And I tell my team, hey, please thank them. This opportunity, I’m just not available these dates or whatever it is.
And sometimes when you have to go to Canada, they want you for the full outside dates. And so including the 10 days of the episode, the 10 weekdays of the episode, plus the two weekends, plus travel. So it ends up being like 14, 15 days, like a full two week trip, which is awesome. And I love Vancouver and I could spend, I could live there. Honestly, I love it so much.
It’s such a cool place. But it is a big time commitment if you are like, ooh, I’ll just squeeze it in and I’ll just rush back. That’s so unprofessional to do to them and their schedule. There’s been times that I’ve had conflicting jobs, very rarely, but it does happen where the weeks just cross over and you have to basically pick one job or the other. Like the two shows I was on last year, All American and The Rookie, at one point, both episodes needed me at the same time, on the same day. And it was location dependent and that they had to work it out. And basically it’s whoever booked me first.
I’m not a regular. Like nobody owns me. I’m a guest on both. Whoever books me first. And The Rookie is really good at booking. So The Rookie had booked me first, but it was one day, one scene in one location. That was the whole thing.
An All American needed me for the entire episode, like a huge storyline. So it was like, who’s going to shift their day? It’s not going to be The Rookie, you know? And so All American worked it out, thankfully, but I was off that one day that The Rookie needed me. So.
MIKE ELDER (11:58)
That’s got to feel good that they did that.
ANGEL PARKER (12:00)
It does feel good. And I was like, thank you, thank you, thank you. And the line producer and the, you know, the first AD, I’m just like, thank you.
And she’s like, mm-hmm. As they’re trying to figure it out. But I try to keep a really good reputation. I show up. I know all my stuff. I’m really pleasant. And I think they were just like, okay, we got to figure this out.
Also, somebody didn’t book me soon enough, you know, like they know that I live out of town. They know that I am on another show. And so to book me one week in advance because of their schedule and they’re, you know, everyone’s, it’s not scrambling, but the way that TV moves so quickly, you’re like, oh, right, right, let’s book her. And it’s like, she’s not available. And so I think they learned a lesson. We all learned lessons and it worked out in the end, but it doesn’t have to. I had one job that it was, it was my first series regular and I booked the pilot for it, but it conflicted with a job that I was doing, a recur that they had booked me for the dates.
And honestly, the two showrunners worked it out because they were like, we don’t want to mess up her future. But they very well could have said no. And I have seen and heard other jobs where the other, you just lose the other job. And that’s happened to me as well, where you’re just like, you have two opportunities and you have to pick one.
And that just happens. That’s when you’re just like, ah, for the three weeks before I had nothing. And then of course this one day or the one day of my vacation or the one day of my, you know, daughter’s musical, you know?
MIKE ELDER (13:24)
I like the self-awareness though, to like recognize that something might not be a good enough fit for you to like cancel everything. That’s really fascinating because I feel like that’s probably not something you would have had early on in your career.
ANGEL PARKER (13:36)
Yeah. If I remember correctly, it was like a, you know, the person who cleans a crime scene, like.
MIKE ELDER (13:43)
Sure, the crime cleaner.
ANGEL PARKER (13:44)
The crime cleaner. Yeah. Like hazmat suit, crime cleaner and like took it off. And I was like, I would be in that hazmat suit, like with fake blood. Like, what am I doing here? Why am I not in Europe with my friends, you know? And so I don’t, and that’d be the random one that they would book me for.
It’s a top of show guest star. Like those jobs pay really well and they, you still earn residuals on jobs like that. And I was just like, I just had to say no, but I say no before the audition so that it’s not trying to gamble and scramble. And then it’s really hard to say no to a job. It’s hard enough to say no to an audition, but to say no to a job, ooh.
MIKE ELDER (14:19)
Are your,
ANGEL PARKER (14:20)
That hurts.
MIKE ELDER (14:22)
Are your reps submitting you locally everywhere then?
ANGEL PARKER (14:25)
Yeah. My reps submit me for anything that I’m right for.
MIKE ELDER (14:27)
Like Atlanta, New York, Vancouver, everything.
ANGEL PARKER (14:30)
Yeah. And then there’s certain places that I, like New York, I can be a local hire. The jobs like Atlanta, I don’t really know a lot of people there. I have family in like Augusta, Georgia, you know, Georgia, but like that is not close enough to, I would have to put myself up. But I have friends in New York.
MIKE ELDER (14:46)
But they’re still submitting you there.
ANGEL PARKER (14:47)
They still submit me, but I, I don’t work as a local hire too many.
MIKE ELDER (14:52)
You try not to.
ANGEL PARKER (14:53)
I try not to because you, it, it, it cuts into your check.
MIKE ELDER (14:56)
Right, right, yeah.
ANGEL PARKER (14:57)
I mean, I work as a local hire in LA now and it cuts into my check. Like The Rookie booked me as a local hire back in 2018. So they’re not going to pay for my flights and my lodging. So I have to get here. I have to be, you know, do all the things that I need to do while I’m here and for the dates of the entire episode because their schedule can move.
So yeah, it’s tricky, but it, it, like a lot of my friends who don’t admit that they don’t live in LA anymore, but they don’t. They move home, like, or they’ve moved somewhere else. Like you don’t need to be here, especially if you’re booking one or two jobs a year. Like pay high rent, be away from your family, be away from connection.
During covid, everybody, everything changed. You don’t have to be here. And even a girlfriend of the people that were doing the movie in Oklahoma City, they are, they live in Texas now and still work and recur in LA. And she’s like, my whole family is there. I wanted to raise my kid around there. It’s cheaper to fly to LA, put myself up than to pay for rent for the entire year and to the cost of living in LA and the way that it is, especially if you have another home base. For me personally, all my friends, my whole community is here.
So moving to St. Louis was more for my family, but it proves difficult for me personally and for my career. But I have, I’m a mom. I have to think of my family and think about what would be best for them and a more home base, stable than, and mom flying in and out all the time, at least there’s more stability there. But I wasn’t born and raised in LA, so I love it. I love it. And so I miss it.
MIKE ELDER (16:30)
We touched on that at the beginning. I think that’s good to hear because like me, I’m like, I could never leave LA because I’m not established enough, you know? I don’t have any credentials or any thing that will allow me to leave, but it feels like I still probably could if I really wanted to.
