Episode 99

In this episode of SPX, host Joe Hamilton chats with the multifaceted actress and teacher Eugenie Bondurant. Known for her roles in films like "Fear of Rain", "The Hunger Games" and her upcoming appearance in "Summer Camp," Bondurant takes us on a journey through her vibrant career. From her unique upbringing in New Orleans to her foray into the world of fashion and finance, Eugenie shares personal anecdotes that highlight her passion for creativity. We look at the evolution of her acting career, her experiences with character development on set, and her dedication to fostering a community of actors through her Station 12 Studio. Throughout the conversation we overlay the business of acting - from branding to the Screen Actors Guild, and Eugenie shares her rules of engagement for any aspring actors.

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Joe Hamilton

Joining me on SPX is multifaceted talent Eugenie Bondurant. 

Welcome.

Eugenie Bondurant 

Thank you. Thank you very much for having me on the show. I appreciate it.

Joe Hamilton

You know, we’ll certainly dive into the many facets of your very interesting career, but I like to talk about the person, too. So, New Orleans.

Eugenie Bondurant

I’m from New Orleans. I admit it. I confess it.

I was born and raised there. And to me, it’s the most amazing city in the entire world. So yes, if you want to spend this entire time talking about that, I am game for that.

Joe Hamilton

Yes. Let’s, we’ll spend a few minutes talking about growing up in New Orleans.

Eugenie Bondurant

Right, right, right. You know, I thought everything that, you know, when I was growing up there, I thought my life was normal. And then I moved away.

I went to college in a different state and I realized, oops, no, it’s not normal to, you know, have a parade and throw beads and doubloons and, and have a band in the middle of the parade. You know, it’s not normal to walk out of a bar with a beer in your hand and walk down the street. It’s not normal.

I mean, it just, it’s fun, but generally good.

Joe Hamilton

, you know, it’s, we call it idyllic, New Orleans style version of idyllic or yes.

Eugenie Bondurant

Well, you know, for whatever that means. I mean, we would,  during Mardi Gras, Mardi Gras, believe it or not, is actually a family celebration. Most people think it’s a bodiness and drinking and, you know, waking up with hangover and continuing drink.

There is that. But as a kid, we would dress up and we would start going to parade six weeks after, well after twelfth night, which is, you know, after Christmas. So we would start going to parades and we’d circle them and have the parking spot.

And then, my dad would have a ladder. On the ladder is a certain type of chair that you put your kids in. The adult sits behind them, and they’re all strapped in. And when the parades combine, they throw all this stuff to the kids. I mean, everybody has them.

So I thought it was normal. And then on Christmas, I’m not in Christmas, but on Mardi Gras day, my dad looked a lot like Abe Lincoln. So he would dress up as Abe Lincoln, six, four and a half thin as a rail put on a fake beard and he’d hand out pennies as Lincoln doubloons.

So I mean, that was normal for me. City closing down during Mardi Gras was normal.

Joe Hamilton

And the Mardi Gras sort of dominate the spirit of the rest of the year as well was sort of it’s, or did you kind of settle back into more traditional, normal things, you know, July, August and September holiday is a celebration in New Orleans and it’s a very Catholic city.

Eugenie Bondurant

So there are a lot of Catholic holidays that are added, you know, on top of that, like St. Joseph’s day, big holiday, St. Patrick’s day, big holiday. I mean, we have parades. There was, I was there with my husband a few years back and we were going, I think to this restaurant or something.

And we were parking in a certain area, quite close to the French quarter. And we got out of the car and there’s people gathering for a parade. I’m thinking, okay, it’s, it’s after Mardi Gras.

It’s,  not in an area that would have a parade and it’s to celebrate this nun who had died. So they put on a parade, they had a band, you know, they had all these bands, they were throwing, they had floats, they had, you know, I thought, well, okay, that’s, that’s my life. Yeah.

Anything for a festival, anything to have great food and music and people coming together.

Joe Hamilton

So obviously that leads to a, you know, somewhat, free-flowing fun and creative life. You mentioned your dad dressing up, you know, was, was the Bonne Ronde household infused with creativity? What, what were the other, you know, were your parents, into being in front of people and acting or performing in any way?

Eugenie Bondurant

They, they were, it’s interesting you say that because no one’s really asked me that before. They were performers without realizing that they were performers. You know, they always had parties.

My mother was a, always hosted these fun dinner parties and always had some sort of theme involved in it. When I was very young, they would of course have hurricane parties, but they’d have these dress up themes. And,  my sister, I’m the youngest of three.

So my sisters tell me, oh yeah, mom, was in the play, which was a benefit for the school. And I thought, well, I didn’t know that. We were very crafty and I, in our home,  I learned how to sew.

I learned how to knit. I learned how to, you know, any kind of craft, anything we’d follow our dad along and he was,  handy in the house. He would rewire, things.

I learned how to rewire lamps and, you know, change out a plug and, you know, hang a ceiling fan. You know, I, it’s just one of those crazy things.

Joe Hamilton

Yeah.

Eugenie Bondurant

So, yeah, but they were not in that business.  they were also avid readers. So I grew up with a passion for reading and books and, you know, looking for the story.

