Day 6: Passions - episode 1985

Day 6 was a pretty quick one for me. I was only involved in a couple of scenes. The director was Karen Wilkens, who also directed the second episode last Friday. While I was in my dressing room, I got another call from the casting director. They've added three more episodes for sure, which will tape on April 16 and 17. We were flying back from a friend's wedding in Memphis on the 16th, once again proving that if you want to book a job, just buy plane tickets. So I spent the afternoon dealing with the flight change. The cost difference on the same airline was ridiculous. They wanted about $900 MORE to change the return flight from Monday to Sunday. We ended up cancelling those tickets and buying a direct flight from another airline for a couple hundred less than that. Craziness. At least we'll be able to change our original tickets at some other point during the year and we have a few more flights planned.

Day 5: Passions - episode 1984

Today, I got to do one particularly fun scene, which I obviously cannot reveal at this point. I was all business during the take, but laughing a lot off camera. Tomorrow is the final day of my original six episodes, and it's hard to believe. I'm glad I've got the other two lined up for next week.

Day 4: Passions - episode 1983

Had a lot of fun again today...See a recurring theme? Today's director was Gary Tomlin. He was very cool and low-profile. We had some excitement in the scenes, but I can't say any more than that for now.

Day 3: Passions - episode 1982; Audition: Man v. Woman (pilot) @ JAM Casting

I'm switching to episode numbers in the title so I don't keep typing "CBS Studio Center" over and over. At least the number will change. It occurs to me that I may not be able to blog daily about this experience. I can't really get into details about what I'm doing because I'm sworn to protect the secrets all the WWW's Passion-ites demand to know in advance. Why do soap fans want the spoilers? Isn't it better to just watch and find out? I understand the fun of speculating and all, but not the search for real spoilers. Anyway, it was another fun day on the set. Today's director was Phideaux Xavier. There was a lot more talky-talk and actiony-action for yours truly. I'm feeling ever more at home on the set. It'll be sad when the run is done.

My call time for Passions was 7:15am. We finished up around 11:45am. Then, I drove home to lose the "hat hair" and get ready for my first pilot audition. It's a remake of a British show call ManStrokeWoman. The sides consisted of 3 scenes and we were asked to choose one. I was in and out in about 4 minutes. The casting director did comment on my resume, "Passions...uh-oh." Whatever that means.

Day 2: Passions @ CBS Studio Center

Today was a blast. Call-time was 7:15am, but I've got no problem rolling out of bed to work. We did the dry-block first. Then, I retrieved my wardrobe, and was happier with the pants. Pants are important. The atmosphere on the set was light and fun, but still efficient. We knocked out the dry block and then they shot 5 or 6 scenes before my work started. By 11:30am, I was done and on my way to play some Wiffle Ball at Griffith Park with Will.

On the ride out, I got a call from Jackie Briskey who let me know that the producers and director were pleased with my work. Cool. Then, she let me know that I'll be working on April 4th and 5th as well. That's two more episodes, taking us to 8 for sure...possibly 12-13. I let her know how much I appreciated the opportunity and how much fun I was having on the set. I forgot to mention that a drop-off I did on the lot yesterday resulted in a pilot audition for Monday. Now, I just have to figure out how to make it to the audition on a break.

Day 1: Passions @ CBS Studio Center

Last night was interesting. The excitement really began to hit me. Some other stuff hit me too, like how funny it was to be sitting in a car doing my "day job" knowing that on Thursday I'd be doing what I most enjoy doing. I also received the 3 remaining scripts for next week. This is too much fun.

Call time 11am. Arriving today, I felt some nerves kick in too. It's a bit like going to a new school for the first time...a school where you don't know anyone personally, although you do know they've all got model good-looks, and where you have no idea what sort of customs, traditions, and personalities you'll encounter. I parked on Gilligan's Island, or rather, in the parking deck which stands where the lagoon scenes for Gilligan's Island were filmed, filled out my contracts and paperwork, picked up my costume and visited the make-up folks where I was basically passed through because my face is already perfect -- OR because they understandably wanted us to look less polished than the heroes...hmmm...

Preparation for taping generally involves a dry-block rehearsal, which is a quick walk-through of movement and marks without the acting. Once the scene is up, there's another rehearsal for camera. During this one, everyone behind the scenes works on their own moves and responsibilities. Then, you shoot it...maybe twice, maybe not. By the end of the day, I was much more comfortable with the process. I walked away with a healthy respect for the work these actors put in every day. It's no easy task. Tomorrow, we'll have a different director and more fun in store.

More good news

Yesterday, I got confirmation on the 4 additional episodes of Passions shooting the week of March 26, making a total of 6 episodes. Additionally, Jackie said they may be including me in four more episodes shooting the week of April 16. That would be cool. Of course, we're supposed to be flying back from Memphis on April 16 after a wedding weekend, but I'd change the tickets in a heartbeat to come back a day earlier. I received my first two scripts today. Very cool. I have a lot of respect for what these lead soap actors do every day.

Audition: Yahoo @ Ross Lacy

Yep, another one. Note the post before the Passions audition titled, "The Calm Before...?". This is how it goes - no auditions, then everything all at once. Weird. Anyway, this one was good. I'm not sure I nailed it, but it was just a few quick lines. They'll bring people back based on the look. I didn't see a shoot date or callback date.