ANGEL PARKER (16:44)
I think if there’s a place that you would want to live besides LA, then live there and just make it work because there’s so many flights. Like if you’re going to be far, like people that, like New York City, they don’t live in the city. Not everybody lives in the city. They commute, you know, an hour to come in from Brooklyn or come in from Long Island City or longer than that. They live in Connecticut and commute in. Like people take trains from DC to New York for auditions. Like people do it.
Yeah, it’s not impossible. And now with the tape, you can submit a tape and then buy yourself time to get there. If they’re doing an in-person callback or a tape, a read or a chemistry read or test, yeah, fuck yeah, you’re going to fly in for that. But first calls for commercials, I can’t fly in for that. I just can’t afford that, you know? So that cut into my income big time.
MIKE ELDER (17:28)
I was like, I’ve been flirting with moving to New York because I feel like part of me wants to just like reset and be something new, shiny somewhere else because I feel like I’m stuck a little bit here because I’m not booking anything. And I’m like, maybe I’m stale, but my agents are just started submitting us locally to New York. And I’m like, fuck yeah, come on, give me a couple at bats on Law & Order.
ANGEL PARKER (17:48)
I’m going to be in New York in two weeks because St. Louis to New York is a 90 minute flight.
St. Louis to LA is a four hour flight. Like I can get there easy peasy.
And it’s just got such a great energy, but it’s also a new community, new people, new way of living. Like look at all this light. Look at your great place. Like you can walk everywhere. Like New York can be a hard town to struggle in.
It’s very expensive. You’d have to, you know, figure life out, which obviously people do. But it is not LA where you get to kind of just have like the sunshine and sit outside and go get a burrito, you know? Like the cost of living. I know. So I’m saying like LA is a…
MIKE ELDER (18:26)
Let me ask you this because like at this point, you’ve obviously done so much and you’re comfortable enough. And this is probably what a lot of us struggle with too on my side is like, or where we’re at or where I’m at. I don’t know who I’m talking for. Where I’m at is like, you got to be, you got to have such a good relationship with your reps now because you’ve, I mean, to put it bluntly, made them a lot of money. So I feel like.
ANGEL PARKER (18:46)
I’ve made them some money. I don’t know about a lot.
MIKE ELDER (18:48)
Well, more than I’ve made my agents.
ANGEL PARKER (18:50)
Yeah. I don’t feel like they’ll fire me. And I used to feel that way.
MIKE ELDER (18:54)
I feel like if I’m like, I’m going to move to Minneapolis, they’re going to be like, okay, bye. See you never. But do you feel like you have a good relationship now with your reps where you can stand up for yourself? Do you have regular meetings with your reps or anything like that to go over where your head is? Like it’s.
ANGEL PARKER (19:10)
Yeah, but all those meetings are like emails and phone calls.
MIKE ELDER (19:13)
Sure, of course.
ANGEL PARKER (19:14)
We, we get together once a year, maybe twice a year. My manager will get together twice a year to have lunch or dinner or, you know, actually we always go to the same place at five o’clock. So it’s more like a happy hour. But that’s my manager and my, and my agent lives in my neighborhood. And so I, you know, my LA neighborhood. And so I see him every now and then. But no, we have a very good working relationship.
I will check in a bit online, but there’s always something kind of going on. If I haven’t heard from them in a month, I’ll check in. But I only check in to tell them what I’m up to. Like I’m like, oh hey, I’m doing this play or oh hey, I’m doing this short film or oh hey, I’m going to New York to, I’m speaking at my alma mater, the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. I’ll just kind of let them know what I’m up to. Not like a newsletter, but like just like, hey, doing this and this and this and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But I kind of keep that professional relationship in that, in that lane because I really do value my life and they value my life and they value their own.
And so work is just one part of it. And so when that’s good, when that’s steady, like auditions are fewer and far between. Like that’s just a fact. Like that’s just life right now. And even though I have been blessed with a lot of work, it has been still like hand to mouth. Like I recur. I will pop into a show, they’ll like me and they’ll write a little more for me.
Like it’s the best, right? And so my role will grow, but I have no guarantee when the next episode will be, if there will be another episode and then it’s still, will the show get canceled? Will the show get, you know, like I got a, I was a recur on The Recruit and then season two, I became a series regular, but that was only because I had a conflict with another show and I was like, hey, you got to bump me up. And they did. And then it gets canceled. So I’m like, goddamn it, I finally get this contract. I have this great part and the show gets canceled.
Like it happens all the time. So it’s one of those things where I have good relationship with my rep, my commercial agents, they’re probably not happy that I’m not around. And usually when I tell them that I’m here, they’ll get me an audition, but then the callback or the job is, you know, or in the summer I’m here and over Christmas I’m here and they’ll get me a lot and I find myself driving all over town, going to first calls, going to callbacks, not booking. And I’m just like, I just spent a lot of energy running around and hustling, which I have done for years and proved well, but I, you know, well worth my time. But now I’m like, if I’m only in LA for two, three weeks, I kind of want to enjoy it. I want to see my friends. I want to go to meetings that are good.
I will hit up a commercial because I, hey, I’m a hustler baby, but sometimes it’s not quite worth it. And if it’s like a, like a spokesperson kind of gig, they will reach out and they will say, hey, this is a good one. This is a big one. Can you send a tape? And then could you be in person for the callback? And I’m like, yes, hell yes. If it’s like, you know, that Geico money, like I’m going for it, you know?
MIKE ELDER (22:16)
Was there a moment though with your reps where like, they always say they work for us, but like at my level, I feel like they don’t work for me. You know what I mean? Like I’m trying to do right by them. Was there a moment where it shifted for you, where you felt like they started actually working for you, if that makes sense?
ANGEL PARKER (22:34)
I don’t know if I still feel that way. I feel like we are a team. Like we help each other.
MIKE ELDER (22:40)
So when did that change? Yeah. When did that?
ANGEL PARKER (22:41)
I feel like, I mean, the more you book, they’ll take your call. If they’re reaching out because you have a booking, it’s great, or cancellation or an audition or whatever. I’m really good with those lines of professionalism, of letting them know what I’m up to, not just like, hey, checking in, where’s my auditions? Like that, I try to word in a different way. I also let them know like what’s up in my life. And so that’s just kind of the reach out or I let them know when I’m on TV, like when something’s airing. Like I definitely feel like there’s a back and forth of communication, but it is always friendly work banter.
