Business Time

I don't know if I should have auditioned for the Intern on Kyle XY before or after the casting session. I chose to do it before, which the Casting Director preferred, and that can't be a bad thing. Perhaps I would have had an edge after watching what the other guys did in the room, but I'll never know.

I was called back for a DRAGONSTEEL audition on Monday. I went in for a pre-screen for the warrior character and ended-up with an audition for another character:

A magical goblin that can turn invisible.

My agent told me to wear something to make me look taller. I had no idea what the heck that meant, and my acting coach agreed that this can be a note best ignored. Big guys never have to act like they're big guys. My acting coach told me to hit the gym before the audition to feel more connected to my body, and to relax all my muscles in the waiting room before the audition.

So, just what manner of goblins would I come across in this waiting room? How about twins with cut-off sleeves and boots with 4-inch lifts, curling and pressing a 20-lb. barbell? Looks like these guys took the tallness suggestion more seriously. Another actor asked them about their unique footwear and one of them told her,

"We got them because we need them for bigger roles. Ironically, we got them two-for-one."

The Casting Director came out and gave us an important note:

"No goblin voices guys. They're just a race of bigger people."

Notes like that makes me wonder how many people did that before the CD realized he needed to let the actors know not to do it. I was kind of banking on the fact that a bunch of actors would do it, giving me better a better chance. The twins told me they heard someone go in asking to read "all the lines." Like, their lines and the other character's lines. This is why the CDs hire a reader, or in this case, the CD himself was the reader.

I got in the room, and immediately my blocking was thrown-off by the CDs insistence on "tug-of-war"-ing him off the top of the scene. It fit the script (the story had the goblin arguing with a little girl over a giant chunk of DRAGONSTEEL) but I didn't expect to wrest with the CD in the room.

"OK, so off the top here, if you want to just, take my hand ... "
So I do,
"But don't crush it."

Looks like I underestimated my goblin strength. So we switched-up out grip to more of a "thumb war" style, which immediately made me self-conscious of the length of my fingernails. The camera-man calls rolling, and we go at it. Overall, it went well, and of course, I'll be the last to know how it went.

Either way, I'll be heading to that Casting Office again on Friday for a Scooby-Doo call back. We meet again, "Beefy Jock".

Talking to my agent afterwards, he told me once I get more confidence, I won't need coaches. I'm not ditching them any time soon. He said once I get more experience I could be booking 1 for 3 like his daughter's older clients do.

He sent us an e-mail letting his clients know he'll be going on vacation at the end of the month and, like every conversation I have with him, he just couldn't help but throw-in some lessons. First, empathizing with business being down, then wishing us all the best in our auditions, then telling us that even school and training, we're far from knowing it all. How inspiring.

The first VFS almuni class went well. I heard through the grapevine that the teacher was being a bit grumpier lately, and thus, I expected the worst. I feel I got by relatively unscathed, and the teacher's words, even though I've heard most of them before, was inspiring. Bottom line: I have to work harder, because like my teacher said, auditions are good, but jobs are better. I agree.

Because my roommate asked me to, I checked my actors gig book to see just how many pre-screens/auditions/call backs I've had since I've signed with my agent. I've discovered I'm about 1 for 30. Upon telling this to the head of the VFS acting department, he informed me that he's about 1 for 503. Great, only 473 to go.

After class, the teacher asked me and friend of mine what we've been up to. I told him I went out for DRAGONSTEEL twice, once for the warrior, and once for the goblin.

"Oh yeah? I coached the twins for that one. Those guys book a lot."