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Good morning, good evening, good night, good afternoon.
Don't give me copyright flag, though.
No, no, no.
You can cut this out.
I sounded like a zombie.
Just.
Yeah, in order to grow, you got to have like some kind of goals.
And let's talk about how many times I ended up on the cutting room floor.
I have been in three Mark Wahlberg movies.
And in each one, I have ended up on the cutting room floor.
And people are like, aren't you devastated?
And if I got devastated every time you didn't see me, I would be in my bed with the covers pulled up over, you know, over my head, just crying.
Good morning. Good evening. Good night.
Welcome to I Will Not Lose podcast.
Thank you for joining us.
Whether you're running, working, driving, flying, playing, wherever you get your podcast, shout out to Apple, Google listenership and YouTube.
We've got a very special guest today.
We have the lovely Valerie Bittner.
Aw, thank you.
Model, actor, voiceover artist.
Really runs the gamut of the media industry.
So probably one of my most media-trained guests we're going to have up here.
You know, but you look great.
Thanks for coming in.
Well, thank you for having me.
We were just saying we can't believe that we haven't done this before because, yeah,
we've been friends for a really long time.
well i was going to pretend like we didn't know each other at all and like i was just
pleasure you know valerie so nice to meet you
so one of the things that we met oh well over a decade ago at this point now doing professional
networking um you were actually with hyman if i remember yeah human talent yes human talent you
were a talent scout or a casting director, casting director. So I thought that I would
actually be able to step out from in front of the camera and go behind the camera. Let me back up.
My friend, Michael Owen, uh, wanted to, uh, start this talent agency. And when he was telling me
about it, I opened my big mouth the way I usually do. And I said, well, if I was a casting director,
I would do this. I would do this. And I would do this. And he called me a week later and he goes,
hey, do you want to join me? Put your money where your mouth is, Val. And I did. And it was hard.
It was exciting because you're helping other talents find their dreams. But in the end,
after about six months, I realized how much I missed being on the other side of the camera
and on the other side of the microphone. So I stepped away from it. But what happened was
I was saying goodbye to everyone at the networking events because I thought,
oh, I'm going back to modeling. And it was Rita Guthrie from Open Door Public Relations who said
to me, yeah, what are you going to be doing? I said, well, I'm going back to modeling and acting.
She goes, well, that's a business. And I'm like, well, sure. I have to pay a business tax to the
city of Bethlehem every year. She goes, why don't you keep coming and promote yourself that way?
And so I did, and I haven't looked back. It's been fun because along with doing television and motion pictures, I can be the spokesperson for your business. I can be the voice for your outgoing messaging system, your web video, things like that.
That's interesting. And I wanted to explore what it takes that confidence to go out and work for
your own. So you're a huge inspiration to me being in the creative industry. Something you said to
me a long time ago was you're only employed until your next job. And that mentality people don't
get. That's the scariest thing about being an entrepreneur. Absolutely. You know, I know maybe
up until February or March. And other than that, I'm kind of leaving it up to my network, my talent
and God really to pave the next way for who's the next person I help. Who's the, the amount of work
that I have to do when I am not in front of the camera or in front of a microphone is
really 10 times as much as what I actually do on film. I wake up every morning, get a cup of coffee
and go through different things that I can submit to. How am I going to promote myself
on social media? There have been jobs that I got from people that I met 7, 10 years ago
because I've kept in their face on social media.
And then all of a sudden something would present themselves
and, oh, we can use Valerie for that.
And so, yeah, so that's how I stay employed.
I pound the pavement every single day.
And that includes my vacations too.
I wake up at five o'clock in the morning,
that cup of coffee, a good two hours I'm on my computer.
Just looking, wow, that's,
a lot of people don't know what goes into,
I mean, we think of actor as a glamorous thing.
You know, we think socialite.
We think, well, you're just, you know, at parties, drinking wine all the time.
Well, that happens too.
That's part of it, right?
Sure it is.
Sure it is.
But I am not on the same level as your Denzel Washingtons, your Julia Roberts.
That is less than 2% of the people who are in the entertainment business.
And then there's the rest of us.
Um, so I have had to diversify in order to stay afloat.
So I've done many, many runway shows over the years.
I knew that I can produce a runway show with my eyes closed and I've done that several
times and gotten paid for it.
Uh, same with, you know, I was hired as what used to be called a booth babe back in the
day at trade shows. Now I've become so skilled as an actor that when I represent you, like I did
for Karen Ford and Balloonworks, I sat down with her. I got to know everything about how her
business works so that when I represent her at trade shows, people think that it's my company.