I am not, believe it or not, even though I feel like I’m a storyteller with what I do. I am not a writer though. And my mother was a gifted writer, which is interesting.

It did not, that gene did not pass down to me, unfortunately.

Joe Hamilton

You took that, you know, all that, that free-flowing life and creativity and went and got a finance degree. I did. I did.

Eugenie Bondurant

You know why?

Joe Hamilton

Why?

Eugenie Bondurant

I was in fashion merchandising. I really wanted to go into fashion design. Now I went to the university of Alabama and at that time there was no such thing as fashion design in the area, in the school and that college that I was attending.

So I thought, okay. And then my mother said, do you want to work with women? And on the weekends all day?

And I thought, no,  no, I want people to think I’m smart. So I thought, oh, where can I meet the most men? Bidgood was the college of Bidgood, which was the college of business.

And, so I enrolled in finance and that would make me actually have a degree in corporate finance because I thought, oh, that will make me appear smart. And I’ll get more dates that way. So I did.

Joe Hamilton

Yes.

Eugenie Bondurant

And it was so boring. And I appreciate all of my friends who have furthered their career in finance.

Joe Hamilton

The school was boring or the dates were boring.

Eugenie Bondurant

No, the dates were great. The school was actually great. The school is,  actually a leader in, you know, finance and business that it is one of the top business schools, but I found the subject boring, boring, boring.

And I was,  it was suggested that I go get my master’s in it. And I said, absolutely not, not happening.

Joe Hamilton

And so there you were drawn to the, the, you, you wanted to create the fashion, the design it, or you were attracted to the business piece of it.

Eugenie Bondurant

I wanted to create it. You know, we, I had Barbies growing up and so I would design their dresses and drape them and I had no idea what in the world I was doing and I was good with the sewing machine. I’ve left that area since then, but you know, I would get,  a piece of fabric and wrap it around and go, oh no, look, it’s a, it’s a skirt now.

Oh no, it’s on my, you know, now I’ve made it into some sort of jacket or who knows what.

Joe Hamilton

And when you look at, you know, how fashion made you feel, was it, you know, obviously there’s larger than life personalities and lifestyle and jet setting and glamor and all of that. Then there’s the actual craft, you know, where you’re, you’re really just locked in a room expressing yourself and design, which sort of did all of it appealed to you or there’s certain elements of it that you liked.

Eugenie Bondurant

The sitting in the room and designing was a thing that I enjoyed, but I have,  you know, I feel like I’ve got a great appreciation for that instead. And my life went in a different direction. So, yeah. And I, you know what, I enjoyed sewing. I was not a very good sewer or seamstress.  I mean, I can do it, but I’m not very good at it. And then the sewing machine would always break because I was, I didn’t know how to use it properly. So I, you know, it was a different path for me that I didn’t know about, but yeah, that’s what I wanted to do. Interesting.

Yeah.

Joe Hamilton

And, and obviously in this kind of thing, it’s true to a lot of different roles and things you’ve, you’ve done professionally, there’s always a, you know, a bit of a relationship between brand and access to being able to, you know, express and do the things you love to do. So a brand, you know, fashion brand identity or, you know, can open doors for you to do the thing you love, which is to actually create and absolutely in movie roles and TV roles, brand can open doors as well. So, you know, how aware are you about that?

You know, I mean, jumping forward now, you are, you are getting invited to different cons, comic cons, you know, and whatnot, or cons and people are paying to get your autograph and that’s brand, right? You’re literally signing your name is worth money to people. So, you know, how much is that in your consciousness and how much do you, how much can you actually influence that to, to further your other passions?

Eugenie Bondurant

Well, that’s a, that’s a, that’s an interesting question. One I’ve never thought of.  actually, but I do want to go back to one thing about, design whenever I’m on a set, and I, it, now there’s a dialogue 20 years ago, there wasn’t so much of a dialogue with the designer and the character that I would be playing, but now there is, and which is lovely, just meaning they just told you the way it was going to be.

Joe Hamilton

And you just said thank you.

Eugenie Bondurant

I’ve pulled these things, tried them on and great. That looks great. Don’t wear that.

Boom, done. And now I say, well, I, I have more of a voice in that. What that leads me to say is often what’s what I’m seeing now is that costumes and outfits are designed for, to suit my character.

And so to be in the room where that’s happening is fascinating to me. And I have such a, when, when something’s designed, like for example, Werewolf by Night, they had, the design team had created a sketch of all the characters and they were approved by production and the director and blah, blah, blah. And so when I came in for fittings, it was, well, so what do you think?

Do you think, would you, would she move? Would this work with her? And so I had a voice then, but then when you look at it, you look at the actual design of it and how they took my body and used the, the angles of my body and made this, you know, I’ve got a very long torso.

So used that to add to this costume. It just, to me, it’s fascinating. It just blows me away.

There’s so much talent that they can take a design. Somebody can take a design and go, here it is.

Joe Hamilton

What do you attribute that, that evolution to then bring? Is it just the natural way of, you know, by bringing the actor into the conversation, you get a more connected, authentic, better product, or is there some larger societal change? What, caused that shift?

Eugenie Bondurant

I don’t think it’s a societal change. I think it’s the type of character, the roles that I’d been booking lately.  and then at this stage, I have more of a voice to be able to say, wait a second.

