Saturday, June 20, 2009

A change of pace is in store today. Yep, I drove out to Riverside, about 65 miles away from where I live, to the James Stewart Ride Day. James Stewart is a Motocross/Supercross racer. In fact, currently, he’s considered one of the best in the world, if not the best. This guy does mind-blowing stuff on a dirt bike. I am a HUGE dirt bike fan and been riding much of my life, but these days I don’t get to ride too often – only when I go home.

Anyway, he and his sponsors are hosted today where the fans can actually ride with him on a local track.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that James Stewart is Black. Yup, he’s the first African-American motorsports champion. I have to admit that I smiled as I waited in the long line of cars and trucks to get in the parking lot because I truly believe that accomplishments like this break down barriers. There are young riders who will have James Stewart as their first Motocross hero…a beautiful thing. I think it helps us all get along.

James Stewart doing his thing – Clip 1 Website

Since my motorcycle is in Virginia I decided to just take photos instead. I had a blast, rolling around in the dirt trying to get a decent shot, but had to leave early and rush back to LA for a Saturday audition. It was really great to get out of LA, if only for a few hours.

Audition: “Time-Warner Cable” @ Ross Lacy Casting. Oh no. I totally bombed this audition. I mean completely. It was two different spots; both had quite a bit of dialogue. I’m going to be honest; this is what happened. I folded under perceived pressure; it’s as simple as that. This particular session director is one of the best in town I think, he explains everything very well and if you trust him he’ll steer you in the right direction. He’s also an actor and I’ve run the camera for an audition of his before and he has an incredible naturalness to his work. As I said there was a whole bunch of dialogue and they wanted us to spot on with it because they had already had a round of callbacks and this was possibly going to book straight off the tape. Exactly as my last booking, the KY spot, straight off tape. I guess I don’t always fold under pressure…of course I don’t.

Anyway, I just couldn’t get the words out of my mouth…at all. I felt terrible. Well, not terrible, but not good at all about what I left in the room. Ya know what else happens to me? As a result of knowing a lot of what goes on behind the scenes I get out of the moment. I’m a thinker, my mind is always racing. I’m shocked that I get anything done at all. I don’t know if it’s ADD or what, but lately I’ve tried to focus more and follow a simple task through to the end.

Afterwards I stopped to say hello to a friend of mine, Maya, who was running a session in another room. She said I was right for it and asked if I wanted to read for it. She explained that it was a test-spot and all that goes with that - I was willing to take the risk.

Audition: “KFC” @ Jeff Rosenman Casting. Amazingly enough, after just having a terrible audition, I had a great one. My partner and I played off of one another very well and I’d like to think we’ll both be at callbacks. I’ll let my agents know on Monday in case they get a call about it.

http://www.stephonfuller.com

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