[ Golden Gater Online - December 4, 1997 ]
Victoria Shephard
Staff writer
Actors often strive to make a name for themselves, preferably one in lights.
What does it take to make it as an actor? According to 31-year-old Erin-Kate Whitcomb, it's more than just determination. A move to Los Angeles would be helpful.
Whitcomb loves living in San Francisco but must work full-time as a supervisor of nurses at the California Pacific Medical Center to make ends meet. She said it will be difficult to make a living at acting unless she moves to Los Angeles.
"I've made a very conscious decision not to be in L.A.," she said, referring to the Hollywood scene. But she concedes a move will be needed if she wants to pay the bills with acting alone.
Whitcomb is an aspiring actor who is beginning to make something of herself. Since she graduated from the SF State theater arts department eight years ago, she has acted in plays, some of which she wrote, done TV and radio commercials and voices for CD-ROM games. Eventually, she said, she will quit her job at the hospital, move to Los Angeles and make a living working as an actor.
Besides moving to Los Angeles, Whitcomb said success in acting also has to do with determination and perseverance.
"Anyone who's an actor would tell you that tons of people have told them it's not viable," she said. "I have to do it. The rate of success will depend upon people's need to do it."
People she has worked with remember her as a nice person who always supported others. Additionally, she had something that some actors are missing -- ethics. While some people consider gossiping fine, Whitcomb doesn't.
"She refused to gossip," said Rita Abrams, who worked with Whitcomb when she cast her in a play once. "You know how caddie...actors can be. She has such ethics."
Abrams has nothing but praise for Whitcomb, who she labels as "extremely talented."
"She's got her feet firmly planted in both the...world of business and the creative world," Abrams said.
Whitcomb's talent lies in the field of comedy. "The outstanding thing about her is she's hilarious," Abrams said. "She's naturally funny." She has a talent for physical comedy such as falling off the stage or bumping into walls.
But Whitcomb doesn't just want to be known as a comedian. She wants to do it all. "I really, really like being an actor and not just a comedian," she said.
Whitcomb feels she is especially good at recovering form mistakes on stage -- either by covering them over, or playing it up for an extra laugh.
"(People) love to see a mistake happen and watch you recover from it," Whitcomb said. "When I was at State I had a reputation for that kind of thing -- saving failures."
Evidently she was good enough in the theater department to be somewhat legendary.
"I knew of her before I knew her personally, so she was a larger than life person," said Francine Torres, a friend of Whitcomb. "I remember being really excited when I was in a class with her one semester and got to meet her."
She said Whitcomb was supportive of everyone else and was a very funny person. She describes Whitcomb as an Ethel Merman -- larger than life and knowing what she wants.
Torres also praised Whitcomb. "She's so good I could kill her," Torres said. "(She's) such a fucking kick-ass person."
Whitcomb sees herself as a character actor and has proved it in the variety of projects she's been in. She's done a number of CD-ROM characters, including the narrator voice for "Star Trek: The Next Generation," and has a part in "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?"
She has also appeared in a Mervyn's commercial with Joe Montana, done a commercial for Ericsson Cellular Phones and a Pacific Bell radio spot.
Whitcomb's favorite thing about acting is "the event of the play -- being on stage and having people react to what's happening. It's magic to me to have people pay to come and see it and love it. It's magic." This feedback from the audience is the "concrete payoff" for all the work put into the show.
Whitcomb aims to put her acting degree to use as much as possible in the years to come.
"There's no point in getting a degree in acting if you don't use it to touch people," she said.
[ Golden Gater - December 4, 1997 ]