I think she would, this character would be more inclined to wear those types of shoes instead of these types of shoes. Now, granted, you’re only given a certain amount, you know, you’re not going to say I think she’ll wear high heels, you know, instead of flats.

Joe Hamilton

Star power then. I mean, you, you now.

Eugenie Bondurant

It’s nice to be in that position to determine what shoes you wear.

Joe Hamilton

So, well, absolutely.

Eugenie Bondurant

And I mean, even on Contouring,  they designed a, this gown, it’s not a gown, but this outfit. And, and I had a dress similar to the outfit I ultimately wore and had taken a photograph of it. And had sent it in and said, so are you looking for something similar to this, but maybe like a little rounded collar. And sure enough, when you look at the outfit, it’s very similar to that dress. And so while we were going through it, I could say, oh, you know, the designer said, would she wear any jewelry? This is an example of that. Would she wear any jewelry? Absolutely. And she’d wear this type of thing up on her neck. And I think it would be a pin and it would look like this. Does that, was that what you were thinking? Yes.

You know, so that is, it’s my interpretation meeting the director’s interpretation and the designer’s interpretation. And so going back to college and thinking, oh, I’m going to be a fashion designer, having no clue what that would entail or even, I mean, thank goodness that life didn’t lead me in that direction right now, I feel like I am part of that process of creating. But now it’s creating the costume or wardrobe for the, or helping, make decisions for the wardrobe that I’m wearing for a particular character.

Joe Hamilton

Yeah, that’s interesting. So, and, and just kind of juxtapose that that is the business itself, because you are an independent, you know, you are there and you’ve negotiated, a spot and, and then you have to consider,  you know, how that those negotiations will pay out in the future.  I’m, you know, SAG helps with a lot of that, but, so what, what’s your, you know, obviously you said a couple of strikes recently and, and, geared towards streaming related things, but how do you kind of feel like things are with the state of, of, you know, being an actor and,  you know, how much do you dig into that?

Eugenie Bondurant

It’s interesting what’s happening in the business right now. And maybe I’m the only one who’s experiencing this. I don’t think I am.

I don’t think I’m alone. , the industry is reorganizing itself right now. We had two back-to-back strikes.

We first, we had COVID then two back-to-back strikes, right? We were coming, we came out of COVID and then bam, bam. And the strikes were very important at the time that they happened.

They were important to reestablish the benefits and wages for both writers and then actors. They were long due. So what happened though, was in the beginning of COVID, we all get shut down and then streaming takes over.

Streaming was, was obviously very available pre COVID, right? But no one wanted to go out to the cinema because of being exposed to COVID. And when they did eventually like nine months later, everybody was, you know, obviously everybody was wearing masks and there was social distancing and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

So during that time, which you had were films that big studio productions that were released and were scheduled to be released at a certain time during COVID and all of a sudden you’d hear instead of a two week or a month run in a cinema, you’d hear the production companies say, oh no, we’re going to go straight to streaming and we’ll be in the cinema. Well, what that ended up doing was cutting off the, not access to cinema, but the fact that people would go to the movies. So now that is the norm.

Like, oh, well, the cinema is going to be, I mean, film’s just going to be in the cinema for a week and then it’s going to go to streaming and I can buy it. Oh, and you know what, within a certain amount of time, it’ll be free and I’ll get to watch it at home. The cinema, going to a cinema is an event and it’s to me, part of the process of enjoying a film.

You are with other people. It’s not a private thing. I get to share it with my friends.

If I go, you know,  I have a, an acting community that I’ve started, Station 12, and often I will say, Hey, I’m going to Greenlight to watch a movie. That’s great movie. That’s just come out.

Will you join me? Well, the fact that some of these actors come and join me, it’s like this little party. We had this large, long hiccup during COVID.

So now getting back to the strikes, you have writers and actors, and part of the issues dealt with streaming and residuals that basically were very little coming from streaming and everybody was on streaming. So, you know, there’s this, this, the both parties, both guilds were, you know, raising their horns and saying, Hey, wait a minute, you know, some things we’re not being reimbursed the way that we were when, either a movie or TV show ran on the network. And it was, it it’s been difficult.

So you have, you have COVID, then you have the strikes,  and the business for actors, for union actors, it’s just, it’s transitioning. And I don’t know what that’s going to be. A lot of the A-list stars were out of, everybody was out of work unless you signed the SAG agreement during the strike, right?

So everybody’s out of work. You’ve got these A-list stars who,  have projects that were ready to start filming and then they were delayed. So they weren’t getting money, right.

And they weren’t being paid. So what happened after the strikes were resolved, all, all projects that were being cast were gobbled up by A-listers because they wanted to get back to work. And so everything shoveled back down, like, like shifted downward, right?

So people who were, who were the actors that were, you would see all the time as guest star, guest star, guest star, guest star, then they would get the, they would get the smaller roles. And so all of this work is now, like, everybody’s going, okay, well, where’s the work, the pilots that were usually during pilot season, let’s say you might have 150, I’m just making this number up, 150 pilots, well, pilot season was like little to none, maybe 20 pilots were shot. So when you go from a large number to a small number, people are grabbing for that work.