And that's when I go, I know I'm doing a good job. That's amazing to take that level of passion
into it it's funny because the interview itself is what most people get scared of i mean what is
i mean if you're in a career what do you have maybe two three major interviews figure you'd
stay with a job 10 years it's different than it was back then well nowadays um thank you to the
pain pandemic uh the majority of your auditions are online and the hardest part is a two-person
scene because I am one person. So I have enlisted the help of my skeleton. Yes, I own a skeleton.
It's from a movie that I did a couple of years ago. Put a t-shirt on it and I've actually done
auditions with that. Kathy Patterson, a very wonderful actress here in the Valley, has a
studio where you can pay her to be that second person in a scene with you and she'll record the
whole thing for you. Now, if you live in New York, you can go over to the SAG office and they'll just
do it there for you, which is really, really nice. So, you know, we've found ways to do it
here in the Valley and make it work. The wonderful thing about technology now is instead of me
printing out a couple of hundred headshots, a couple of hundred composite cards, everything's
online, but now they want things very specific. Can you send us a link of you using a teleprompter?
Can you send us? They wanted somebody who looked annoyed. Now, mind you, for the most part in my photos, of course, I don't want pictures of me looking annoyed, but that's what they wanted in the submission. So I took a couple with my eyes rolled.
Now, do you know what the part is going to entail when they ask for the weird things?
Most of the time in the breakdown, it does. But when I was on the other side of the casting desk, there was a director, who I will remain nameless, who in the breakdown said they were looking for a curvy girl.
And finally, he called us and said, why do you keep sending me fat chicks, which I thought was really offensive.
Um, first he says he wanted a size four with a big bust is what he was looking for.
And then he added that it was for a simulated sex scene.
And we said, whoa, whoa, whoa.
That is not here in the breakdown.
You can't go to the left field like that.
Well, they have to know.
They don't have to know because I know for myself, I got into this business when my son
was six years old.
He's now 36.
Um, and I didn't want him to ever be out with his friends as a teenager. Hey, Bittner, saw your mom's boobs, you know, so that was a conscious choice that I made. And there's plenty of actresses that are perfectly comfortable with nudity and that's good for them. But again, it has to be in the breakdown, um, because then you would have the right to refuse.
And but again, nowadays, since the Me Too movement, we now have people who you don't the director is not the one that would come up to you and say, OK, it's time for you to take off your clothes.
He would have to go through that person and that person would come to me and I would say, no, I'm not doing it.
And then she would say, the director, you're going to have to find something else to do.
Like a whole median person in between.
Yeah, there's a special name for them and I can't think of it right now.
But yeah, so it's, it's wonderful knowing that those protections are now in place on sets.
Makes sense.
Yeah.
A lot of light is coming out recently just with everything that people didn't know about
the industry.
I mean, everything has a dark side, but it's great that people have, I mean, I had no idea
there was like an intermediate, almost like an HR, like a me too HR.
Yeah. Yeah. And it's, it's wonderful because it's very unfortunate. You know, I do have my own Me Too story. And when you, I was in the dressing room, director came in, literally threw me up against the wall and stuck his tongue down my throat.
And now there is an entire room of cast, crew, audio, lighting, who's waiting for me to come out and do my scene. If I went out and said something, he could call me a liar. I could put everybody else out of work for the day. Do I want that responsibility?
It was a really horrible position to be in, but it happened. And now hopefully with, you know, people being more aware, hopefully it's happening a lot less or not at all.
yeah you'd have to think that you think twice i mean i guess if you have a power dynamic then
no rules no laws are going to stop you from doing whatever you want to do bad but at least somebody
who might just think of the consequences or what happens so i don't know i don't know if we're
still are we still in cancel culture is it like you mentioned the the uh booth babe yeah i don't
think that would fly nowadays no no not at all but again when you see the submission notices for
models actors um there is also a breakdown on how they want you to look you know uh it they if
they're looking for okay i'll give you an example um i got a casting notice for a major grocery
chain and they were looking for a grandma. I am the grandmother of four of the most amazing little
boys you ever want to meet. And so I submitted my photos. So they knew exactly what I looked like
and they sent me the script. I did it. The casting director got back to me with notes.
I did it again, sent it to her. When I saw the commercial that eventually aired,
It was a woman who looked a good 20 years older than me.
And so that's the appearance they wanted.
