Being represented by a prestigious agent comes with its fair share of pressure. If I don’t get a callback at least once every ten commercial auditions, they’ll kindly show me the Heisman. But hey, if I wanted to pursue a business with no pressure to succeed, I would have become a politician. Or played for the Knicks.Thanks to the flimsy economy, auditions have been scarce for actors these days, so when I got the call to audition for a TV spot for Nevada State Bank last week, I went in there on a mission. And I got a callback the next day.
Success begets success, and suddenly I had an audition for a public service announcement on the perils of drinking and driving. The result: my second callback in four days. I love me some me.
Then it got even better. I got put on avail for the drunk driving PSA, meaning I was one of the top two choices to get the role.
I’ve mentioned before that in the eyes of agents and casting directors, callbacks are nearly as good as booking roles, because they demonstrate that I not only have the goods, but clients like me. And of course, they're nice reminders/esteem boosts actors that we don’t suck. We're all broken.
Forgive me for waiting five paragraphs to explain this entry’s visual. It’s a prison jumpsuit that they had me put on for the drunk driving audition. I played a guy who was doing time for quaffing a few and killing two people. Extra props to me, a non-drinker, for being put on avail for this. And for the tension-breaking laugh I got when I was taking the jumpsuit off and asked the advertisers and casting director if it came in another color, since I’m more of an autumn.
As I post this, a couple days have passed since I was put on avail, so it looks likely that I wound up the understudy. Ever closer.
I will celebrate nonetheless. If you need me, I’ll be hoisting a few icewaters this weekend. Responsibly.