I mean, I was talking to a friend of mine who’s very well known in the horror genre. She’s an actor and she said, I was up against a very big A-list actor. And she got it over me.

Now, this woman you see all the time, when you think horror, you think this woman. And she said, because that’s what’s happening. That’s what’s happening now.

Joe Hamilton

So it sounds like, I mean, there’s, there’s a couple of things eating away there for the cinemas. I think their, their fate is not looking good because, you know, you like, you know, I would be of the same ilk that a movie is an event, a thing to share, go and be with other people. But that’s one of those, I think, traditional generational things where, you know, now that kids that grew up now are with COVID who have streaming 50, 60, 70, 80 percent less of them go experience and experience that.

And 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 percent of their kids will not do that. And so that’s, you know, that’s a thing maybe that will never come back because there’s just too many alternatives and you don’t have that historical norm. You know, now the people that that go are people who remember what and know what it’s like.

And and then, you know, the other piece, obviously, like I, you know, my attention is if I’m going to go absorb media anywhere, I probably would at YouTube first. And, you know, the independent creators. So I think that the overall appetite for, you know, streaming is bringing a lot of a lot of things.

But, you know, streaming has a limited throughput, too. I mean, Netflix is bringing only a handful of really decent budget shows out every month. And and so it’s not like it’s anywhere near when you had all the theaters rolling at, you know, at their at their top speed, plus HBO, plus the exact plus the networks while doing movies and stuff.

And so, you know, I assume there’s a pretty big chunk out of the paid work that’s being done by these these really talented individual creators on YouTube.

Eugenie Bondurant

Right. Right. It’s a crazy.

It’s a crazy set of circumstances we’re in right now. I hope that, you know, honestly, I hope that the cinemas don’t go away because, like I mentioned before, to me, it’s an event, you know, and to see something on a large screen, it just it’s yummy. I mean, I think and and people also because, again, like you had said, you’re out of the habit.

So we’ve got to I feel like we’ve got to retrain.

Joe Hamilton

Yeah, but I don’t know if the average 14 year old had anything to retrain because they just never, you know, but but I do think there’s you know, and usually when these things shift, it’s the bigger ones, you know, in media, you see that where, you know, the New York Times and The Washington Post are doing OK because there’s a few big ones that can kind of make it. So maybe there’s a few, you know, smaller footprint, but big budget movie houses. But then there’s then, you know, there is room for the niche players like the Greenlights and, you know, to have that.

And a lot of times, you know, you’ll see people will add other experiences to it. So maybe some food or whatever as well. So I think there’s still like you said, it’s just transitional, you know, it’s right, right.

Eugenie Bondurant

Well, you know, of all of all the cinemas, the bigger chains are actually not doing as well as the smaller cinemas. The Greenlights doing well, especially considering the circumstances that are going on. I just think, OK, just just maybe ten more people in seats.

Come on, ten more people. Come on, we can do it every show.

Joe Hamilton

All right. That’s usually a challenge.

Eugenie Bondurant

It’s usually a challenge. Exactly right.

Joe Hamilton

So speaking of Greenlight, that’s where you hold your work out of there and you operate your community out of there. So, let’s talk about your classes and why that’s a passion for you.

Eugenie Bondurant

You know, you said the word community, and I feel like Mike Hazlitt with Greenlight and I have created a community—a community of actors, a community of filmmakers. I just feel like I’m the facilitator. They do the work.

People who come to Station 12, it’s called Station 12 Studio at Greenlight Cinema. And it’s a perfect place for it to be because, you know, my love is film and television. So, you know, that’s what we’re doing. And I have actors come and participate. We’ve got I’ve got scene study classes. I’m teaching Meisner, Meisner method right now, which is an acting method.

We have Gavin Hawke, who’s who comes in twice a year teaching long form improv. I don’t know if you know, Gavin, but he’s just oh, my goodness. He’s incredible.

I’ve got Mary Rachel Quinn teaching short form improv, which it’s great and a lot of fun. I wrote Escobar, who teaches our core class, which is the introduction class into the cinema. Now, a lot.

Mm hmm. And Mike just wrapped his film challenge. So inevitably, there’s going to be actors from my classes in these films.

And when I come in to the class, the first thing that we do every class, whether it’s Meisner or my scene study class, I say, OK, what’s going on? Because I want them to I want my actors to talk about we’re all building right. Everybody is helping each other up to the next level.

So I want my young actors, my new actors to understand what it’s like to be in this business and what they have to do and what headshots are all about, what casting castings are going on, you know, who’s who’s looking for talent, who booked what? Because it’s encouraging and it gives them the impetus to get the marketing tools to move forward. And it works, you know.

So anyway, getting the bottom line of the film challenge, you know, a lot of my actors are in the film challenge, which is very cool. I’m excited.

Joe Hamilton

Which kind of actually brings us a little bit full circle back to the branding question that I don’t think we dug into a little bit. But, you know, what what can they do in addition to being great actors that make them more likely to get roles and to claim a claim mind space in the industry?