What really made me upset is that that casting director really wasted my time.
Based on my photograph, she should have said, no, they're looking for someone who looks like a little old lady, which is fine.
I will also share with you that the algorithm on Facebook can be really annoying when you share casting notices.
One time they were looking for a Caucasian baby to match the Caucasian couple in a commercial, and I shared it on my Facebook page, and I was told I was being discriminatory.
Yeah.
And you can't cast a 20-year-old buxom blonde for an erectile dysfunction drug.
You know what I'm saying?
Yeah, it's a discrimination that's necessary with the industry.
I mean, you're not allowed to say race at all, but I'm sure if I was in the industry, we'd find something I fit with.
Sure.
Talk about some recent work that you have going on.
So you recently played Tammy Toth.
In 12 to Midnight.
Um, we are so fortunate, uh, here in the Valley, um, to have as our native son, Dan Roebuck.
Uh, Dan Roebuck was in Matlock for years.
He was in the television series Lost.
Um, just so many great roles.
I, I had Bones on the other day and in an old episode, there was Dan playing the bad
guy.
But anyway, so, um, uh, Dan was out in California working on this movie.
He was playing the police chief and the director and producer said, we need to find an abandoned coal mine and an abandoned railway station.
And Dan was like, y'all need to come to Tamaqua.
So Dan has made a handful of feature films here in the Valley and he has used Beth as his casting director.
So Beth put out the breakdowns to all of us Valley actors because they were trying to cast it locally instead of flying people in from California. And I submitted for one of the roles. She sent me the sides and this is the time. Two person scene, couple waking up in bed together on their 20th wedding anniversary. What the heck am I going to do?
So I threw the skeleton in bed with me. Now, mind you, when you get sides, it is one sheet. It is that scene. I have no idea that this is a horror movie. And I had no idea it was a werewolf movie. So I do the scene with the skeleton. The director and the producer want to Zoom with me. When they come up on the screen, they have nothing but horror movie posters behind them. And I'm like, yeah, you know, so I nailed it with that one.
But but so that's how I wound up getting that part. So much fun. So much fun. But here's the thing. I am now proud to say I've been in a movie with Dan Roebuck. We were not on the set together. We weren't in the same state when we filmed our parts.
Oh, man. Yeah. So and that's the way it goes most of the time.
so that's interesting that you found the lane i mean so many people go into making a movie
so much different talent it could have been somebody that said look we love valerie's part
but we really want the betty white for this and maybe they made a creative decision at the end
to go with the second choice you don't know how many people are involved it's cool that you said
you tried the talent uh the um casting director right and then it was like that wasn't where i
wanted to fit. So, I mean, but also I am turning 61 next month. So I know that my, well, I've been
laughing at this job since the day I started doing it. I said that I would do it for as long as
people paid me to do it and they're, they're still paying me. So I'll keep doing it. But I also know
that I am limited and by diversifying, it's made me more valuable. And I'll give you an example.
There was a production company used me a lot for a lot of commercial work. And one day I showed up
and they're like, Val, we are so behind. We need to set up the lighting. We haven't even loaded
the teleprompter yet. I'm like, give me the script. Where's the computer? And I sat and I
typed the script into gave me more of an opportunity to look over the script too
and i typed it into the teleprompter so that we could stay on a relatively you know decent
schedule it's just if i'm out on a photo shoot with a photographer i'm the first one to grab
a bag grab a tripod um people remember that about you for sure i remember being on a movie set
just the background extra but there were probably a hundred background extras and the hair and
makeup people were feverishly trying to get through everyone. And I just finally went up to
them. I said, I brought my own makeup. Do you want me to go do in the bathroom? They're like,
oh yes, thank you. Thank you. Again, people remember you, um, when you can do things like
that. That's excellent. I hear stories from, do you know Josh Ramirez? He goes by Jack nine.
No, I don't. I'll have to put you in touch. He's a Emmy nominated producer. He works with a lot,
really big in the latin community oh okay and um he started he's from allentown he started recording
fast forward 10 years he has over 6 billion views and i took a class uh uh film class i remember
when you did this yeah when i posted that was with him and he tells stories of times where
i think the mentality i want to drive is that you're never going to have all the tools that
you need. You're never going to have everything lined up perfectly unless maybe you're doing
surgery. I'd have to imagine even doctors have to improvise sometimes. Let me get that hammer.
