Cool, the maintenance man came this morning and was very confident about were the bats are getting in. I was right, it was above the stove. He stuffed a bunch of screen in there to plug it up. I feel much better.

License and registration please....

Audition/Director: “Who’s Your Caddy” @ Jeff Gerrard Casting.
Yeah, this went really well. I sorta complicated it for myself because I think I knew what was going on - at least I thought I did. The role I read for is one the leads in the film, but for the audition there was just one small scene – a monologue really. I thought that was odd. Also, there were about 3-4 other, similar characters reading the same sides. Odd again; I mean these were leads and supporting leads.

In my mind it meant they were just trying to find out who was funny at all. Then they would dig deeper and really try to put a cast of characters together. So, drawing on my experience as a reader I figured I needed to really think outside of the box and bring something fresh. I mean you always want to do that, but I felt this needed to be a couple of degrees off of the normal freshness you wanna bring in the room. After all they’re going to be hearing these same sides from about four different characters. I didn’t want to put them asleep.

I didn’t want it to be so off the mark that they would wonder if I even read it, but enough that there was an unlikely twist for this character. I read it over and over and found my take on it. My take had absolutely nothing to do with what the character arch was in the script – nothing at all, but interesting nonetheless.

I went to my buddy Jon’s place to read it over and discuss my plan. He wasn’t feeling it at first – not even a little bit. I asked him to be really patient and hear me out. I also begged him to tell me if he thought I was completely out of my mind. I felt really strong about what I was thinking, but I needed someone to potentially save me from myself and my “great” idea.

Slowly, I was able to convince him that I was making sense and he got on board and gave me some great ideas to incorporate into the piece. It’s amazing what you can come up with in 20-25 minutes. I left his place feeling like I was on top of the world. I feel like I’m really right for this and I enjoyed the script.

So I arrive at the casting office, sign-in and have a seat. After 30 minutes or so it’s my turn. First I meet the director Don Michael Paul and I’m re-introduced to Casting Director Jeff Gerrard. I know Jeff from auditioning for commercials. Actually, the first time I auditioned for him back in ’99; I didn’t even have an appointment. A buddy gave me a tip on it because he had an appointment and thought I was right for it too. I went to check it out and was able to get seen. It was for “Pizza Hut”, I got a callback and booked the job. That led to two more “Pizza Hut”. I also remember one day doing a commercial drop when his office was in the Valley on Lankershim; commercial drops – THAT was a long time ago. I rarely, if ever do those anymore. Anyway, I ended up seeing him and he said I didn’t need to drop a photo because he had one on the wall in his office. Needless to say I was very surprised to hear that.

Before starting the read Don really checked out my credits. I gotta tell you it felt great to hear him associate me with people like Mekhi Phifer, Steven Spielberg, Al Pacino and Steven Soderbergh. Finally, it was time to read. They started laughing from the opening beat; which was a little thing that my friend Jon suggested. It went great!! The first thing Don said after I finished was “WHY DID YOU CUT YOUR DREADS!!!?!?! There is a guy in the movie with dreadlocks and his name is ‘Dread’.” He said he’s seen “The Terminal” and I mentioned that I had dreads back then.

ire mon!

We talked about that for a bit then he gave me some direction. I did it again, totally different and was happy with the outcome. He complimented me and I was on my way.

While I was driving away it suddenly dawned on me that I could have performed the re-direct even better. I could have added a slight accent for the dread guy. It was at that moment that I needed someone to “save me from myself”. Yup. I was going to go back and ask to do it again. Fortunately, I needed to go to my agency to pick up material for another appointment. My mind was racing. I was actually driving away from audition, but I was strongly thinking about going back. I really wanted go back, but I knew I needed time to think. I stopped at one of my favorite places, Panera Bread, check my e-mail on my PDA using their free Wi-Fi connection and assessed the situation.

Fifteen minutes later I got back in the car and headed in the direction of the audition. I didn’t think I would actually park, get out of the car, get in the elevator and go back to the office to ask to do it again, but I knew there was a chance that I would. I used a “lifeline” I called Jon and explained what was on my mind. He said, “no, don’t go back, let it ride”. That was what I needed to hear, so I “let it ride’ and heading to my agents’ office instead.

I spoke to David, the agent handling the office for the audition, and gave him the run-down. He was very excited to hear that it went well for me. He’s got a good feeling about it; who knows maybe they find something for me in the project. With that being said, I don’t expect to hear another thing about it. I’m not gonna wait by the phone, but I will pick up the phone in 10 days or so if I don’t hear anything. I really would like to work on this project.