I don’t feel afraid that my reps will drop me. And I felt that way for a year, for years. And maybe in the last 10, I am now like, oh, something would have to go majorly wrong for them to drop me or for me to drop them, you know? Like I feel like we’ve even earned some mistakes, you know, because sometimes things happen or something slips through the cracks and hey, that was my bad or whatever, missing a deadline or something like that. Not that that really happens, but even if there’s a, I don’t know, something like we, we’re good. Like I have no intention of leveling up or getting fired anytime soon. I’m happy with my reps.
I wish I had more auditions, but I think everyone does. That’s not like their fault, you know? And sometimes when I do get a little panicked, because usually financially panicked, I’m like, hey, come on guys, what’s up? Like I need to, let me read for guest spots that are smaller or like one day guest stars, which they don’t usually encourage me to do. They want me to value myself in a different way, but also I’m like, I need to make money. And then boom, I’ll get like a flux of auditions of just like, and it’s busy work. It’s the equivalent of driving around town, busying myself to make me feel like I’m doing something, like I have control over this business that we have no control over.
And usually I’ll end up getting an audition that’s right for me, that I will really go for in the timing that I need it or in the timing that the universe is providing it. I don’t really want to busy myself as much as I used to just to feel busy. I would rather busy myself with other things, maybe diversifying my income, figuring out some other way to make money, and then living a full life. Like I want to go on the vacation because I want to have some joy. I might cut it short, but I don’t want to be on set of a great show like Tracker and be like, why the fuck am I here? Yeah, I don’t want to feel that way. And so I’m trying to make better choices in that, in that way.
So I’m going to New York second week of April to speak at my alma mater. They’re doing like an industry insight. So they just kind of interview working actors too. They’re second year students who are about to graduate, just kind of picked my brain, which is really cool. I love giving back in that way. And I loved when I went to the school and they would bring people in. I always found it really like, oh, this is not such a far-fetched, scary thing.
I’m about to graduate and be all of a sudden unemployed. You go from acting every day to no job. And how do you get one? So while I’m there, I want to meet my, my agency is Innovative and they have a New York office. They rep me, but I don’t have any face time. You know, I think I’ve been to the Innovative office here in LA twice and I’ve been repped by them over a decade. Like walked into the building maybe twice because everything is online, everything is digital.
And even like the paychecks like can be direct deposited. Like you don’t, I remember the days back when I had another old agency, SDB Partners, I would drive to them to pick up the scripts and pick up the sides because the email wasn’t as, I mean, that’s how long I’ve been doing this. You would drive around and they’d send a messenger to send the script to you or your script for a TV show that you would book. They would, and now if it’s really high, high level security, like a Ryan Murphy show or something like that or Marvel, they’ll still hand deliver the scripts to you or they’ll send them all encrypted, which is really hard to work from because I still like to work on paper because I’m old. But it’s one of those things that even seeing my reps once a year for Christmas, you know, happy hour and catch up and they just want to see me and like create relationship. I’m usually like, you could just send me the gift card to the restaurant and get to work. You could spend the hours submitting me and I, but they don’t want that.
And they’re right. You know, we do need to have a more personal relationship, but they follow me on social media too. Like those are ways that your reps can see who you are and get to know you.
MIKE ELDER (27:21)
But about that Q&A I had written down, what would your advice be, and not to spoil your speech, what would your advice, are you, if an actor came up to you right now, a 20-year-old actor, would you advise them to like move to LA and pursue this at this point?
ANGEL PARKER (27:34)
I would, I would ask a few more questions about that because you don’t have to move to LA, but sometimes you do. Sometimes you need that push of like, I am leaving my hometown. I am coming here. I’m going to figure it out. I also give the advice to surround yourself with people that are doing the same thing that you are doing, whether that’s in an acting class or a small, a theater that you’re volunteering at or, you know, staged readings or comedy or improv or just being around other actors that are doing the same thing as you keeps you inspired and keeps you motivated. Being a reader for someone, like those kinds of things. And if you’re just still sitting in Omaha, going to your one, maybe acting class, or you graduated from college and so there’s a few classes, there’s classes everywhere.
You can take an acting class anywhere, but you can also do them on Zoom. So you don’t have to live in LA, especially if you have parents that can’t really afford it or need you at home to work or help them. If you have to say, there’s so many reasons why people need to live in the places that they live in. But I do think that that impulse of moving to LA, moving to New York, I’m going to start this. I’m going to do or die, do this is a motivator that, okay, here we go. I’m going to work at the bar. I’m going to bartend and I’m in, on sunset and I’m going to, you know, go to class in between.
I’m going to go to those commercial auditions, be there, hang out afterwards, talk to other actors, like be a part of it because you can feel so isolated over Zoom in your room with your microphones and your, and your camera. Like you’re not actually doing the work. And then you get on set and you’re kind of spooked. Yeah, you’re spooked, you know? But to be a part of an acting class, and now these things cost money too. So to move to LA, to get a job that gives, provides flexibility, to be a part of an acting class, they go for like $350 a month. Like you can’t really find an acting class for less than 300 bucks.
You know, there’s work-study programs and all that, but you have to earn those spaces in acting communities where they’re willing to help and work with you because they’re businesses as well. So I would give the advice to go for it. And if that means you need to get out of your small town and go for it, then do it.
MIKE ELDER (29:37)
Yeah. Are you generally optimistic about show business right now or are you more pessimistic?
ANGEL PARKER (29:43)
Well, it depends on the day.
MIKE ELDER (29:47)
How about today?
ANGEL PARKER (29:47)
Today I’m optimistic because I like, today I came here, I drove across town to talk with you about acting. So this is an actual good thing that I’m doing today. Yeah, this is something I’m doing for my acting career and it will come out and I will share it. And that’s then on that day, that’s something that I did for my acting career. So I do like doing something each day.
MIKE ELDER (30:06)
I love that. I say that too. I’m like, what did you do today for your acting career?
ANGEL PARKER (30:09)
Yeah. What did you do today for your acting career? And so like last night I watched Landman because I’m having coffee with one of the actors on that show after this and I wanted to see a few of the episodes before I talked with him. I’m also kind of studying Taylor Sheridan right now because I’m watching The Madison. It’s really good. And I liked Yellowstone. I watched some of it.