But well, you remember Roy Shuler? Roy Shuler. Roy Shuler. Yeah. He used to live here in the
valley. Remind me what he did. The name sounds familiar. He was making cheesecakes when we were
all networking, but he, um, was always an actor, always a really great actor, um, and decided
to move back to New York. I saw him last year, um, in the city and he was telling me about the
weekly acting class he takes. Roy has been on SNL. He was recently had a really good part on
Law and Order. I think it's an NBA commercial where he's the janitor sweeping up the stadium
and it's really funny, but he's good and he's working. He's a New York man and he's taking
that weekly acting class because you can always learn something from someone. I'm addicted to
watching hot ones hot ones yeah tell me about it oh it's uh uh an interview show on youtube where
the guest and the host each have 10 hot wings and he interviews them as they go through the hot wings
but anyway he's a really good interviewer that he's always asking them about their technique and
when they went to acting school and when uh they were in the college production of pippin or or
whatever. And, um, I found that every single actor, uh, comedian, musician really has their
own approach and you can take a little bit from this person and a little bit from this person
and then kind of make what works for you. And I'm just so curious about it, even though I've
done, I took my first stab at modeling the earlier this year, um, that was at another class I was
taking, but the idea of my show is telling people it's about the journey. There's no end. There's
no, like I had a Fredo Pimentel. He's a jujitsu practitioner. And we talk about Gordon Ryan's
arguably one of the best grapplers in the world. And he still trains. Like if you're already the
best in the world, what do you, can you not let it up at that point? You know?
Right. Right. And I'm going to say no. I'm sure there are those, you know, just out of the box, natural talents. But I also I was surprised to hear Kathy Bates say on Stephen Colbert, she still gets nervous.
really you're Kathy Bates I adore you and uh she keeps a quote about fear uh and and she prints it
out and she puts it in the front of her script uh everything she does and rereads it to herself
to remind herself you know to get over that fear like wow Kathy Bates has fear really um uh but I
i feed off of that nervousness if i am doing something that's live i i have a habit i jump
up and down um to just kind of shake it off yeah but i like that i guess i kind of like that fear
i also have like jumped out of an airplane so i i guess i'm an adrenaline junkie maybe we have
spectrums for everything there you go you could be the kind of adrenaline junkie that looks at
the other guy, you know, rollerblading with flaming wheels and say, oh, he's the addict.
He's the junkie. But no, it's this show has allowed me to interview people where I can get
into what's their process, because that's what people ultimately want to know. Some people want
to know about the work that goes into it, but I'm thinking more for the person who's aspiring to be
an actor. The first thing you want to get out of their head is that it's just easy.
If you want to be a star, just go make a sex tape with a major athlete. You'll be famous right away. But for acting, you have to love it because you're not always going to work.
And there needs to be something that's going to drive you to keep going when the work isn't there.
And I have done community theater. I've done short films here in the Valley. A lot of people put together short films because they are director, cinematographer, and they're trying to get to the next level.
And by participating in those films, I'm keeping myself and my talent up there and they're able to put something out.
And then a couple of years ago, one of the short films that I did, Frankenstein's Wife, was the 2003 Cannes Independent Film Festival's Best Comedy Short.
So that was cool to put on my resume.
Um, but that's, that's the little things you, you have to do. I'm always telling aspiring actors, you know, put yourself out there, volunteer for everything. And then once you build that resume, you can say, no, no, no, I need to get, I need to get paid something, you know, for this.
And I'll tell you the day that happened to me, my agent called me and asked me if I would lay in a tub at the Allentown Fair in a bikini and half of the tub, like a porcelain tub, was going to be restored.
And I'm like, is Steven Spielberg expected to walk down the runway, you know, at the Allentown Fair?
Because I'm not going to spend five days in a bikini in a tub.
And she says, oh, it's such great exposure.
Is Ron Howard going to be there? You know, no. And that was the day I decided, you know, yeah, I have built my resume to the point where I don't need to do stuff like this anymore.
That's good. That's a great point. So there is, I mean, the success is a journey. It's not all downhill the whole time.
But I think that you need those. We were just talking about the other day where, you know, if you have the perfect life and everything falls into place and everything was given to you, it's a little bit harder to listen to your story and say, hey, that can happen to me because that doesn't happen for everyone, you know?
Right. I know I have shared with you that when I was 18 years old, I lived above a bar for $20 a week.
New York, right?
No, no. In Linville, Pennsylvania.
Oh, okay.
And I bartended two nights a week and I worked across the street at the sewing mill making pockets on pants. And I know that I could easily go back there at any time.
