Nothing - Priscilla Lopez

[00:01.48] I am so excited
[00:02.70] Because I'm gonna go to the High School of Performing Arts.
[00:04.72] I mean, I was dying to be a serious actress.
[00:07.12] Anyway, it's the first day of acting class
[00:09.30] And we're in the auditorium, and the teacher,
[00:10.99] Mr. Karp, puts us up on the stage with our legs around everybody
[00:14.06] One in back of the other. And he says,
[00:15.87] \"Okay, we're gonna do improvisations.
[00:18.57] Now, you're on a bob sled
[00:20.64] And it's snowing out and it's cold.
[00:23.53] Okay, go!\"
[00:26.36]
[00:31.36] Ev'ry day for a week we would try to feel the motion,
[00:36.64] Feel the motion down the hill.
[00:41.92] Ev'ry day for a week we would try to hear the wind rush,
[00:47.24] Hear the wind rush, feel the chill.
[00:52.06]
[00:52.33] And I dug right down to the bottom
[00:54.26] Of my soul to see what I had inside.
[00:57.58] Yes, I dug right down to the bottom
[00:59.52] Of my soul and I tried, I tried.
[01:04.98]
[01:05.24] Everyone is going \"Woosh I feel the snow,
[01:10.17] I feel the cold I feel the air.\"
[01:12.70] And Mr. Karp turns to me and says,
[01:14.96] \"Okay, Morales, what did you feel \"
[01:20.13]
[01:21.01] And I said, \"Nothing, I'm feeling nothing,\"
[01:26.26] And he says, \"Nothing could get a girl transferred!\"
[01:31.64] They all felt something, but I felt nothing
[01:36.85] Except the feeling that this ******** was absurd!
[01:41.54]
[01:41.83] But I said to myself,
[01:42.72] \"Hey!, it's only the first week. Maybe it's genetic.
[01:46.07] They don't have bob sleds in San Juan.\"
[01:48.52]
[01:48.77] Second week, more advanced
[01:50.47] And we had to be a table, be a sports car ice cream cone.
[01:59.08] Mr. Karp, he would say,
[02:00.76] \"Very good, except Morales.
[02:04.51] Try, Morales, all alone.\"
[02:09.11]
[02:09.49] So I dug right down to the bottom
[02:11.70] Of my soul to see how an ice cream felt.
[02:15.00] Yes, I dug right down to the bottom
[02:17.02] Of my soul and I tried to melt.
[02:22.67] The kids yelled, \"Nothing!\"
[02:25.10] They called me \"Nothing!\"
[02:27.67] And Karp allowed it, which really makes me burn.
[02:33.15] They were so helpful.
[02:35.88] They called me hopeless.
[02:38.62] Until I really didn't know where else to turn!
[02:43.22]
[02:43.45] And Karp kept saying,
[02:44.22] \"Morales, I think you should transfer to girls' high.
[02:47.67] You'll never be an actress. Never! Jesus Christ!
[02:51.64]
[02:51.89] Went to church praying,
[02:53.36] \"Santa Maria, send me guidance, send me guidance.\"
[02:59.86] On my knees.
[03:02.50] Went to church praying,
[03:03.92] \"Santa Maria, help me feel it,
[03:07.79] Help me feel it. Pretty please.\"
[03:12.71]
[03:12.95] And a voice from down at the bottom
[03:14.88] Of my soul cam up to the top of my head.
[03:18.17] And the voice from down at the bottom of my soul,
[03:20.93] Here is what it said
[03:25.35]
[03:25.61] \"This man is nothing!
[03:28.03] This course is nothing!
[03:30.70] If you want something, go find a better class.
[03:36.01] And when you find one, you'll be an actress.\"
[03:41.35] And I assure you that's what fin'lly came to pass.
[03:47.14]
[03:47.60] Six months later I heard that Karp had died.
[03:53.59] And I dug right down to the bottom of my soul and cried,
[04:05.63] 'cause I felt nothing.
[04:15.27]