I had a good friend on there who played Teter. She was really cool. And they just, the way that women are written in those worlds, it’s not like there’s a lot of opportunity in those worlds for me. There’s not a lot of black women on those shows, but hey, you never know. And so right now I’m like, okay, so I’m studying, I’m watching Taylor Sheridan, Taylor, Tyler, Taylor Sheridan shows. And so today I’m doing a podcast. I’m going to go meet with an actor that just wants to pick my brain about something.
He’s on one of those shows. I want to talk about Taylor Sheridan. And so that’s what I did for my acting career today. I try to cape the weekends off and, you know, shake it off and have some fun and, you know, touch grass as the kids say these days.
MIKE ELDER (31:12 )
Do they?
ANGEL PARKER (31:12)
They do. They say, they say, let’s go touch grass. It just means get outside.
MIKE ELDER (31:17)
Yeah.
ANGEL PARKER (31:18)
And then next week I’ll get back at it. So I’m optimistic that there will always be sort of storytelling and storytellers and people that want to be in the entertainment business. It is a thriving business, but I don’t know if there’s ever going to be that like shotgun Friends money, ER money, like that. Like I do think that maybe that I’m like, God damn it, I was so close to like when you’d book pilots and they’d have a quote and then they’d have to match your quote and you’d run all over town and you’d have three auditions in a day. I was just getting into that before covid hit and that all stopped. And so now it’s sort of isolating and.
MIKE ELDER (32:01)
It feels like it’s, I was talking to my buddy Brandon Sornberger on the podcast a couple days ago and it’s like, it seems like now it’s just sort of supplemental. Like it’s, it’s there, but it’s never going to be what we thought it could be maybe.
ANGEL PARKER (32:14)
Yeah, that sort of hope of if I hit it big, I’ll hit it big. Even commercials, you’re like, if I get a commercial, a national commercial, it’ll pay me 30K. That is very rare. Excuse me.
That is very, very, very rare. Like you, if you get a national commercial and it runs, like you need, you need longevity. Like every now and then you get a pharmaceutical, you get a car, it runs like crazy. Like sometimes that, you do get a Geico commercial, but also remember Geico commercials change all the time.
MIKE ELDER (32:37)
All the time.
ANGEL PARKER (32:37)
So they’re always new. So you get a lot, it airs a lot, but a lot of the way that those numbers work is the time, the longevity of it, not the amount of runs. Like they have trickery to not pay you.
MIKE ELDER (32:50)
Yeah. You mentioned like getting away from this, especially on the weekends and stuff. I love hobbies and things that are completely so opposite of this. What are you doing to get away, to touch grass, to do all that stuff?
ANGEL PARKER (33:00)
I mean, I have kids, so that’s always something to do. My son’s in college and my daughter is in eighth grade. So they just have like busy lives and activities and friends. And I have my own friends and I like to travel and like, I’ll go visit a friend in a, you know, wherever they’ve moved to and hang out with them for a day or two. I love like tinkering and like going to Home Goods.
MIKE ELDER (33:21)
Oh you’re a tinkerer?
ANGEL PARKER (33:22)
A tinkerer. I like to like move things around.
Like I will like organize, like today I was in my house, you know, that I rent on Airbnb and I’m preparing the third bedroom to now rent as opposed to it being just a two bedroom because the World Cup is coming. So I’m always trying to figure out how to make money for sure or how to make my money stretch. So I’m very good at budgeting and planning and bookkeeping type of things. But you know, there’s only so much, so many ways money can stretch. So I’ll organize something. It’s also sort of like a stress reliever. I was organizing like the light bulb drawer, the junk drawer.
And I’m like, oh, I’m going to put these in the shoebox and I’m going to put these in the, you know, like it’s so dumb, but things like that.
MIKE ELDER (34:07)
I don’t think that’s dumb though. I think that’s, I find that to be so relaxing because of what we said earlier about like this business, you’re just waiting around. And if there’s something that you can do that has like a clear beginning, middle, and end, it’s like the beginning is organizing and the end is organized.
ANGEL PARKER (34:22)
And then I’m like, oh, look, I accomplished something.
MIKE ELDER (34:26)
You accomplished something. I film a self-tape right there. I send it off. I’m like, did I do it correctly?
Did I not? I don’t even know. And it’s like.
ANGEL PARKER (34:31)
You have a good setup here, man.
MIKE ELDER (34:32)
I like it.
ANGEL PARKER (34:33)
You really, you really have figured it out. I would not leave this place. There’s all this light. You can see palm trees. Like, are you kidding? Like there’s hummingbird feeder right there.
MIKE ELDER (34:41)
Oh, those hummingbirds are my, my spirit animals.
ANGEL PARKER (34:43)
Yeah, you’re, you got a good setup here. Like, and not a lot of LA people have. LA can be a very lonely town.
MIKE ELDER (34:49)
It can be.
ANGEL PARKER (34:49)
And so that is hard too, and the distance that you have to go in order to see your friends or feel like you’re a part of something. I try to do something just nice for myself every day. And so if that’s like going to a coffee shop or taking a walk or making a phone call or making a connection, I’ll do a little bit in social media. Like, hey, can I connect a couple dots? Can I see what’s happening in St.
Louis? I have to like find things to do because I don’t have as big of a friend community. So, you know, I work out too.
So I practice yoga. And so I’ll go to a class or I’ll take a dance class. I’ll do something. Sometimes I’m just like, okay, I guess today it’s freezing outside and it’s gray. I’m going to watch two episodes of a Taylor Sheridan show. Like that’s kind of what I will do as well and catch up on certain things that I can feel like instead of I’m just a blob on the couch watching TV, I’m like, oh, well let me watch something with a little bit of intention. Hey, let me catch up on The Pit.
That’s a good show that I keep hearing about or whatever it may be.
MIKE ELDER (35:46)
What else like that do you do on the opposite side? Like you obviously studied at the American Academy, you said.
ANGEL PARKER (35:52)
Yeah. And then I did Lesly Kahn. I’ve done theater. I’ve done Shakespeare.
MIKE ELDER (35:56)
Are you still doing that? Are you still doing classes or doing like, you know, a self-tape challenge or watching Taylor Sheridan shows?
ANGEL PARKER (36:03)
Yeah. I mean, more, I don’t really take class anymore because at this point I learn more when I’m working and learn more from community. So I will, I still see all of those self-tape challenges and all of those things, but I’m not really in hustle mode. I’m more in like maintain and new perspective and like new dreams, new, new goals. I don’t want to just hustle my way into exhaustion, if that makes sense. I do want some free time. I do want some time to touch grass.