But you know what? I did it. I could do it again. I don't want to do it. Maybe that's a motivator for me. But I worked really hard for everything I have and my successes. And I think I just always remember that.
you know, it's, it's not easy. Um, and if it was easy, I wonder if I could be
as invested as I am, if that makes sense. No, it makes you a, I almost want to say like a warrior,
like you have to get into, I know at least for my own process, when I'm getting into
getting ready to create. It's like, I'm no longer creating just for fun. This is fun. This podcast,
this hobby is a ton of fun. I get to meet people. I get to talk. It's, it's fulfilling, you know?
So I put time into that, but when it comes to designing something for like, even with the logo
that we did recently for you, it's funny that the logo came towards the end of the story rather than
like being the, imagine what you could have did with that logo over or what you're going to do
with it over the next 20 years. But I didn't know if I could do it. Every time I sit down in front
of that blank canvas, I'm like, is all inspiration going to run out? But you immediately had ideas.
I called you from my car. I was leaving a meeting where I have yet again been asked,
you need to submit a logo. And I'm like, damn. And so I just called you from my car and you were
immediately spinning ideas. You were the one who said, you've established yourself now.
We don't need to spell everything out the way you did before. Oh, I'm picturing a silhouette and.
Yeah. Damn. I'll throw it up here and post so that people can see what we're talking about. But
no it's a it feels good when i finish it but i'd be lying if i said even in my head when i saw
the silhouette and i saw actually i saw a vb before i messed with it and we went with the
silhouette with the v but i didn't know that i could get it from what i saw to the process i
still like you said people get nervous i asked fredo pimentel he's had over 150 jujitsu matches
these are like real fights you can get really hurt in these you know and he said he just now
this year started to be like okay I'm going through this like he doesn't feel that nervousness
cooking up my coach used to say that's adrenaline cooking or simmering and that's like you said you
channel it into what you do so I've always said there's a healthy respect like I never wanted to
get to the point where I don't respect this thing, where I don't go to it. Like I'm, you know,
prepared to speak my heart out or whatever. You don't know who's listening to this.
Absolutely. You know, I, some people reach out to me, but you know, let's say there's a hundred
or 200 views and I know 15 of those people who are those other people. What did they,
you know I could kind of get their age and stuff but unless people go back we're having a
conversation in a room with 200 people listening to us but each one of those person has headphones
and they can connect and they could say wow I never knew about that or some people may look
at you and think it's all glamour and there was never any sort of struggle so it's uh it's crazy
what your inspiration can do for people how much stuff you've said to me that just resonates and
I'm like literally right around February I'm gonna start thinking again okay I'm only employed
till my next job what am I doing do I go back out into networking you know that's something I've
been wanting to get back into but well it's it's funny because I didn't start out in life saying
I'm going to be an actress. And at 18, go to college and go to drama school. It didn't work
out that way for me because like I said, I was living above a hotel for $20 a week with a shared
bathroom, by the way. And then I pretty quickly became a mother of two children. And I thought
that was going to be my life. And then one day I was sitting at the hairdresser, mind you, I still
use that hairdresser. And somebody came up to me and said, have you ever considered modeling?
And I laughed in this person's face, but I took her card anyway, went to speak to the agency who
tried to sell me the pictures and the classes. And I said, look, I'm a mom. I couldn't afford
that. And they said, I will prove to you that you can't get a job without pictures. Go on this
audition. And it was for a bridal show and I booked it. So I trotted over to Hub Wilson,
Hub Wilson here in Allentown, right off of 15th street, and got my first headshot done.
And it snowballed from there, but it wasn't until the Sturdy Beggars were looking for someone to
play Paula Barbieri in an OJ Simpson sketch that I first got in front of a camera and had my first
acting gig. And boom, that's it. This is what I want to do for the rest of my life.
I got involved in local theater, which by the way, deepest respect for theater actors,
because I think it's a lot harder than film because in film we say, cut, let's do it again.
And I was in Death of a Salesman at Civic Theater here in Allentown. Bill Sanders was the director and he yelled at me one day. I mean, really yelled at me and told me to stop goofing off, get off book. That means learn your lines. And you know what? Yeah, he whipped me into shape because I don't know who, like you said, I don't know who was in that audience that day when we gave that performance.
So, yeah, it's been a journey.
I did Tony and Tina's Wedding a couple of years ago, which is all improv.
And I always said that I would never do improv, that I'm a script girl.