Eugenie Bondurant

Be specific on what how they can be cast. So, for example, branding, I’m always you know, I always give pushback to that word branding, but it’s actually. It’s what we have to do, you know, I don’t know why I don’t like that word or something, but I like the word wheelhouse, what is in your wheelhouse, right?

And so my focus with my actors and with myself is how do casting directors see you and how does production see, you know, how are you going to be booked? Are you going to be booked as the the young man who lives next door, who’s the best friend? Are you going to be the hot lead?

Are you going to be the crazy neighbor who’s at our mind and might put cyanide in your cookies? I mean, who are you and how can you be cast? Right.

And so once you know that you you can as an actor, as a performer, once you have that idea, when you go to get your headshots taken, that will influence how your headshots are taken or what your perspective is on that. So if you’re the crazy lady, which often I play crazy lady or evil or, you know, manipulative or whatever, because I’m that way in person at any rate, once you’ve got that in mind, if I’m taking a business shot, which I don’t always get the roles of business roles, but if I’m taking that shot, there’s going to be a twist. That’s the example.

So I know, oh, I’m going to be the smartest person in the room. That’s how I’m going to be cast. But I may not be cast as the CEO, but I am going to be the one that he either trusts or he’s not sure about.

But I’m going to be right. I’m going to be the leader. You know what I mean?

I always get roles like that, but my actors have to figure that out. We sometimes do a series of exercises in class that help them identify that. I often bring in people who are very well known for helping other actors brand themselves. It’s incredible to see the transformation. Someone that I’ve worked with, Mandy Mills, is very good.

That’s who I usually recommend bringing in class. And she gets the essence of what the actor is.

Joe Hamilton

Yeah. And that’s I mean, that’s what I when I was getting into the branding thing, you know that whether that’s the exact right word or not. But that’s that’s it.

Because a lot of these A-list actors aren’t the most talented actors. Right. But they’re still A-list actors because they’ve got some acting skills plus that thing. And, you know, and now I think more than ever, you have to be self-aware.  

That, and of course, then as a, as the craft getting, what is the essence of you out in a, into a character type, that’s kind of the dream because that way you’re being all you as your career and it’s the most natural place to be. But then the other piece of it that gets interesting, especially for beginning actors is walking the line between, hey, I need a paycheck and hey, I need to, you know, I need a role that’s going to help me continue to, to, to walk a path that will ultimately get me this highest and best character type, you know, injection into the space versus now I’ve got to play something that might actually be detrimental to that, that, you know, that, that’s a presence I’m trying to put out there in the world.

Eugenie Bondurant

What’s interesting though,  is an agent would rather represent someone who’s specific and know his type versus someone who’s more general because they have something to pitch. Yeah. The same with,  a casting director.

Like for instance, I have a friend of mine, we sometimes overlap in the auditions that we, for which we, you know, things for which we audition. And I know when it’s a mom loving mom type, I usually don’t have a shot at getting that type at all, but she does. And we’re in the same category, right?

But she’s got headshots that back that up as hard as I try. I cannot get headshots that back that up. And when I’m on camera, the essence isn’t there.

I’m loving to my actors. They all know that they just, I love them and I adore them. But when I’m on camera, it doesn’t pick that up.

So an agent goes, Oh yeah, you’re the person I’m going to send out for X, Y, and Z. This other person I’m going to send out for ABC.

Joe Hamilton

Yeah. I mean, well, to your point though, you shouldn’t be going for the loving mom jobs because that’s off brand path.

Eugenie Bondurant

Yeah.

Joe Hamilton

But yeah, for an agent, I mean, it makes absolute sense. It just makes their job easier because much easier. If you need a super villain, I’ve got one of the top three super villains in the country.

I’m going to compete with the other two super villains as a way easier than competing with the world, the masses.

Eugenie Bondurant

Exactly, exactly. So right now what is important is for my actors to get tape on themselves, to get footage on themselves. That’s a better word.

And with that, when you have footage, you can use that footage to market yourself. So, and that’s tough. It’s not as tough here.

We have great schools with film programs that are always looking for actors to do their, you know, these kids are looking for actors to do their short films. So that’s great. That’s great.

Joe Hamilton

You are part of a, you’re one half of an art culture power couple.

Eugenie Bondurant

I can’t believe you said that. It always makes me scratch my head when people say that. Oh my gosh, you’re a power couple.

Joe Hamilton

I can think of only a few that we have, but it may be Carrie and Mark.

Eugenie Bondurant

Yeah, they are a power couple. Aren’t they incredible? They are.

So yeah, Paul Wilborn.

Joe Hamilton

Paul Wilborn.

Eugenie Bondurant

That’s right.

Joe Hamilton

Let’s go back to the origin story. How did you first meet and what happened after that?

Eugenie Bondurant

We met in Los Angeles. We met at a party for a publicist party. I was invited to that party to promote a film, a quirky indie film I was in.

And the publicist party was for a book that was being released by one of his clients. So the producer of this quirky film said, come to this party. Well, I’d just woken up with my boyfriend at the time and I just didn’t want to go anywhere or do anything.

So I thought, okay, I’ll just go. I’ll put on some red lipstick and a push-up bra and maybe, you know, I don’t know. I just, I’m not going to meet anybody.

I don’t want to meet anybody. I just need to do this for Donald and Doc Clock found dead in their home, which is the name of the project. So I did.

