Audition: Home Depot @ Ross Lacy

I did a number of Home Depot industrials when I lived in Atlanta. This may be only the first time I've auditioned for a Home Depot commercial here. The audition went great. You've probably seen the spots with their NASCAR driver, Tony Stewart. This will be one of them. It would be interesting to work with a non-actor personality on a shoot.

Audition: Red Robin Restaurant @ Landau/McRae

This was a quick-hitter down in Santa Monica. I felt right for it and that the audition was good. The session runner was an actor I met at the Subway callbacks. He gave me a couple of ideas and we did it twice. Seemed fine. My first time in this office.

Audition: Jury Duty @ Burbank Court House

I got the call to fulfill my civic obligation. Right after I found out that I had to report, I got an audition for a FedEx national...naturally. I reported to the courthouse and decided against postponing my service since I have no way of knowing if one week will be more convenient than the next (auditions, work, etc.). I decided to just go with it and figured I'd be vetoed by the lawyers anyway based on my fairly closely-held beliefs in personal accountability and my ability to see through BS. When I finally got into the courtroom, the judge told everyone that the trial was expected to last at least 2 and a half weeks and that he would hear excuses or "hardships" from the potential jurors. As he went around the room row by row, people had the usual...single income household, contractors, childcare problems, etc. No actors, until me, the last person in the room. I made a quick joke about being surprised to be the only actor in the room, then just explained my situation and that while I'm happy to serve, the length of such a trial would damage my ability to develop my business which depends on short-notice availability. In particular, it would hurt at this time of year when things are so busy. He asked me some questions, and, after consulting with the attorneys, excused me. This afternoon, I got another audition for tomorrow. I'm glad it worked out.

Callback: Subway @ popcasting

The callbacks were in a different location, Santa Monica instead of W. Hollywood. The drive down the 405 in the morning is never much fun, but I left in plenty of time to at least avoid fretting about getting there. It was another video conference audition with the ad guys (I guess) on the video feed, but the director was in the room. We did it a bunch of different ways, and I felt good about my adjustments each time.

Audition: Budweiser @ TLC/Booth

This was my first time into this office...an important office based on the type of directors they work with. I saw a friend from my commercial class too. The wardrobe for this one was tough to figure out "Upscale professional and upscale casual moving attire". I settled on a golf shirt and khakis but took a button down in case it seemed more office-y. When I got there, the sides were from a weekend office football game. Some other actors were a little dressier like me, and others were casual. Nothing in the sides about moving. Later, we found out that the scene we were actually auditioning for had no dialogue, so we were given the lines from a different scene to overlay onto the moving scenario (kind of) instead. It was mostly, "work hard, drink beer to chill." I can handle that.

Between Subway and Budweiser, I managed to squeeze in another audition for an animation thesis at USC and a rehearsal for another student short I'm doing. Then, I picked up my pal Will for a quick writing/idea jam and then UCB improv class at night. It was a day packed with acting.

Audition: Subway @ popcasting

Recently, I've had several auditions at which the information (wardrobe, sides, etc.) given beforehand has nothing to do or very little to do with what's really happening at the audition. This was one of those. The email said to get the sides from the website. As there was only one set of sides I could find for Subway in a recent timeframe from this office, I set to work on them last night. It wasn't a ton of dialogue, but a hefty chunk with a lengthy list that had to be delivered. When I got to the audition, that scene was not the one I was auditioning for. Fortunately, the new one had less dialogue and a premise that wasn't at all difficult to grasp. That's also why I try to arrive at least 30min early...just in case.

Audition: Bud Light @ Joe Blake

A beer commercial too! Finally! There was a little trouble in this one...lots of dialogue and my scene partner and I weren't communicating somehow. I guess we'll see.

Audition: Comcast @ Ross Lacy

I go into this office a lot, but haven't booked or avail'd yet. This one was another improvised scene, a phone conversation with a brother I don't talk to much. I felt like I nailed it, and had a good reaction from the session runner. I'm way overdue.

Audition: Arby's @ Beth Holmes; Callback: NFL Network

Busy day... I've been in for Beth Holmes casting several times and seem to get close. This one was a little weird because the breakdown clearly said "casual", but most of the other guys there were dressed up. Sure enough, the spot was set in an office breakroom. How does that happen?

Got the callback for that good NFL Network audition. This one was weird too. I got there and was the only guy who looked like me for the role, and there were quite a few people. The sides were completely different and it was clear they were after the nerdy computer type yet again. I looked more like a guy in another role that had apparently already been cast. When will this geeky thing end?

Audition: NFL Network @ Typecasting

Great! A football spot at last! My first audition for this office went very well. We were improvising a discussion about football, with some written dialogue to get in there. I had the session runner and CD laughing which is usually a good sign.