I do want some time to call my friends and have like a long conversation. I do want some time to just kind of breathe and chill and hang out and not be so stressed about my career all the time. It can be so frustrating and it’s kind of a painful existence and I don’t, I’m not going to quit. So I need to make sure that my life feels full. And I got that advice at the Academy. Like have a full life. You need a life so that you can actually pull on that, you know?
MIKE ELDER (37:03)
By the way, I resent you saying I’m not going to quit. At this point, it wouldn’t be quitting. It’d be retiring, I think, for you.
ANGEL PARKER (37:08)
I don’t think so.
MIKE ELDER (37:08)
You have a body of work.
ANGEL PARKER (37:09)
Yeah, but you still, I still, I still, I used to quit on Friday and then I’d be like, I’ll reapply Monday. Like I would quit. I would quit all the time. I would many quit all the time because it would be such a week of heartbreak. And when I would be in that hustle mode and I’d be like, okay, the week is starting and what’s going to happen this week when I was doing commercials, voiceover, you know, all over town when I was living in LA and hustle, hustle. And I would sit on the board of a theater company or I’d volunteer at another theater company, like teaching at an acting class, at an acting studio or TA ing or something like that. I’d like to surround myself with actors, but not exclusively.
MIKE ELDER (37:45)
Of course. Yeah.
ANGEL PARKER (37:46)
And so there’s a little bit of distance. I’m very homesick for LA, but I’m not homesick for that sort of rat race of driving from Santa Monica to Burbank to sit for a commercial audition for 45 minutes where you come in and they treat you, you know, like you can’t hear English and, you know, those kinds of days where you’re like, I’m trying and I’ve got to get back and I canceled a dinner that I was looking forward to to then get across town. And then by the end of the week, you get nothing. So those would be the Friday afternoons that I would be like, I quit.
MIKE ELDER (38:16)
I love that dramatic image in my head.
ANGEL PARKER (38:17)
It’s full, quit. And then I’ll be like, I’ll reapply Monday, you know?
MIKE ELDER (38:20)
Have you heard Larry David, you know, Larry David, obviously.
ANGEL PARKER (38:23)
Oh yeah.
MIKE ELDER (38:23)
He quit sign or he quit Saturday Night Live, apparently. And then on Monday he realized he fucked up and he just showed up on Monday as if he didn’t actually quit. That’s kind of what that reminds me of. I’ll be back on Monday.
ANGEL PARKER (38:34)
Or I think I’m fully, fully done and like just over it. And all I need is just a break, a breather, some perspective. You know, my team is really good at encouraging me when I get a little kind of, hey, hey, hey, what’s going on? Like I was hoping that I would have a lot of auditions this quarter, you know, and now we’re at the end of Q1. Like there’s no real pilot season anymore, but there are new opportunities that happen this time of year and I didn’t get that many.
And the one that I did get, I was in Oklahoma City and shot it in the Motel Six or the Days Inn and whatever it was and didn’t have my whole setup and didn’t have, and I was just like, man, of all times and working night shoots on a short film, which, you know, can be challenging just logistically and physically. And I was like, that’s my opportunity. Ah, okay. But get it done and move forward. It’s hard because you can’t count on the business.
You can’t count on money. And I have a mortgage, you know, like I have kids to feed. And so I have to figure things out, but I’m good at that. What I would like is a little more joy in my work, a little more freedom. I would go to like readings of plays or if it was like French Festival, I’d go to people’s one-man shows. I would like fill myself up with other people’s work when I’m feeling down about my own. And so I’ll still do that.
I’ll watch shows, even the ones I’ve auditioned for and like hate watch them and then get into it and be like, oh, she’s doing a good job. Like I start to like intentionally be happy for the person that got the job.
MIKE ELDER (40:03)
I love that.
ANGEL PARKER (40:04)
Yeah. It’s so just like, okay, that show’s still on the air or that show’s a big old hit and winning Emmys. I wish I was a part of it, but I have, I have a good, you know, I have a good go. There’s times that I will, you know, organize my reels and resumes and all that kind of logistical stuff or organize in my computer photos or put something, you know, and I’m like, I have worked a lot, like rewatch my reel, figure out if they’re, and I’m like, oh, I’ve worked a lot. Like sometimes it’s just perspective. You only see what you’ve lost or that panic of stability, but you’ll never be stable in this business. What you can try to hopefully figure out is how can you pay your rent?
How can you pay your bills? How can you enjoy your life a bit, keep your expenses low and still enjoy the work, not make it just torture your soul. Yeah, you know, we’re all kind of tortured artists, but how do you feel a little bit better about it? And sometimes it’s just doing something nice for yourself or supporting a friend or like sharing someone else, like social media. You’ll start scrolling and you’re like, everyone else is booking work and I’m not. Then that’s the day that you should share someone else’s Deadline article and be like, oh my God, so great. Like, like where you just kind of give back because when it’s you and you have your own deadline article, it’s cool when people share it and love it, you know?
So to be on the other side of it as the support when you’re feeling like you’re not the lead, you know? Yeah. And then, yeah, like I can, I was reading a play that a friend sent me that was a good part match for the two of us to do. And we were discussing maybe putting that up, mounting that ourselves. And right now I don’t, I don’t have the bandwidth for that, but it was very cool to think about it, to read it, to discuss it. I would love to read more books, not just plays and scripts. And, but yet, like there’s an opportunity at the Geffen, there’s a show coming from Broadway that I was like, oh, I would love to be in that show.
And I don’t know if the whole cast is coming from New York. So I’ll send an email and be like, hey, can I read for this? Like, read. I don’t expect anything. I do not mind auditioning at all. Like, please let me show you what I do, what I would do with it, and you tell me if I’m the right fit for you. So I still do all of that stuff. And then I just try to like, what will I do for my career today?
And really, what will I do sweet to myself today? And sometimes that’s organizing my closet. And sometimes that’s meeting a friend for lunch or going to coffee with a colleague and watching their TV show the night before. Yeah, that’s kind of something that I’m not just doing for career, but doing for connection, for humanity, for just my life.