And literally I walked in the door. It was at this great restaurant in LA. And I walked in the door and there was Paul Wilborn came right up to me.

Hi, I’m Paul Wilborn. And yes, it’s true story. So I thought, no, I’m not interested.

That is a man. That’s a, like, whatever. I don’t know.

Is he trying to talk to me? I don’t know.

Joe Hamilton

You’re literally just, you can’t see you. You’re making an ex with her. All right.

So I don’t think I need to write that, that pickup line down. Hi, I’m Paul Wilborn. That’s all you need.

Eugenie Bondurant

That’s right.

Joe Hamilton

Exactly.

Eugenie Bondurant

So his take on the circumstance was a little different than mine, but he, I was in, we were introduced by the assistant of the PR guy. Michael Levine was the name of the PR guy. So I was polite and I spoke to him for a little while.

And then he said, oh, we should get together for coffee or something. I don’t know. And I thought, oh, I said, great.

Give me your card. I mean, I wasn’t thinking that he was a bad guy. I just had just gotten over it.

And he thought, please don’t. I was so tired of the whole L.A. I’m a producer. And Paul never said that he was a producer.

He was a journalist. And, but I was just over, over it, over it. So not with him, but over the whole.

And,  I said, so yeah, do you have a card? And he said, oh no, I forgot them in the car. I went, likely excuse.

So I said, he said, do you have one of yours? I thought, well, I said, okay, yes, I do. You cannot call this number because I will not answer it, but you can email me at this email.

And then I said, I’m never going to hear from him again, whatever. So,  but if I do, he’s a nice guy to set up with some of my friends. I’m moving out of L.A. I’m done with L.A. I’m finished. I need to move back to new Orleans, but okay. I’ll set him up. I’ve got three single girls that I like that, you know, and hopefully he’s a nice guy.

Well, he did call and he called within a certain amount of time. I’m sorry. Yeah.

My, my mistake. He followed directions. He emailed.

And I do remember the lead line. It said your friend from AP, which I thought, oh, wait. Yeah.

I remember that guy actually was nice. Okay.  I’ve got one of my three girls and I’m going to, so, and then we emailed a bit and then he said, may I call you?

Yes, you may call me. So I gave him my sister’s number. My sister, it just kills.

Just said, I can’t believe you did that. I was babysitting my sister’s kids, actually the youngest. And, while they were out of town.

So I said, you can call me at my sister’s number. Now, you know, if he was a serial killer, I gave my sister’s number, like here, so it was really not smart for me to do, but anyway, we ended up making a date.

Joe Hamilton

Oh.

Eugenie Bondurant

And,  so the other friends got shut out then the other friends got shut out in the meantime. My good friend, Susan McNabb, who was still living in Los Angeles said, so we had a few dates after that, which was lovely. So my friend, Susan McNabb said, I wonder who is this guy?

Where’s he from? I said, he’s originally from Tampa. Oh, okay.

I said, okay. And I’m not thinking anything like whatever. All right.

I said, let’s go to lunch. All of us, you know, you Susan and I, so Susan sits down and says, so I called my friend who’s from Tampa right to Paul and Paul goes, yes. She says, you’re a pretty nice guy.

And when I was dropped out of the chair, I thought, okay, okay, good. My friends are checking up on me.

Joe Hamilton

So early, early days of cyber-stalking just had to call somebody on the landline and check them out.

Eugenie Bondurant

Yeah. Natty called Natty. Yeah, he’s a nice guy.

Joe Hamilton

Little did they know that he was actually throwing these huge legendary parties where he knows what happened.

Eugenie Bondurant

Exactly. What? My friend, I had another, we had another friend who said, who’s actually Paul’s friend in LA.

He said, when you go to Tampa, everybody knows Paul. And I thought, yeah, right. I mean, I was so cynical because I was living in Los Angeles, you know, it’s easy to get cynical in Los Angeles.

Joe Hamilton

Well, and the magic of Paul is that if for a lot of people, if you said in Tampa, everybody knows Paul, that’s not necessarily a good thing. You know, that means he’s made his way around with the ladies, women and who knows what, but actually with Paul, everybody knows Paul and everybody likes Paul. Everybody likes Paul.

That’s a gem.

Eugenie Bondurant

Yeah, it’s true. It’s been fun. It’s been a fun adventure with him and we really like each other still.

It’s really good. 20 years by the way. Two zero.

I can’t believe it.

Joe Hamilton

It’s amazing.

Eugenie Bondurant

Yeah. It used to be just the two mark, like two and then you’re out 20.

Joe Hamilton

20. And then how, what was the transition back to this side of the country from LA?

Eugenie Bondurant

Oh, he ended up getting a job with the mayor in Tampa and was the arts guy. He transitioned out of journalism, which was a big move for him. And I didn’t realize that, you know, once you, I don’t know, this is my take on it.

Once you get out of journalism, then you’re pretty much out of journalism, you know, and he loved that job. And then the job at the Palladium running the, being the executive director of the Palladium theater came up and he applied for it and he got it. And that’s why we moved over to St. Pete.

Joe Hamilton

How far down the road were you in the relationship when you moved from LA back to Florida?

