Audition: "Jackson-Hewitt Tax Service" @ Ross Lacy Casting. I did a commercial for them back in '94 in Virginia Beach when I was non-union and they shot non-union - I guess we've both come a long way.

Alright, I get to this audition and get the group explanation. All good, right? Wrong!!! I was so pre-occupied with “my busy day” that I didn’t hear what the session runner was explanation. I mean I heard him, I was just ‘out to lunch’. Bad Stephon!!

While we were doing the rehearsal I just stopped and asked the session runner to help me though it. Fortunately, I audition for him often and he didn’t give me a hard time. So then we go to tape it and I had to stop again. WHAT!! The funny thing about it was that I felt that I would pull it together somehow and it would have the right amount of realness to it – my voice, my realness. The smart thing to do was to stop and start over – own MY AUDITION…well, mine and my partners’ audition.

See, I knew the director, producer, ad agency and Ross Lacy the Casting Director wasn’t going to see all of my “tune-up work”; they would only see the ‘money shot’. Actually, that’s not totally true, some audition rooms have cameras watching them from the casting office. The last thing I wanted to do was perform the ‘money shot’ in the car later while doing drop-offs.

The last take was it. It felt great; a little off balance, my vision, my voice – worth watching. I felt weird when I got to my car; rattled and little embarrased. I was also proud that I had a say in the outcome, because as actors we do have a say – and I said it this morning – Good Stephon!

So I get home from the audition and my agent calls and asked if I made it to the appointment. I answer, “Yeah, I just got home”. She says, “Okay, they didn’t remember you coming in. “Really”, I answer. She says, “Yeah, no problem. Sometimes, the front office isn’t sure what the back office is doing.” “Okay”, I say. Then she asked, “Did you sign in and out?” Complete silence…………”Oh $%^#, I forgot to sign in and out! I’m sorry…….” Yeah, I was out to lunch……

Today was a really busy day for a very specific reason. It’s my mother’s birthday; I lost her 4 years ago last week. I knew if I sat around and did nothing I would be depresed…I don’t like being depressed.

What to do, what to do? I wrote up a route with 24 drop-off stops on it; from the far reaches of Northeast Burbank to Malibu and Venice. I didn’t expect to get it all done, but I was going to try. Since I had to move my car @ 8am for street sweeping I figured I’d start then.

My plan was to get a good chunk done in the Valley before going back home to put on a suit for my 11:15 audition at the Casting Studios. After that I’d grab a bite to eat and work my way through Beverly Hills, West LA and out to Malibu. Then I’d swing back through Santa Monica for my audition and continue to Venice and Culver City.

I think keeping myself busy worked. Of course I often thought about my mom, but I wasn’t overwhelmed with grief. To be honest, I miss my mom terribly, but I’m happy that she’s resting in peace. I couldn’t have imagined her, me or the rest of my family going through her illness for one moment longer than we did. Happy Birthday Ma! We love you, We miss you.

Audition: "FedEx" @ Kathy Knowles Casting. I booked here in late '03 and have gotten close many times since - it's time to revisit.

Alright, I get to this appointment and least this time I remembered to sign in. After a while the session runner takes 5 of us in for an explanation and he goes through it so fast that everybody’s head was spinning. We all just looked at each other and proceeded to take a shot at it. I can always tell if this particular session runner likes what you did; he doesn’t hesitate to let you know. He liked it and we did another one for kicks. Cool! Two really good auditions today!

I got 16 of the 24 drops done today. Whew!

http://www.stephonfuller.com/consultations.html