Like, oh, I’m in LA. I’m going to have lunch with a colleague after I’m meeting with you to do this podcast that we’ve rescheduled a bunch of times and we’re actually doing it. I get to come across town, see your cool place, be like, oh my gosh, I love this is technically Los Feliz. Yeah, I love Los Feliz, you know? And then I’m going to drive up to the valley and I’ll take the good route and have lunch and then come back home tonight. I’m going to see Alvin Ailey down at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, like going to the ballet. Like, it’s not a bad Friday.
MIKE ELDER (43:01)
That’s beautiful.
ANGEL PARKER (43:02)
Yeah. So that’s not, you know, every day. And a couple days ago I was like, ugh, you know? So it’s also just like those down days are kind of good for you because then you shake them off. You’re like, okay, I got to get my shit together. Let me like do something. But that doesn’t mean call my agent and bitch and moan.
That means like do something that I can then post or share and then, you know, maybe they’ll see that or maybe reach out. Like when I do reach out to my team, if I am feeling a little stir crazy or want to just like touch base, I try to have something that I’m sharing with them. Like, hey, saw this new thing or going to the theater this weekend and whatever. I came into town to do the 24-hour place, but they got rescheduled for September because of the No Kings rally downtown and they didn’t want to conflict with it or deal with it. So, but I didn’t change my flight. I was like, I’m going to still come to LA and do my thing. And then that prep I had at the opportunity for this.
MIKE ELDER (43:54)
Right. Let me ask about The Rookie quick because.
ANGEL PARKER (43:56)
Yeah, I love The Rookie.
MIKE ELDER (43:57)
By the way, I was just in Portugal, as I said, on a yoga retreat and we did like an intro circle and one girl was like, The Rookie’s the best show on TV. Anyone fight me? You want? It was the funniest thing ever.
I loved it. Her name’s Michelle. She’s really funny.
ANGEL PARKER (44:08)
Sweet. You gotta send her a selfie of us.
MIKE ELDER (44:11)
You did one episode in season one and then somehow seasons three got brought back. When you auditioned, did you think it was a one and done? Did you think there was any chance? Seems like a good gig that you just got more and more and more.
ANGEL PARKER (44:24)
I was actually in New Orleans and I did a self-tape, kind of hung over on antibiotics because I was there for 40th birthday. And this is before self-taping. This is 2018. And it was the captain’s wife, Richard T. Jones’s wife.
So it was a small part. I believe it was, it might have been a co-star, but I think it was a guest star or like a one-day guest star. For those of you who don’t know, like they can hire you for one day and pay you a different rate than if they pay, than if they hire you for the whole week. But the credit and the billing is still the same. The credit is a guest, but the payment is different. I don’t quite exactly remember because it was, you know, eight years ago now, but I knew that there was a possibility for recur because I play his wife.
So if there’s a family storyline, if I could come back, that would be great. I did one, maybe two episodes. I don’t even really remember. I’d have to look on IMDb, honestly.
MIKE ELDER (45:22)
You did one in season one.
ANGEL PARKER (45:23)
One in season one. I didn’t do any in season two. And then I came back for a couple in season three. And I remember there was a shift in casting. The main woman, black woman, was recast with a different black woman. And I was like, can I read for that? It was like a big part.
And they’re like, no, you’re established as a wife. I was like, but I’m not working. Like what, what, what? Maybe I’m the new cop at the thing, you know? And I wish, but Mekia Cox got that part and she’s wonderful. And, but she’s now been on the show for six seasons. Like that’s a different level of acting.
You know, you’re buying houses and horses at that point. You’re not just.
MIKE ELDER (45:58)
The old H&H.
ANGEL PARKER (45:59)
Yeah. That’s different than just making sure you can pay your rent. But I’ve not missed my rent or mortgage. So I’m fortunate in that as well.
MIKE ELDER (46:12)
But so it was a pleasant surprise in season three when they just called you up.
ANGEL PARKER (46:15)
That’s happened to, yes, it was. And it’s a, and it’s always a pleasant surprise when I get called back for a show, especially a show that like The Rookie or like All American or like The Recruit or like The Strain. Like I’ve been on a lot of shows, Trial and Error, where it’s a possible recur. That doesn’t mean that it will. That just means it’s a possibility. There is growth there. And people always joke when you’re on set, they’re like, oh, maybe this’ll recur.
Ooh, spin-off, you know?
MIKE ELDER (46:43)
Spin-off.
ANGEL PARKER (46:44)
But you never really know. The storyline has to work. They have to like you. But it’s my point of pride. I’ve had so many jobs that have grown.
MIKE ELDER (46:51)
That’s cool. That says something about you.
ANGEL PARKER (46:52)
And that just means they like you. They like you. They want to write for you. They like that storyline. The fans like that storyline. Like my storyline this season on The Rookie, we’re like going through marital issues. I work at the hospital.
There’s a love interest at the hospital. Like they’re just, they’re writing anything and everything, but great. And I’m doing it. And Richard Jones, who plays my husband, he’s a regular on the show. He was welcoming the storyline too. So it’s not just cop, cop, cop, talk, action, talk. There’s some relationship and some, you know, we did one episode a few seasons ago where our daughter gets kidnapped and we have to go find her.
And it was basically the whole episode. Like we were the A story, it felt like, not the B or C story. So those shows sometimes will even have a D storyline because they just keep them moving. That’s why people like it so much. Because the show just keeps evolving and there’s something for everyone. If there’s a boring relationship scene, if you don’t like that, then the next one’s an action scene or there’s a, you know, espionage kind of scene or spy scene or just something kind of funny, a little comic relief. And I think that’s why people love The Rookie so much.
Also, you can kind of watch it with your grandpa and your teenager. It’s one of those cross-generational shows. I really love being a part of it. But no, I didn’t know that it would grow in that way. I hoped it would. Richard and I have a very good rapport. He’s just a great guy and a great, he’s like an unc, like an uncle on set.
Oh, he probably would hate that I said that, but, but he gives like uncle vibes. He takes care of everybody. He checks in.
He’s a Christian. So he’s really got like good kind of morals and wants to kind of check in, make sure everybody’s okay, give some good advice. You know, he’s not preachy or anything like that, but he just wants to make sure everybody’s okay. And I can see him do that with the regulars and with the guests and with the people that are there for one day and background, like, hey, how’s it going today? How are you feeling today? So he’s just always makes me feel comfortable. And I think that’s another reason why we work so well together.