Eugenie Bondurant

Oh, we were engaged. Listen, I am not going to move.

Joe Hamilton

You said you were leaving anyway, right?

Eugenie Bondurant

I did say that, but yeah, there is no movement across country for a guy without being, having a ring on my finger, like not happening.

Joe Hamilton

You should have done the song. You get a beat to the other and put a ring on it or whatever.

Eugenie Bondurant

Exactly. Exactly. Yeah.

No, we were engaged and we were married six months later, eight months later. It sounded like that. Yeah.

That’s great. I didn’t know. I didn’t even know where Tampa was.

I had to look up on a map and go, oh, there it is. Yeah. Okay.

Joe Hamilton

It’s a pleasant drive to New Orleans anyway, so it’s not terrible.

Eugenie Bondurant

Well, it is 10 hours, 10 hours. Yeah. And you go through Florida and you keep on going through Florida and it’s like Florida, Florida, Florida, Florida, Florida, Florida, Florida, Florida.

Oh, now we’re in Alabama for a spit. And then, oh, it’s Louisiana. Yeah.

Joe Hamilton

It’s get excited about Louisiana.

Eugenie Bondurant

I know, but Southwest is only an hour away, so that’s good. Yeah.

Joe Hamilton

So the future, I know we have, you have a,  initially moving coming out summer camp.

Eugenie Bondurant

Yes. I’m super excited about that. It is,  with Diane Keaton and Kathy Woodard and I mean, Kathy Bates, sorry, Alfre Woodard, Eugene Levy.

It’s a fun, fun film. It’s coming out June 1st, I believe May 31st, June 1st, something like that in a cinema. Look, you know, close to you.

And it is about a group of summer campers who have a reunion at their summer camp.

Joe Hamilton

And you don’t kill anyone, possess anyone.

Eugenie Bondurant

I don’t.

Joe Hamilton

We’re going to be so confused.

Eugenie Bondurant

I don’t kill anyone.  hopefully if my scenes haven’t been cut, I have a beautiful scene with Kathy Bates and then,  anyway, you should see the trailer. It’s really fun.

It’s a fun, fun, fun trailer. Very colorful.  now the story, there’s a story behind that.

Okay. So Castiel Landon is the incredible genius filmmaker who wrote and directed this film. And I worked on a film with her before, Fear of Rain, and that was shot locally and just has had a wonderful run.

And we knew that this project was forthcoming and she was filming it in North Carolina because of course that’s where all the camps are, North Carolina and Tennessee. So I ended up booking a role in this and I arrived before I arrived, I got the text or email. Hi, this is where we’re putting talent, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Well, in the middle of the mountains in Hendersonville, there are not very many selections for hotels. So my agent said, Oh, by the way, I think crew is staying at the camp. Well, I know the producer of this project.

So I text her here. I’m so excited to see you here. I understand you’re staying at the camp.

She goes, yes, it’s really cool. I said, wow, that sounds like so much fun. She said, do you want to stay here?

Yes. So I did and I stayed at the camp and they tricked out a cabin. You know, the cabins only have screen windows, you know, you it’s cold.

We filmed in April and going into May and they put a heater above my bed. And so at night, if you, you know, because it’s very dark, you leave the heater on, it’s like a scary horror movie because it’s red, you know, heaters, right? Like, but, you know, the, the, bathrooms down, down the path, the showers down the path, the lukewarm shower, right down the path, you know, regrets on that decision.

Joe Hamilton

Oh, stay at the camp.

Eugenie Bondurant

I loved every minute of it. Every single minute of it. Yeah.

I mean, in the morning you’d go to the mess hall and have grits and eggs and bacon and fruit. Yeah.

Joe Hamilton

So I just, I’m just curious how the, the business works. So you mentioned you booked it and you knew some people involved in it. So, and you said it was on your radar.

So do you remember how did it come on your radar? What were, what was sort of the discussion as to what you might go for and looking at the script and then how did you go for it? What was that process?

And then.

Eugenie Bondurant

So in this case, for this film, my agent heard of it first. And then she told me, she said, did you know Castiel’s filming in Huntersonville? I’m going to call them up and see if there’s a role for you.

And I’m like, yes, go Tracy. Yes, go, go. So she did.

And the answer was yes, we are filming there. We’re in pre-production and don’t worry. I will, when there is a role, I will send it to you and we’ll have her audition.

So the original role for which I auditioned, so, and Tracy continued to keep up with her. Anyway, I ended up booking another role that she wrote in for me actually.

Joe Hamilton

And they wrote, oh, it wrote it in for you.

Eugenie Bondurant

That’s special. Nice.

Joe Hamilton

And then how, is the money discussed? You know, do they have a, do they say, cause especially when they just made up a role for you, how do they decide what it pays?

Eugenie Bondurant

We have SAG rules for that. And so you, you can, that’s where the basis. So you start anytime you negotiate or an agent negotiates, they will start with that base.

And sometimes that base is not negotiable at which point the agent says, well, what else can you, can you give her? Right. So that’s, that’s, that’s for union jobs for SAG union jobs that, or I would say for the guild jobs, I guess.