Since I'm going in on these other jobs that potentially shoot during my stint on Passions, I called the casting director to see if I could get confirmation on those four additional episodes. She said she still doesn't have the schedule lined up yet, but that I will be working March 26-29 on those four. As soon as she gets the schedules, I get the official "you're hired." I went ahead and booked out with my commercial agents based on our conversation. There's a chance I can make an audition that pops up on those days, but it's not a guarantee since I don't know how the days will play out.

Audition: Home Depot @ Craig Colvin

It has been a while since I had a commercial audition. I got the call today at 12:00pm for a 1:30pm appointment. I was almost to the gym, so I just hung a U-turn and headed back home to change and grab a bite beforehand. The audition was a quick one-liner. Of course, the callbacks are scheduled for my first shooting day on Passions and the spot will shoot during the next week when I'm scheduled for the 4 additional episodes. Always the way...

Improv Grad Show

My Level 1 class had the "graduation performance" yesterday. It actually went very well indeed. Our last couple of class sessions were much more productive, with people making big strides in their comfort level on stage. The instructor broke out a great exercise for the last class on Saturday. We did a straight scene about a guy who discovers his roommate slept with his girlfriend. Then, we played the same scene again, basically repeating all the lines we could remember, but this time the girlfriend scenario was replaced with "you ate my frozen pizzas". It was a great lesson in substitution and playing the truth of what you know with high stakes. The instructor also did some side-coaching in other scenes that helped a lot. For the show, we divided into two groups. Each group did 3 monologues and about 20 minutes of scenework. Overall, I was very impressed with the results. I had a lot of fun and I think everyone else seemed to enjoy getting out there and doing it.

The Summers of Our Youth

In lieu of an improv rehearsal today with Will, we finally held the first ever (in the personal history of those involved) Wiffle Ball Day day. That's 2 days in 1! We made the plan around 10:30am. I struck out in my drugstore search for the official ball and bat. Oh they had the cheap knock-offs, and I'll buy some generic stuff on occasion. However, allow me to save you heartache and disappointment. Remember this - there is NO substitute for the Official Wiffle. For those of you not in the know, the "Official Wiffle" bat is a yellow, skinny plastic tube, and the ball is ... this one:

After my family moved to Atlanta from Dyersburg, TN, I spent several summers back in TN with my grandparents. Virtually every day, my neighborhood friends and I would play Wiffle Ball for hours and hours. We wore out the grass in my buddy's front and back yard until his dad would force us to move our stadium down the street to the church yard. I wrecked my bike and broke my wrist on the way to one such meeting. We kept stats, mainly home runs, through the "season" that consisted of regular 1-on-1 or all-time pitcher games with ghost runners and the classic home run derby.

And so, armed with fond memories, I picked Will up and we headed to the nearest Toys 'R Us. After some searching, we found the required tools. From there, we drove around the corner to Griffith Park, where we settled on a large, flat, grassy area. The field was perfect. There were ideally placed trees to serve as both foul lines and the home run distance. We centered home plate just in front of a 50 gallon drum. We reassigned it from trash duty to umpire. Hit the drum, it's a strike. We collaborated on the rules and spent the next two hours chasing Wiffle balls and swinging the ol' bat. Final score: Chris - 29, Will-28 in a barn burner. My closer pitched a shutout inning to seal the victory. This has tradition written all over it.

Booked: Passions

Exciting news...Last night while I was working the casting session, I received a message from Jackie Briskey. "I have a role for you that's much larger than the one you read for." I returned her call this morning. The bailiff had about six lines. The role I'm now taking, a guard, recurs over at least 2 and up to 6 episodes. So far, I've been hired for the first two shooting March 22 and 23. Jackie can't officially hire me for the remaining 4 until next week. Those will shoot the week of March 26. It's an AFTRA union job, so I'll have to pay up my dues and officially join.

Audition: Passions @ Jackie Briskey

I received a call from this casting office on Monday for the audition on Wednesday. After I got the call time and had a chance to reflect, I could not figure out how my headshot landed on their desk. I haven't really submitted to any soaps, but I'm certainly not complaining about the opportunity.
The role was a courtroom guard, a bailiff basically. If you've ever seen an episode of this show, you'll understand why I was playing the humor. The audition was on the CBS Radford lot, which is a nice small studio 5 minutes from our apartment. I got there a bit early to sign in and asked the casting assistant if she had any idea how they found me. She said Jackie keeps great files. Fair enough. After a few minutes of waiting, the girl who was in the room auditioning came out. It was Sarah Loew who was also in the In Demand Showcase I did a few months ago. That's when it clicked for me. Jackie or someone from Jackie's office must've seen the showcase. Sure enough, when I entered the room, she mentioned picking up my headshot in September and I saw it was my half-hour shot, which was the one I used in the packages. The read went great and I was on my way.

Afterward, Sarah and I went up to visit our commercial agents at KSA who are right around the corner. The girls all got into some bonding over their pole dancing exercise class. I guess it's Jazzercise for the 2000's. From there, I went to run a casting session for a friend in Hollywood. They were seeing a bunch of kids for a graduate student thesis project. There were some very talented, funny and interesting young actors. I was impressed!