Because the nerves will get you, you know, or wanting it to be more or like rusty, haven’t worked in a while on set. A lot of people, because you do self-tape, you’re always alone and then you get on set and you have to do it and then and you’re losing the light. You only have one or two takes on your side. You haven’t, you know, been in public in a while or you haven’t been around a busy moving set in a while and you’re nervous. And we see it happen all the time. Or you started.
MIKE ELDER (49:09)
Did you really with like guest stars?
ANGEL PARKER (49:10)
Yeah. Well, you or a co-star, like you’ve, you know, when you’ve got those first few jobs and it’s just like, may I have fries with that, please? Or would you, you know, would you like fries with that, sir?
Is your line? And now it’s your turn and everyone’s looking at you. You’re like, what’s my line?
What’s my line? Or you said it a million times. Like, yeah.
MIKE ELDER (49:26)
I think self-tapes have been not good for that for sure.
ANGEL PARKER (49:28)
Not really.
MIKE ELDER (49:29)
You’re not the first person to say that. I had a director on say it.–
ANGEL PARKER (49:30)
No, because you need to, I think you need to sit in those waiting rooms and be across from someone who looks exactly like you, who’s muttering the same exact lines and you can hear the person through the door. But I don’t know if that’s ever going to happen again. I think it’s so convenient now for everyone involved, including casting and producers, to just watch tapes because they can, they don’t have to, they can multitask. They don’t have to sit there and watch your whole audition.
They don’t. They don’t. They skip through. I know that they do. They admit that they do skip through tapes just because they’re like, that’s not what we need. That’s not what we need. That’s not what we need.
And not just sit there and eat a sandwich while you walk in the door. Like I’ve had that happen too where you’re just, you know, commercials audition. They’ll still, they’re like, well, we got to eat. We got to, you know, you’ve got to move. Or I would fly in, go to an audition and then the person’s on Zoom and you’re just like, okay.
MIKE ELDER (50:17)
That’s so annoying.
ANGEL PARKER (50:18)
It’s very annoying, but I can see why. They’re like, I’m on location or I’m scouting or I’m busy or whatever.
MIKE ELDER (50:24)
Yeah. Feel free to tell me to fuck off on this, but with The Rookie, did you, did you get any bumps ever?
ANGEL PARKER (50:32)
Oh like salary? Yeah. So there’s, yeah, like now I’m a, you know, I’m a guest star, a recurring guest star.
MIKE ELDER (50:39)
Recurring star. And that was a bump.
ANGEL PARKER (50:41)
Yeah, that’s a bump, but your agent still has to negotiate that. So like I don’t work for like a one-day guest star rate, even if I only work one day, one scene. And then now that it’s been, now that it’s been so many seasons, like I make more than top of show. Like I tape, my agents have negotiated a good salary for me, but it is still recurring.
MIKE ELDER (51:01)
Do you know at what point they do that?
ANGEL PARKER (51:03)
Whenever they want. But.
MIKE ELDER (51:04)
But do you know what like triggers? Is it like.
ANGEL PARKER (51:07)
No, like in the Disney world, you will, if once you hit seven episodes, you get a bump. That’s like a standard bump, like a 20% bump. And then once you hit 15 episodes, you get another bump. Like it’s built in. And honestly, because it’s so hard to negotiate these days, like basically they just say, no, we don’t have it in the budget. I do wish that our union had bumps in there because I recur a lot and I will, All American, I’ll make scale and like The Rookie, I’ll make triple scale, you know, like just throwing that out. Like it’ll be the same work.
And honestly, sometimes you’ll work more and you’re making scale because that’s just the budget of the show. And I’m not going to say no because the work is good. I’m still getting paid. Like scale’s not nothing. Like it’s still a good week of work, but not every show has a budget like The Rookie where they can actually pay you a little bit more. Or like The Good Doctor paid more than, I just did like one episode. They paid more than top of show. And it was probably only like 500 more bucks, but it felt like, oh wow, like they rounded it up and they put you in a nice trailer because they just had the budget for it. And those days are really, really nice when that happens to you compared to the days where they are squeezing all your scenes into one day and paying you for one day.
But they do that to a lot of actors, really well-known, established actors. So I really hope that the union can help us with something like that where, because it’s hard to negotiate now. They’ll try to call. Like when I went back for my second season of All American, I’m like, is there a raise? Is there any way? Like can I, you know, I’m flying in, like is there anything? And they’re like, there’s no room in the budget.
And if you also, if you negotiate too much, or at least the fear that a lot of actors have, including me, if you negotiate too much, then they won’t write for you. Like if you have this huge, you know, guest star rate that they’ve got to pay you 30K, they’re not going to write for you. I’d rather them pay me 10K five times than 30K one time. Like I look at it that way. And I don’t want ever it to be in the budget where they’re like, oh, we don’t want to use her because we’ll, that’ll take us over budget. I’d rather them be like, ooh, we can use Angel. Or I’ll ask now for, like with The Rookie, I have a guarantee of episodes.
Like can I just know how many episodes? And it’s like four. I think I got.
MIKE ELDER (53:14)
But there’s different bartering chips you can use.
ANGEL PARKER (53:16)
Yeah. Like, so hey, okay, so we can’t, you know, or it’s a 10% raise or something like that. Okay, so we can’t give you too much of a raise, but can I get a guarantee of episodes? That way I can just count in my year. And so anything above that guarantee. So I think I have four, a guarantee of four, but I did six last season, you know?
So they’ll still, they can still write more for you, but then you know, no matter what, they’re going to pay you for that.
MIKE ELDER (53:36)
Yeah, that’s smart.
ANGEL PARKER (53:37)
It’s sort of like that 7/13 contract that used to exist that I don’t know exists anymore, where you were technically a series regular, but you only had a partial, they only had to pay you for a fractional regular. So 10 out of 13 episodes or 7 out of 13 episodes, but you were technically a series regular. And that was your credits and your, and your quote and all those things. I don’t know if that really matters anymore. I think people just look at IMDb and see like what you did and how it was. Like I don’t even know if the bump from guest star or guest star to recurring matters or one-day guest to real or co-star.
Like I don’t think it matters. It’s like you did the show. It’s just you’re working. And so that like, oh, I don’t want to do TV because I’m a film actor. Like that went out the window a long time ago. Like you could see who’s doing TV these days. And it’s not even TV.
It’s streaming. Like.
MIKE ELDER (54:23)
Yeah. And commercials.
