Chantal's Hollywood Adventures

Hey guys,   So, after a few crazy months I am finally back. For anyone that hasn’t visited my blog before or has forgotten who I am after I fell off the face of the earth for a few months, I’m Chantal. I’m originally born and raised in Essex, close to London in England and moved to Los Angeles two years ago to pursue my career as an actor. Whilst living in the States I encountered a lot of crazy events, I’m not sure if this is down to the fact that I’m British, an actress or if I just attract drama but either way I though what better to follow my journey than with a blog, so here it is ‘Chantal’s Hollywood Adventures’.  To recap I have previously been studying acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and on May 28 th I got to graduate with my fellow classmates at the Dolby Theatre (Where the Oscars take place). This was such a great honor and pretty exciting, especially as I got to have my mum there who flew in from London to watch me. This meant so much to m...

Hello my lovely subscribers, readers and friends,  So.. I love LA, it's an amazing place and I couldn't be happier to have the opportunity to be living here but coming from Essex in England to the huge City of Los Angeles can be a bit of a shock. I was here for over a year before returning back to England and then coming back for the remainder of my two years out here. I've put together this little post for you Brits who can't decide if LA is for you or not. I had a friend recently who came to LA to do some applied theatre work and after being here for only a few weeks, she told me she couldn't understand how I could live here and it was nothing like she expected. It's always hard moving to a new place and adapting to a new way of life, I've certainly had difficulty adapting but once you get used to the way, it can be very worth it if you allow it to. Anyways here's a few things for you to know before making a decision. 1. It's nothing like t...

Hello my lovely readers,  So, the other day I was with my best friend and her fiancé and we were talking about the difference between dating in Los Angeles and dating in Britain. Whilst spending the last year in LA I had a bit of a whirlwind in the dating department and realised that many of my dates were misconceived by what dating a British girl means. Now really it shouldn't make a difference where you're from right? but, from my experiences and from many of my British friends, there definitely seems to be different rules and ideas on what it means to date a Brit.  Here I've written a little fun blog on 11 tips to consider before you go out into the big wide world and date a British woman. Enjoy :) 1. Don't make fun/mimic her accent. As I've learnt from dating in LA, it's not fun when your date spends the whole night mimicking your accent because 'it sounds funny and posh' . Please stop, we've heard it all before, its not...

Hey Guys, So.. my last month in LA was a bit of crazy one. My apartment lease was up at the end of April so I didn't really have any other choice but to move into an air b n b for the remainder of my trip. I'm still not too familiar with the different places in LA so choosing a place that wasn't too far from my my campus, where I was still currently working limited me to only a few places. The first one I moved to I only lasted for two days because it was probably the most disgusting place I had ever stayed in. The place turned out to have nearly twenty people living in the one house with, where the neighbours would play music all through the night and I was grace with a pair of stained sheets on my bed. Refusing to stay there anymore I decided to leave and move to another apartment close to Beverly Hills. Although it did cost a fair bit more at this point the money wasn't really an issue, so I finally moved into this new place. It seemed really nice unt...

Hey guys, This weekend has been pretty crazy for me now but I've loved every minute of it. On Thursday night I went to the see the company production at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts of Othello and I have to admit I loved it. I usually love Shakespeare but having studied him for so long time in England I've become a little detached to it now whilst in LA. I often find it difficult to understand the language even though I have studied it for a while and when I don't understand things I automatically switch off and become disengaged, however, this was not the case with Othello . The actors made it so clear through their physicality and body language that I felt engrossed all the way through the two and a half hour show. Then on Friday I headed to Melrose with my friend from England to go to Leonardo DiCaprio's club Villa Lounge. It took a while to get in as it was busy but finally when we did get passed the ridiculously long line it was an amazing night. The ...

Hey guys, I hope you're all having a great and not still feeling the Monday blues. After sharing my last dating adventures with you all, I have decided to share another little dating story with you. So, here goes. On Halloween last year, I went to a Frat party on USC Frat row and met this Persian guy who I spent most of the night chatting to. He seemed like a nice guy and was in his last year majoring in business. I should have probably seen the signs from the beginning as his costume was a shirtless Channing Tatum from Magic Mike, but we got along quite well and after all it was Hall0ween. I could see that he had a little bit of arrogance about him but it was nothing that I couldn't handle. After the Frat party, we spoke for about a week before he asked me out on a date. He picked me up from my apartment and we drove to a bar in downtown LA. Whilst on our drive he starts off the conversation by saying "so...your’e one of those Brits ain't you?", ...