And I did it.
And I'm really happy that I did it.
And I think I would actually do something like that again, because I could do it.
Um, there, a long time ago, um, I was working in the soul sucking job of phone sales and, um, the job of photographer came up. This was Olin Mills Portrait Studios. Yes, I was the person who called you and asked you to buy a portrait package.
But anyway, um, they were looking for a photographer and I went home and I spoke to my then boyfriend, now husband, uh, about it. And he said, are you going to apply? And I'm like, why would they hire me? And he goes, didn't you say they're training someone to do it? And I'm like, yeah.
And he's like, if you don't ask, the answer will always be no.
But if you ask and they say yes.
And so I asked and they said yes.
And I became a portrait photographer for two and a half years.
I've been asking ever since, you know, and can I do that?
Can I try that?
I have been ran through a car wash sitting on the hood of a Mercedes Benz.
I have been thrown in a dumpster.
Um, and now mind you, both times I got really bloody for real. Um, but I'm so glad I did it.
And so I just keep asking and people keep saying yes. So that, I think that's my number one advice,
just keep asking. And if they say no, sort of like you, you shared with me that, uh, you, uh,
changed, uh, jobs and were upset about it. Sometimes it opens a door for you to have an
opportunity to do something else. And yeah, I no longer, because when you go on an audition,
it's not that you're not pretty enough. It's that they're looking for someone taller, shorter,
fatter, skinnier, brown eyed, blue eyed. And if you look like the casting director's ex-wife,
that he's paying an enormous amount of alimony to not getting the job. I have gone on auditions
where there's 10 women who look very much like me and we probably all have that same level of
talent. But for some reason, she sparked the casting director's interest more than I did.
And I think that's the hardest part about doing the auditions online. Because when you were in
that room, you're sizing everybody up. Okay, what does she do? What does she do? I remember I went
on a Pennsylvania lottery commercial and it was for a Halloween scratch off and they wanted us
to be zombies. And the guy next to me took a couple of Alka-Seltzer, put them in his mouth.
So he was foaming at the mouth. I'm like, you are brilliant, dude. And like, I've always kept
that in the back of my head that if ever I have a zombie audition, I'm going to get some Alka-Seltzer
to do that. So you don't have that, how is she doing it kind of thing. Yeah. I miss that. I do
miss that because it also ups your game. You're looking at that other talent in the room and you
need to be better than that. For sure. Yeah. I have a graphic design is competitive, but some
of the best things that I've learned have been working with other designers, whether we were in
a room or I was employed under them. I do a lot of work with agencies where I'll work with a
creative director and they help coach me. So like you mentioned, I'll have a, not every logo I do
looks the same. Well, not every role you're going to do, you know, if you're getting killed in one
and you're a professor and another, it's not going to be the same approach. Correct. Like
you throw your style on it. I think that people can tell, I can't see my style, but people have
told me they can see some sort of consistent i think it's just decisions i you know i've said
that i think the brilliance of your graphic design is that i can't tell you've done two logos for me
now uh one for my side hustle and uh one for the modeling and acting and you can't tell that the
same person did both those logos and i think that's genius because there are some graphic
designers that i've looked at their work and i'm like it all looks the same as a matter of fact
there is a photographer in the area who does headshots. And while the subject is good, I know
it's her headshot every single time I see it. And I think I don't want to be in a sea of headshots
and blend in. I want to stand out. Sure. For sure. Photography, I think, is a very
empathetic thing or even just camera and film being on my end of the camera, knowing that I
don't have the talent to portray the same emotion as the actor does, but being able to see that or
like the model may not know how the photograph works, but they know that they need to get rid
of that tension between themselves and the photographer. Right. And so it's interesting
that you can be uh they call us solopreneurs but still be on so many different teams like i said
the average person might interview three times we have an interview every single time my phone rings
and somebody's thinking of hiring me absolutely i'm in an interview now it's like yeah what's
going on yeah i i was at a networking event and i was sitting at a table i didn't realize that
they were all employed by the same law firm. And then it was me. And a question was posed about
hiring someone into the office. And does everybody in the office have to agree? And this is from the
secretary to the lawyer. They're all saying, oh yeah, it has to go through all of us. I'm like,
really? Because every time I go to work, I am with a different team and I have to make it work.
there's always a different lighting it's it's joy when i run into especially here in the lehigh
valley uh the same crew members go from production company to production company
and i've worked with a few several times but um it's usually a different crew and well of course
different actors every time. And it's very rarely have I had to deal with a diva, but you do.