ANGEL PARKER (54:25)
Yeah. And, but just the career has evolved, but every industry evolves. You can’t expect the rules of, you know, the plumbing business from 30 years ago to be the same rules of plumbing these days when now you’ve got like electric water heaters. Like it’s different. So we all have to evolve and adapt. I don’t think there’s going to be that stupid Friends money.
And then you go into syndication like Big Bang Theory and you’re just on TV all the time. Like those days are done. And even The Rookie, I love that job. I make, I make a good salary when I am working there, but it goes straight to Hulu. It doesn’t like get sold and air on TBS for, even though I can turn on the TV if I’m in some random and I’m like, oh, The Rookie’s on, but it’s like on Lifetime or something. I don’t, I don’t know.
MIKE ELDER (55:13)
CNBC or something.
ANGEL PARKER (55:14)
Something. Like it’s, it’s a good gig and I’m grateful to have it. And people used to knock in dog shows like that. And I’m like, oh, you don’t know. You have no idea. To be on NCIS and The Rookie or these procedural Law & Order, you know, are really good gifts to an actor.
MIKE ELDER (55:31)
For sure.
ANGEL PARKER (55:32)
And to your family who watches those shows. Like I get more recognized living in St. Louis than I ever did in LA. Yeah, because they’re sitting in their recliner at the end of the day, like, ooh, it’s Tuesday. Let me watch my show. Oh, the girl at your yoga thing is like, hey, The Rookie’s the best show on TV. Fight me.
And they feel that way. They love it. And they’re like, oh, you on The Rookie? And I’m like, yeah. And they’re like, I love that show. I watch it with my mom. I, you know, it’s really, really sweet to be a part of someone’s day when they’re trying to forget about their day.
Oh yeah, for sure. And they’re just trying to chill, have a good time, go to bed, get back up and do the thing. That’s really what entertainment is. So I’m not too worried about it because I feel like people still want to do that. It doesn’t have to be this big art piece, this huge scope of a scale of a film, even though I want to do that too.
MIKE ELDER (56:15)
Yeah. We’re getting to an hour. The last question I ask people is, who took a chance on you?
ANGEL PARKER (56:21)
Oh, I know the answer to that. A casting director, his name is Howard Meltzer, Howie. And I would go back in the day before they were illegal, I would go to casting director workshops.
MIKE ELDER (56:32)
Somebody else said these recently too.
ANGEL PARKER (56:35)
They, well, I think, I think that the, they were like considered double dipping and, but no, you were, it was basically like an acting class with someone that casted, I don’t know. I get, I get it. I get it on both sides, but I would go to casting director workshops when I couldn’t really afford to be in acting class. I’d go to one a month and it’d be like $35 or $40 and you would do a cold read scene in front of a casting director or in front of an agent night when I was trying to get an agent. And Howard Meltzer was a Disney casting director. And I would go to his workshops and like he would bring me in for tiny parts, like co-star on Hannah Montana, on Shake It Up, like these tiny, tiny things that you just kind of come in and you’re just, you know, say two lines. And he, I met him there and when it was time for, I would still go to his workshops.
He’s like, Angel, I know you. You’re in my file. I was like, I know. I’m just coming. I wanted to do a scene for you. And like, it was always great. And when it was time to, I like the first time I auditioned for a guest star, I think it was on Shake It Up, which was Zendaya’s Disney show back in the day.
And I did, I did well on that. And then I think I did, I didn’t book it, but I did an episode of Hannah Montana and I had like six lines and it got cut down to two lines. And he was like, I’m so sorry your role got cut. And I was like, oh, I’m still, I’m so excited that I was a part of it and it was so great. And I was at that point just trying to get any kind of credit I could. And I worked hard and I showed up and I did a really good job. And when it was time to audition for Lab Rats, he was like, Angel would be good for this role.
And so I was the like low on the totem pole person. There were actresses that I recognized at the audition. This was still when you would go in person. And I coached it when I got a callback and, you know, went to Lesly Khan and like paid a coaching fee, which felt like so much money to like really make sure that I knew my stuff and ran it a million times and, and just did a really good job and then had to test. It wasn’t a test because it, ooh, there’s a hummingbird.
Oh yes. See, oh, don’t move from here, Mike. It’s so good. Oh, it’s so sweet. There’s a hummingbird. So he took a chance on me and had me be the newbie green nobody reading for the wife on this show. And I ended up booking it and it was just really incredible.
And my co-star on that, I was the guest, the whole family were regulars. So I was the, you know, the person that they would write for and, you know, they kind of wanted to just establish the family. And then it’s about the kids, but they would bring me back. And so that casting director opened that door and that was my first job that I got to go back to.
MIKE ELDER (59:04)
That’s amazing. Howie.
ANGEL PARKER (59:05)
Howie.
MIKE ELDER (59:05)
Do you still talk to Howie?
ANGEL PARKER (59:07)
I do. I do. I do. He actually helped me get into the Television Academy.
MIKE ELDER (59:11)
Oh, amazing.
ANGEL PARKER (59:12)
You used to have to be like sponsored. There’s people that vote for the Emmys and they do a lot of really great work and screenings and talkbacks and things like that. If I was still here, that’s like something I would do from acting career. I was like, oh, go watch a screening and watch the actors or the producers talk afterwards, ask a question. I used to do that a lot. And then, and so he would invite me to those things. I still see him online.
MIKE ELDER (59:34)
That’s awesome.
ANGEL PARKER (59:34)
I don’t know if he’s still casting for Disney or if that’s even a thing. Like are there still Disney TV shows? I’m not sure. But yeah, I see him online. I see him social media. And every now and then if we, if I run into him anywhere, we give each other so much love.
MIKE ELDER (59:48)
Love that. Yeah. Angel, this was lovely. Thank you for coming back. I’m glad we could do it again.
ANGEL PARKER (59:52)
Yeah. Me too.
MIKE ELDER (59:52)
I’m glad everything’s well.
ANGEL PARKER (59:53)
It worked out. Everything is well. I did something for my acting and it was talk to you.
MIKE ELDER (59:57)
Yay.
ANGEL PARKER (59:58)
And see your hummingbird and your special place.
MIKE ELDER (1:00:00)
Alright. You gotta tail slate here.
ANGEL PARKER (1:00:02)
Okay. Angel Parker, thank you. Based in Los Angeles, currently in Los Angeles.
🎵 ROCKFORD (1:00:10) 🎵
MTV and the channel E!. A thing for a celebrity.