Hey guys and girls,  First of all I hope everyone had a lovely winter break and happy new year to you all. I'm excited to be writing my new post of 2016.  Here goes for my first post of the new year. Today I have decided to write a review on the new film Joy written and directed by David O Russell.  The film is set in late 1980s to early 1990s and follows the story of a divorced woman named Joy who rises to fame and becomes a self made millionaire  after inventing a mop that would change everything. Joy is a powerful woman and the film takes us through all the failures and struggles of her life before she makes her fortune. The film has a very impressive cast with actress Jennifer Lawrence playing the lead role of Joy, Robert De Niro playing the role of Rudy, Isabella Rossellini as Trudy and Bradley Cooper as Neil Walker.  I went to watch this film in Novato, California for a family night out with my aunt, uncle, cousin and...

Hello my lovely readers, I can't believe I have been in Los Angeles for nearly six months already. After a long twelve weeks of classes and two weeks of rehearsals for our exams play, the first semester is finally up. The last six months in Los Angeles have been a roller coaster, but have been the best months of my life. In just one semester at The Academy I have learnt so much and allowed myself to grow in confidence and as an actor. I have made the best of friends and had so much fun experiencing the nightlife and going on many adventures around LA. I've also had an amazing time reconnecting with a good friend of mine from England who also happened to be studying in Los Angeles at the time and I definitely feel this has given me a feeling of being at home.  The day after my exam play I was so excited to go and pick up mum from the airport who had come all the way from London to spend winter break with me. We went to stay in the Avalon Hotel in Beverly Hills for four days ...

Hey Guys, So I've never really been a huge fan of Halloween, I know most people think that's crazy but back in England I never saw the appeal in it. I knew before moving to LA that Halloween here was a big deal and from the moment I got here in August people were already planning what they were going to do and wear for Halloween. I didn't really have a plan but I knew for the first time I wanted to experience it real LA style. We still didn't have a proper plan up until about five minters before we actually went last night. I'm usually very organised and hate planning things really last minute as I like to know plans in advance so that I can prepare, but since I've been here I've started to get used to the fact that people do not plan things, they usually just happen. I also wasn't even sure that I wanted to go out in the end because I still extremely hungover from the following night that the thought of putting on a costume and heels made me angry. ...

Hello my lovely readers, This blog is definitely way overdue and from now on I will make sure that I start updating it more often. Everything in LA has been so crazy that it's been difficult to keep up. I have now been living in LA for almost two months and I absolutely love it here. Every week is a new adventure. Last week I went to the Disney Hall in downtown LA to experience the work of classical musician Stravinsky with a very good friend of the family. It was an amazing experience, I have always taken an interest in classical music but was never something I had experienced live before, so this was definitely something different and new for me. This not something I would have really had the chance to see back home so it was nice to try explore something different. I enjoyed it so much that I was luckily enough to have the opportunity to attend another classical concert in Glendale, which was put on specifically to raise money for underprivileged children. It was a lovely ex...

This last week has been a bit of a roller coaster for me. Sitting in a little coffee shop in the Grove waiting for an appointment at the Apple Store is the first time I have really had a chance to reflect of my first week at AADA. On Wednesday I finally moved into my apartment, which was probably the most stressful day of all. I got the school housing orientation with CHS regarding my appointment and with no explanation I was told by the advisor of CHS that I was being moved  to a totally different apartment. When I asked the reason he responded with "because I said". He seemed completely unapologetic and responded with rude abrupt answers when I enquired about things to do with the new accommodation. I was already feeling overwhelmed and anxious by the fact that in only a few hours I would be left in LA by myself and he had no interest in making the experience positive for me. I went to my apartment that day feeling quite stressed and upset. I was hoping that I would feel ...

Hey Guys,  Last Saturday I got onto to the plane at Oakland Airport and flew to Burbank for my final stop in Los Angeles. After landing at Burbank my cousin and I headed off to west Hollywood to stay with a very good family friend, who was kind enough to let us stay with him until I was able to move into my apartment.  Our first few days of exploring the area were fantastic. We started off with a spot of shopping at the Beverly Center, which we walked forty minutes to as we had no car, before heading off on a night out at a stylish nightclub near sunset called Boulevard3. The club consisted of a large outside area with large water display surrounded buy fire burners, an outside cocktail bar and luxury VIP areas. There was also an inside section with another very large bar, podium dancers, a VIP section and a large dance floor. It cost about $20 to get in, which is pretty pricey considering in London nightclubs girls will always get i free. I was ...