I was on an episode of Forensic Files and the actor who was playing my boyfriend, who I was
cheating on miserably and doing cocaine and all this other stuff. He was one of those method
actors that stayed in character. So when we broke for lunch, he remained mad at me.
It was a little, all right, dude, you be you. I'm going to have a ham and cheese sandwich now.
But yeah, for the most part, you know, it's just, we have a job to do and we're going to do it.
I had, I was doing, as a matter of fact, that car wash commercial and I went to the production
company jumped in the director's car and we drove to the car wash together. He made a comment that
was so racist. And he said it as casually as please pass the salt. Normally I would call you
out on the carpet for such language. But again, I'm on my way to a set where there's lighting,
There's audio, there's camera, you know, there's an entire crew, not to mention the car wash waiting for me to show up and do this commercial that we shot over eight hours.
And I had to make the horrible decision not to say a handful of things to him.
But I was thinking of my team, the rest of my team.
I compare it almost to like making weight and people know I was a wrestler and you know there's
14 weight classes now that means 14 matches if I don't make weight not only do we not have 13 we
you know this guy may have to go against a tougher guy now or he may need to lose more weight if it's
a day before. So even though it's an individual keeping my weight down discipline, I'm constantly
thinking of my team and what happens if I let all those people down. So that's interesting.
Yeah. But again, my team is different every day. So that's, um, uh, you never know what
impression you're setting because in the, at least in like camera work, you kind of network
to pick your crew like we're all waiting for the big break till we get a call that we have to do
this tv show well cool i know to call him him him i know this guy and if we've worked together it's
a lot easier and if we work together and had a good experience yeah yeah so another reason why
i never want to be known as being a diva ever yeah do you have to like is there a people say
ego is a bad thing but is there a certain level of like uh ego that you have to have or do you
separate the belief in yourself from i guess you do um people who know me know that after this i'm
gonna go home i'm gonna put my hair up you know in a ponytail on top of my head and uh crawl around
on the floor and play with my grandsons and, uh, bake cookies and, you know, do that kind of stuff.
And if you called me and told me you were sick, I'm going to make you a casserole and I'm going
to bring it over, uh, kind of thing. So I hope, but you know, it's funny, you'll meet someone for
the first time and I'll pull up in my 14 year old Toyota Prius. Oh, I just assumed you drove a
Mercedes. Someone actually said that to me. I thought it was hilarious. And I'm like, I'm an
actor. I got to take care of this guy. I've learned how to check the oil. Yeah. I find that people's
first impression of me, they make a lot of assumptions because of what I do. Once you get
to know me, you realize, yeah. And the thing I have to say for the majority of actors that I,
like I met John Leguizamo on the set of The Happening. Lovely gentleman. He was so overjoyed
to gush about his children. And, you know, just, and I thought, oh, that's, you know, so, because,
you know, he's a very famous actor. He's done amazing roles. And all he wanted to talk about
was his kids and i i think um you'll find there's a really great documentary and if you ever get the
chance to see it it's called that guy that was in that thing and it goes uh it shows you 12 actors
who you recognize but you just can't remember their names to save their life but you're like
wait a minute he was the police chief for five years on that show how is he not rolling in money
And he'll tell you how, you know, until the next job comes along, he's slowly running out of, you know, the money that he's put aside.
And like the one guy talking about his 14-year-old car, I'm like, yeah, that's me.
Yeah, so we, I think you'll find a lot more people who love what they do to be a lot more grounded than the people who want to be famous.
Oh, that's a quotable right there. Yeah, that's perfect. That makes a lot of sense in a lot of different aspects, too. Like they say the amateur thinks he can master everything, but the master knows he can master nothing. It's just like a way of thinking about it.
Well, the first thing, when I tell people that I'm an actor, the first thing they say is, what have I seen you in? And I, for a while was posting, uh, things on social media. Uh, uh, I was, it was for an eye cream and it was just my eyes. I only knew that they used my picture cause I have a little scar here.
Another time I was in a pool with a laptop on my lap, sitting in an inner tube, and the picture is taken from behind.
So again, you can't tell it's me.
I was in a commercial with Jim Gaffigan, and I was a nurse in surgery.
So I had the hat on.
I had the mask on.
If I didn't tell you, you wouldn't know it's me.
