When my friend, the inimitable P. A. Cooley, let me know about an opportunity for a spot on a TV Commerical, I sent in my face and body shots on a lark, not really thinking that anything’d come of it. Two days later, Teresa at the casting agency called me and asked if I’d come in for an audition. What an exciting time!
Wednesday morning, I dropped Nicky off at work, then came back home and got ready – red plaid flannel shirt, 501s with the cuffs rolled up, red wing boots, and my USS Frank Cable (AS-40) ballcap. Teresa had asked me to dress like a trucker, and that was the best I could do.
I drove down to the casting agency at 10:00, ten minutes early, found a good parking spot, and walked in, ascending the two flights of stairs to the third floor. There were two men in the waiting area: a mulleted 50-something who was complaining rather loudly when he saw me walk in, went over to read the description of the actor, looked at me, and shook his head. “I should have gotten a better agent 20 years ago!” he groused.
The other fellow was also older, had a goatee, was somewhat bearish, but had a distinct limp. Neither one of these guys fit the physical description at all – over 6’2″ and 250 pounds. I felt pretty good.
The three of us chatted for a while, and I told them I had never done anything like this before. The guy from the agency came in, and looked at the sign-in sheet. He asked who was whom, and when I didn’t say respond, I prompted my self to introduce myself. He seemed happy that I was there.
He took the other two gentlemen first, one at a time. While I was waiting my turn behind the second guy, an even taller guy came up the stairs, bearded, with long wavy hair. He didn’t look particularly trucker-ish, but he was definite competition. I told him what the assistant had said, and then it was my turn.
Went into the room, and placed my bag on a red velvet bench on the side, then walked over to the mark on the floor that was taped on. Two big umbrella reflectors were mounted in a way to shine on that mark, and he stood behind the camera, with a computer or laptop next to him where we was controlling the recording.
He wanted me to first just stand there and say my name, height and weight. Wanted me to give him my simmering rage face, pump up my chest and flex, make my neck muscles stand out, look angry, snarl. He also wanted me to assume a standing wrestling pose and move around as if I were in a junkyard facing a guard dog. All through my audition, he kept saying that he really liked what I was doing and that it looked great. When I left, I picked up my bag, asked him a quick question, and bade the by now six other guys good luck and descended the stairs.
I feel pretty good about it.
Today, I attended an introductory class to Active Myofascial Therapy – The Diamond Method. This hour and a half free class was on relieving neck pain, and served as a sales pitch for a 40 hour intensive at the beginning of next month. I did enjoy the class, but the work was so similar to what I already do, that I don’t really need to take the class in order to know how to adapt even the few techniques she showed to work with the entire body. I might take the class, or not, I don’t know yet.
Nicky picked me up from the class, which was held at the Sports Basement, and we headed through the Castro, went to the Kinko’s to get his sandwich assembly instructions copied for his new job at Noah’s Bagels down on Market in the Embarcadero Center, and to Safeway to gather ingredients for dinner.
While I was in Safeway, I received a telephone call from Teresa again. I was “in the running” for the commercial and they were sending my audition to Slim Jim to make the final decision. I should hear by Tuesday at the latest.
I pan seared two small tuna steaks, and roasted asparagus, brussel sprouts and tiny yukon potatoes. I also juiced two pounds of strawberries, and half a cup each of blueberries and blackberries.
Nicky did the dishes, studied his recipes, and is now in bed while I type this. I really love that kid.
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