But, that’s, that’s how that works. So you have a day rate, you have a weekly rate, you have,  a run of show rate.  and there’s certain rules that are, that go with that.

And of course there’s overtime and time and a half blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Joe Hamilton

And so is it, again, I’m, excuse, excuse my ignorance on this. Is there just a few people then in an average cast that get above SAG rate or usually just like the couple main leads or whatever, get it. And everybody else was just at the SAG rate.

Eugenie Bondurant

There’s also a clause with SAG. What is it called favored nations? I think it’s called where everybody has to be paid the same amount, but with low-budget films, usually everybody is favored nations unless you’re a Lister and you get points in the backend.

Now, sometimes even with,  even with certain actors, you there, there, that you do have to pay them a certain amount of money above that amount. So I’m not on that side of the deal. And I say, Tracy, you know, like I’m the one who would say, who now says, why don’t you ask them?

I mean, I didn’t do this with, with summer camp, of course, obviously, but with other projects, I’ve said, why don’t you ask them if I can be on the poster? Can I get my name on the poster now? I never would have said that five years ago, but now I will.

And then she’ll say, well, you know, you don’t have as big a role as them, or can I have my name top of show as them? Because I’ve had that and I’ve established that already. So, you know, that’s pretty good.

Joe Hamilton

That’s right.

Eugenie Bondurant

I know. I mean, no harm, no foul.

Joe Hamilton

Yeah. Why not? And then, you know, obviously in that whole branding thing, there’s the behind the camera branding too.

And, you do, you obviously are lovely and work and work with everybody and nice to everybody. And is that, you know, is that an important part of being on the sets? You know, you’re always, they hear the horror stories of, of people that are high maintenance.

Eugenie Bondurant

You cannot, okay. If there are any actors that are listening to this, do not show up late, show up 15 minutes early, immediately go. This is a rule.

It’s your rule from now on, immediately go to the PA in charge and tell them that you are there period. If you were there in the beginning of the day, they’ll probably say, Oh, go get some breakfast and settle yourself in a spot so that they can always see you or unless they bring you to your trailer, but do not go away. Always be 15 minutes early period.

That’s that’s that’s how, and always be courteous and nice. And if someone says, asks for you immediately go to wherever that is. It is an expensive thing to film a film, right?

It is very expensive. And for anyone being late or argumentative or trouble or hungover or not memorized delays production period. And anyone that works with me as an, as a, as a coach, if I am your coach and you have my name on your resume, you better not be late to set and you better not have a hangover when you show up period.

Joe Hamilton

And it’s an interesting, it’d be an interesting study because what you just described would be like the dream of so many corporations and so many organizations. And so it’s like to have this self, self-governing precision and, and, you know, always there, always ready every second cost thousands of dollars. And, but you know, it’s interesting and just somehow that’s, that’s a exists in the film world and it could be used in so many other places.

Eugenie Bondurant

The reputation, your reputation follows you. And I’ve been witness to people talking about other people and about how they were not cast because of their reputation. I was in the car one time with a director and as she was doing stuff, I said, I was just randomly asking her questions.

She said, you know, we were going to hire this one person, but there’s no way I’m going to have her on the set because my friend worked with her and she was a pain in the ass and blah, blah, blah, just kept on going and going and going. It’s like she went down a rabbit hole and went, okay, note to self, always be nice. I’ve always been nice, but always be nice.

Another nice thing to do on set for people to remember you is give the people who work with you. If you’ve been on set for longer than a week, give the people that work with you a little token of your appreciation, a little candle, a note, a thank you note. Don’t wait to do it later.

Do it while you’re on the set on your last day. It is a very nice thing to do. It is a set gift, a wrap gift.

Joe Hamilton

I recommend a copy of Cigar City.

Eugenie Bondurant

I recommend a copy of Cigar City. Absolutely. And Florida Hustle, which I have given on set.

It’s a wrap gift. When I’ve said, look at this book, look at all the stories in Cigar City. I think they all collectively could be a film.

Same thing with Florida Hustle.

Joe Hamilton

So make sure Tracy gets a copy for sure.

Eugenie Bondurant

Absolutely.

Joe Hamilton

So I’d love to just finish up. As people have enjoyed getting to know you or hearing more from you or getting reminded of you, how can they continue to engage with you and see your classes and other options for doing stuff with you?

Eugenie Bondurant

That’s very nice of you to ask me that. Thank you. My social media handle is Eug, E-U-G Bondurant, B-O-N-D-U-R-A-N-T.

That is for Instagram. That’s for Twitter, which I’m not really on that much. And for Station 12, which is my studio, Station 12 Studio on Instagram and on Facebook to follow me as an actress on Facebook.

It’s Eugenie Bondurant, Actress. Pretty simple. Cool.

Joe Hamilton

Well, thank you so much for your time. Thank you.

Eugenie Bondurant

I enjoyed the conversation.

Joe Hamilton

I’ve learned a good amount. Eugenie Bondurant, look forward to the next film. See you around town.

Eugenie Bondurant

Summer Camp, Station 12 Studio. Boom, boom. Florida Hustle.

Joe Hamilton

Florida Hustle.

Eugenie Bondurant

Those are all key points. Hashtag Florida Hustle.

Joe Hamilton

Thank you.