Fully Redeemed

The "Jennifer's Body" callback yesterday went off without a hitch. Well, without any fault of my own, anyway.

This waiting room was particularly packed, as they were doing callbacks for just about every role, not just my own (like last time.) I've made-up a little game (not really) called "are you coming in for my role?" This is when you look at the people coming in the room and then guess if they're coming in for your role. Guy in a purple hoodie? Doesn't look like he's trying to be cop, or is old enough for my part, so he's coming in for something else. Guy with a lip ring with long hair, and an overall emo look to him? Not a cop. Girl? Well, not entirely out of the question, but no (although they were auditioning a female cop that shares the scene with me, I couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, they were out for my role. Can't be too sure.)

The two guys I was up against were tall, good-looking, gave the casting assistant some flowers with a couple of $100's placed in them for good measure, and when I heard them practice their singing (required for this audition), the girls in the room wept, and fell to the guys feet, promising them all sorts of outlandish things that I doubt any of them could follow-through with.

So when it was my turn to go into the room, I was understandably shaken. One of the guys I was up against was actually a "Canadian Idol" contestant, and got pretty far too (he's also a VFS grad, and the only reason I did recognize him is because the school tacked-up newspaper clippings about his run on the show. I don't really watch it, I swear.)

So, I went over some stuff with the reader and went in the room. I was expecting the director, Karyn Kusama, to be there, and I recognized her from pictures on imdb.com (actors, do your research). She was sitting on the very right-hand side of the couch directly across from me. To her left was someone I wasn't expecting at all to be there: Diablo Cody, the writer. She looks just like the pictures I've seen of her too, short dark hair, fiery eyes, fair complexion. To her left was some guy, I didn't know, could've been Mason Novick or Daniel Dubiecki, but I didn't know what either of them looked like (actors, go to more than one website for your research). On the couch perpendicular to them (means opposite of parallel, remember?) were one or two other guys, and the two casting directors. Jason Reitman wasn't there, I'm pretty sure I'd have recognized him. All of them with the reader and camera man made for the most packed audition room I've been in (so far.)

I walked in and immediately said "Hi!" I guess partly from being taken aback from having so many darn people there, and partly at the surprise of seeing the person who's movie has won 14 awards for writing. Someone introduced them as "Karyn, and the rest," or something like that, and I said "Hey" again. I'm just such a people person. So camera man said "rolling" and we were right into it, and the only hitch of this whole thing happened here, when the reader cut-off my first line. We went through to the end of the scene, including my rocking-out (my coach suggested doing my best Geddy Lee from Rush, which was about the best thing he could ever suggest) and that got some laughs. Karyn "thanked" me for my own creative singing style, and her only note was that she wanted that first line in there. So we start again, and the reader and I verbally bump heads, and start a third time. That one went off without a hitch. On to the second scene, ran it once, and then again with a few of Karyn's notes, I got a "very, very good Will," and got out of there. I feel fully redeemed at North Shore studios now. My coach made a good point to me on Sunday that if you do a couple of good ones, and blow one, they're going to bring you in again based on the strength of the good ones. It makes perfect sense, and of course it's the actors paranoia that when they make the slightest mistake on something they think they'll be blacklisted and never work in this town again.

I think I may have started too hot, because I'm dyin' for the next one already. Another glorious, sleepless week of nerves and frustration, and harrowing first impressions. Yeah, I want that.