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Today I went in for a “meet and greet” at E! Entertainment Television, where they are casting for “Hot Guys Who Can Cook.” I had several little things to get done before I went in, but at 10am I felt inspired and pushed those things off for tomorrow. Instead, I made cookies.
Okay, so technically, I margarined up the casting directors because I was out of butter. But in any case, I gave a dozen chocolate chip cookies to the receptionists, a couple dozen to the casting director and another dozen to her helper.
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Hello, all! Some of you may have heard of “pilot season,” when production companies in Hollywood put together new shows in the hopes that some network (CBS, NBC, FOX, etc.) will be interested in making them long-term. Well, I applied for lots of pilots and didn’t get invited to audition for any of them. However, from my perspective, this week seems to be the beginning of….
DATING SHOW SEASON. No, I don’t think any such season is known to exist, but today I got called in to be screened for one where they ask you about your worst dating experience ever. I think the interview went okay, and I’ll let you know if they choose me or not.
Perhaps more crazily, this Friday I will be ON a dating show on “Telemundo,” a Spanish-language television network. Evidently, there will be eight women and four men, and we will have a battle of the sexes. They also asked me if I have any “sexy pajamas.” Now folks, all I have is plaid Joe Boxer style pajama bottoms. We’ll see what they think.
Today was a special day (three auditions!), and I really enjoyed it a lot. I signed up with a modeling company, auditioned to be a Spanish-speaking host on a program about foreclosure and interviewed to be on a dating show where people talk about their worst dating experiences.
Auditions can be a variety of things, but here’s what today’s were like:
At the modeling agency, they took my measurements (I later noticed they added two inches to my height), asked me how interested I was in modeling and told me they were looking for male models with my look. Truthfully, I always wanted to be a model, so I am pretty pleased with this possibility. I always thought it would be the ultimate affirmation to have people pay you for how you look. Perhaps it sounds strong to call this the ultimate affirmation–after all, aren’t other qualities and experiences more important than experience? Unqualifiedly, YES! However, I sure like being told I could be a model. Few things put a smile on my face like that does.
The Spanish-speaking Host interview was at a person’s home, but they had a teleprompter and video camera set up in the home office. The gentleman greeted me, asking the inevitable “so how’s your Spanish?” At least he asked me in Spanish. I replied “muy muy bien. Y tu?” As my sister-in-law would say, “stick that in your pipe and smoke it.” As we began, I started learning to work with a teleprompter on the spot. I think it went okay, but I was a little nervous. Though I do not expect to get this job, it was at least a good experience and it’s possible that they’ll remember me for future jobs.
The dating show interview was in a busy office building where they must do lots of casting. A large, tall-ceilinged room filled with desks laden with telephones and mini-t.v.’s, presumably to watch video of prospective talent, occupied most of the building. A guy named Fernando led me to a room where I met a nice red-haired lady named Megan, who was the casting director. They wired me up with a microphone and stood me up in front of a green wall and turned on the camera. They asked me questions like “what would be your ideal date?” and “what are three words that best describe you?” It was genuine fun, that experience.
The whole of the day put a smile on my face.
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True, besides background work, I have yet to receive pay for any of the acting I have done. Nonetheless, today I experienced a victory! I got a part in a short movie that will be shot on film–I do not understand this distinction entirely, but shooting on film is a desirable thing. Also, this movie (about two college roommates who smoke marijuana) is a concept piece, meaning that the filmmakers want to try the concept out, with their eye on later producing it as a full-length feature film. The filmmakers are certainly not obligated to consider me for the full-length film, but it stands to reason that if I turn in a stellar performance, they are likely to remember it!
When I hung up the phone with the filmmaker tonight, I pumped my fist. Yeah!
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Today is a down day, in the best sense of the word. Besides answering the phone in case a casting director should call, I have decided to relax. Since I got to Los Angeles, I have learned that part of success in acting really does have to do with looking one’s best. As I am part of the unfortunate 50% of the population that gets cold sores (I know, gross.), and the frequency of cold sores increases when one is stressed or low on sleep, I NEED relaxation, don’t I? Have you ever wondered what happens when a famous actor gets a cold sore? They have to get them just as much as non-famous people!
Actually, my guess is when a big name actor gets a cold sore, filmmakers do other sorts of shots for a few days until the cold sore (actually referred to as “fire” in colloquial Spanish) dies down. As an aspiring actor, I figure if I showed up with a cold sore, they’d say “tough luck. I guess we’ll need to find someone else.” I’m not complaining! But I sure don’t want to get any more cold sores.
April 25, 2007
Hey, all you good-looking Midwestern folks–salt of the earth, salt of the earth.
I sent a copy of the following job ad off to a friend from the West Coast who lived in Wisconsin for a while, but then I thought I’d let you all have a look at it.
I received the following in my e-mail this morning. The bolding was done by me.:
[ RUGGED MIDWESTERN MEN ]
CAUCASIAN or AFRICAN AMERICAN, rugged, athletic, MIDWESTERN men. Goodlooking for the midwest, not Hollywood models but should be attractive. **MUST BE AVAILABLE TO SHOOT THIS THURSDAY CHANGE PHOTO / VIDEO | REMOVE FROM CART
I give a very HOLLOW laugh at the goodlooking for the midwest part! My experience is that people out here often dress nicely, but HELLO, they are in the entertainment industry! I have seen no evidence that people from the West Coast are better looking than people from anywhere else.
Life is going fine out here. I started substitute teaching last week. I enjoy it, and out here they pay a whopping (no sarcasm here) $170.00 a day. Fortunately, it is quite flexible, as I took a day off one Tuesday for an audition.
For one audition I needed to look and act as much like James Dean as possible. It was really fun, watching and listening to clips on the Internet, pretending to smoke a rolled up piece of paper and making my hair stand up in the front.
When I auditioned for another piece recently, they asked if I had any stage combat experience. When I said no, they asked if I would be comfortable with people throwing things at me on camera, provided that we practiced. I believe I heard the word “brick” at one point. Actually, I got this project, so I’ll let you know how it goes.
Hoping you are all having fun.
hans
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March 9, 2007
Hello, all! I hope you are all well, wherever you are; I also hope that someday you’ll get to go on a trip to wherever you really want to go on a trip to. My sister Sarah (Sam) recently (or currently?) broke up the monotony of an Alaskan winter with a trip to Nicaragua.
Well, since I last wrote, I have continued on similar veins, working as an extra. Besides the Office and Gilmore Girls, I have worked on: Close to Home, CSI New York, CSI Miami, Scrubs, Medium, Gilmore Girls, Brothers and Sisters, How I Met Your Mother, Shark, and probably one or two others I can’t think of right now.
Besides doing extras work, I have been applying through a couple of Web-sites (www.mandy.com and www.actorsaccess.com) to work in small films. Most of these films are unpaid, but so far I consider them to be worthwhile because they allow me to work on camera, being directed. I’m keen to gain whatever worthwhile experience I can. So far, I have auditioned for several different things, all quite small projects. Of these auditions, I have worked on a couple of scenes with film students who need to complete 3 to 5 minute scenes for their classes. They then send me a copy of the final project and the idea is I can somehow submit that to other casting directors when I apply for other projects. I have not quite arrived to that phase yet because I need more footage as well as advice from others about how to put footage together.
I thought I’d include one of my headshots so you can see what I send out with my resume to the casting directors.
If you guys have any questions about how any of this stuff has gone or how it works, please write back and ask.