I did my job.
i was there to portray whatever and it isn't about me it isn't about that ego it's about the product
and let's talk about how many times i ended up on the cutting room floor i have been in three
mark walberg movies and in each one i have ended up on the cutting room floor and people are like
aren't you devastated aren't you and if I got devastated every time you didn't see me
I would be in my bed with the covers pulled up over you know over my head just crying
that's what I was gonna ask you know when have has there been times or we have uh maybe about
10 minutes till we hit an hour do you want to tell a story of like a time you almost quit or
Um, when it came down to money. Yes. Yeah. You, you, um, I am a little jealous of people who get
up and go to work every day and they get a paycheck at the end of the week or their healthcare is
partially paid for. I'm paying my healthcare out of pocket. Uh, I love being in front of the camera.
I hate the business end of it. And my friend Heather is a administrative assistant for hire. And man, I would love to hire her and say, Heather, take care of all this, please. But I can't.
So, yes, there have been times I have actually put out a real resume to get a real job. And I slowly realized that when my grandsons in Georgia are like, Grandma, are you coming down? Sure, I can be on the flight on Friday because I can book myself out and do that.
Um, I took after the pandemic, my, uh, son and his wife were having a hard time, uh, getting daycare again because it was, they needed to go back to work, but the daycares were not fully open.
I was able to be available while my mother was dying.
I could be available, you know, to take her to appointments and, uh, do things around her house.
So it's the flexibility of the job is what I love. And actually now I don't have children living at home. Everybody is taking care of themselves. I actually have more time now than I did, you know, back on the way up.
Yeah. That's awesome. That's awesome. Well, thank you for putting together the light of not only what goes on behind the scenes, the mentality of keeping yourself employed for so long, the struggles that come along with, like you said, you, it's easy to do it for the love when your mom pays your rent is one of my favorite hip hop lines. You know what I mean?
that's a great line. The second you get to like, people don't realize that in February, March,
I'm going to be doing my taxes longer than I'm going to be designing. You know what I mean?
It's there's a business to run. Me too. Yes, exactly. There's stuff that goes with it. So
what do you have coming up? Is there anything you want to promote? Um, I am going to be working on
a, uh, a movie about AI. It is a horror movie and I'll be working on that with the brilliant
spencer snig again uh he is the one who was the brilliant mind behind frankenstein's wife
uh spence has a uh a love of killing me off so i'm looking forward to uh diving into that
but something i'm very passionate about right now is a documentary called show her the money
i went to go see it down in chester county was blown away by the fact that out of all the venture
capital that is available to be put into business, only 2% goes to women entrepreneurs.
And myself, my friend Amy, and my friend Lee, we said, we need to bring this to the Lehigh Valley.
So with the help of Penn State Lehigh Valley, we're going to have, we're going to bring Show
Her the Money to the Valley, February 6th and 7th. There'll be times, I'll share with you some
information about sponsorship levels we're hoping um that with the money we raise uh showcasing the
documentary we'll be able to do a pitch competition with some local uh women entrepreneurs and um
give them uh some money you know startup money so i'm very excited about that um again i think
one of the things that i love about being me and what i do is that i get to do things like this for
someone else you know the walk of hope the race for adam i mean we there's so much we could touch
on but for 10 years i've seen you be the face of so many large movements which is why i laugh when
people are like i mean we can go to your imdb and see 13 feature film credits that's a ridiculous
amount, but people know you in the Valley as Valerie is Valley girl as the face of bacon jam.
It's, it's just, uh, it's amazing that you've been able to fill yourself with your image. You
know what I mean? Like make a career out of image and taking it as seriously as waking up at five
in the morning and going through what you can do. You know, it's not, you're waking up to a massage
And what is that? They drink the mimosa or whatever, you know, if you and I love the people who say that they want to get their child into modeling and they hope that they can just do it every other Tuesday and on the weekends and put away money for college.
And I'm like, if you find that job, call me because I would like that job.
So, yeah, but like I said, the wonderful thing about being me and doing what I do is that I can do something like this for someone else.
And there's always, you know, a charity out there that, you know, can use a hand.
Thank you for mentioning the Race for Adam.
It's it's makes you it humbles you.
it makes you uh more understanding of your community um and it it it feels good here we go
we could leave on that good feeling okay from there again we have valerie bittner model actress
voiceover artist actor sorry about that no no that's that's absolutely i'm fine with that
and uh thank you for listening i will not lose thank you for listening to another episode of
I Will Not Lose Podcast. To support the show, visit IWillNotLosePodcast.com. You can subscribe
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