Check this out…I was at work last night and someone, a beautiful young Black woman came up to me and asked if I was on the cover of a magazine last month. I went blank for a second because that was the last thing I expected her to ask. After a moment I answered that I had in fact been on the cover of BackStage. She congratulated me and said she enjoyed what I wrote – funny huh…

Audition: “AT&T” @ [skirts] casting. It went okay and I think I’m right for it.

Audition/Callback: “Tide” @ Lisa Pantone Casting. OMG! I don’t think I’ve auditioned for Ms. Pantone since the 90’s. This straight-to-callbacks appointment was for 3 15-second spots and it went really well and was a ton of fun. It’ll be a quick turnaround for this since I think it starts shooting on Tuesday.

Audition: “TurboTax” @ Ross Lacy Casting. This was my 3rd audition today and it was great!

Afterwards I had a conversation with Christopher Duncan about things other than the entertainment business. I run into Chris from time to time at auditions and we always have a great, spirited conversation about this or that. We don’t know each other well, but we connect and have great talks.

Funny enough, although he’s worked a tremendous amount over the years, he’s gained a huge recent following, with his dead-on impersonations of our new President-Elect Barack Obama on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He’s a great guy and a great actor – check out his website here.

http://www.stephonfuller.com

Audition: “Life” @ Mia Levinson Casting. Ugh! I wished I would’ve asked a few questions about this character before reading. It didn’t go bad at all, but I think I could have made a different choice that might have put me more in the running for the prize. Oh well on to the next…

http://www.stephonfuller.com

Wow! Some amazing sh*t happened yesterday. We have a new President-Elect and for the first time in the history of America it’s not a Caucasian man. I have a very general disdain for politicians of all colors, genders and party affiliations. I don’t hate them; I just have very little confidence in their integrity and that’s always tough when it comes time to cast my vote. Basically, in my eyes, politicians are guilty until proven innocent. Sure, I’m exaggerating a little, but you probably see where I’m coming from.

I’m an independent thinker and have always been that way. My way of running my acting career says that loud and clear. But I have to say that I like this Barack Obama guy. When I say “like him”; I mean him personally or what I know of him from a significant distance. I think he’s cut from a good cloth. I think he has a lot of integrity. I think family means a lot to him. I think he’s smart, really smart. I even think he’s cool - Denzel cool. That’s pretty cool coming from me. None of these things means that he’ll be a successful President, but I think it’s a great start.

I’m rooting for him, his daughters, his wife and puppy in a big way; not only because I like him, but because the short term success of many in this country are relying on it. I sure hope he can get things turned around onto a better track.

Audition/Tape: “Surviving Suburbia” @ GO Casting. I was right! Well, sorta. Remember yesterday when I was talking about being in the elevator with the casting associate? When I entered the room to audition today, the associate Stacy Taylor, acknowledged that she had seen me just a day prior in the building. Also, one of the partners, Leslie Gelles (the “G” in GO Casting) was acting as the reader in the audition and said that she also saw me get out of the elevator and that reminded her to bring me in.

It’s funny because often times I get the impression that many actors think that drop-offs are a waste of time. I am living proof that they are not a waste of time. Or it could be that my perspective is very different than most. It’s the intangible things about drop-offs that have benefited me the most over the years. Well, there have been tangible things too – like going to Tokyo and booking “The Terminal” from a drop.

At any rate it was a very cool thing to hear from Stacy and Leslie; I hadn’t seen Leslie since she was an associate years ago and it was great to get reacquainted with her. The audition went well and hopefully they’ll bring me in for something else in the near future if I don’t book this one.

www.stephonfuller.com

http://www.stephonfuller.com

Check this out - this afternoon I was out dropping off photos and when I was waiting for the elevator in the last building I saw a young woman that I thought I recognized.  I couldn’t remember her name, but I was pretty certain that she was a casting associate. 

 

After a moment the elevator came and me, her and one other guy got in.  I was searching my head trying to remember her name, but I didn’t say anything to her; after all I could have been mistaken.  Plus, my preferred style is in the low-key realm – most of the time.

 

I thought I knew where she worked in the building and I sometimes drop a photo there when making the rounds, but this time I forgot and only had one photo on me – the rest were in the car. 

 

So the other guy got off the elevator, which left just her and I; I still didn’t say anything to her verbally, but here’s what I did do.  I had my photo in my hand and I wanted her to see it and my name – especially my name.  I figured, if I couldn’t remember her name, maybe she couldn’t remember mine.  So I kinda played with my photo, with the headshot and the name facing her.  I was sorta bouncing it on my leg while waiting for my floor to exit.   I didn’t want her to possibly have something on her desk that I was right for but not be able to remember my name. 

 

Who knows, maybe my photo would jog her memory.  Maybe she already knew who I was.  Maybe she had no idea who I was and didn’t care and didn’t look at the photo.  Maybe she works at a law firm and has no idea how TV and Film is cast.  I don’t know.

 

I do know this though; less than 20 minutes later my agent called with an appointment from her casting office – at least the one I think she works at.

www.stephonfuller.com

Audition: “H&R Block” @ Kathy Knowles Casting.  Yes!  Great, great audition - and fun too.  It was more theatrical than many of the commercial appointments I go to.  They HAVE to bring me in for callbacks - well they don't "have to", but they have to.....right???  Yeah, it would just be smart.

What is going on? At times I’m not really sure, but all-in-all I feel pretty good these days. It’s been an interesting year thus far; not really what I had envisioned back in December ’07, but interesting nonetheless. It’s all good.

The economic squeeze is being felt by many. I’m doing okay and moving in the right direction, but I’m completely busting my ass doing it. I think I’m way overdue to go back to Virginia. Maybe I’ll go right after Christmas.

I’ve had some really good things happen this year and some more challenging ones too. I‘ll just keep moving forward like I always have. I’m hoping to be debt-free by the end of the year. It’s amazing to me that I’ve been in LA for a decade and I still think about being home, closer to my family. I talk to my two younger brothers everyday, usually numerous times a day. I absolutely love being in their company; they make me laugh like nobody else.

I’m really enjoying my new MacBook. Between graveyard shifts at work, going to workshops at the Apple store, building my new website and “trying” to get to the gym I haven’t been doing much else, but that needs to change…I’m trying to get out more. I went to an incredible performance at bang. Comedy Theatre a few days ago featuring two-time HBO Def Poet, Joe Hernández-Kolski, and internationally-known beatboxer, Joshua Silverstein. Them dudes got mad skills…here’s a review.

Audition: “HBO Promo” @ Ross Lacy Casting. This went really, REALLY well. It was much more like a theatrical audition; I had a bit of a monologue to read while my partner took notes. Hopefully, I’ll get a callback.

Audition: “Time-Warner Cable” @ Kathy Knowles Casting. This was another really good one – bring a brotha back!

Audition: “M&M’s” @ Ross Lacy Casting. This went well – again.

Print Go-see: “Uniqlo” @ Heather Lynn Casting. I was in and out with the quickness. I’m gonna book a print job at least once before I retire.

Audition: “Snapple” @ Ross Lacy Casting. Blah, blah, blah…pretty well too…

Audition: “Subway” @ Spot Casting. This went pretty well.

My agent called this morning with a Top-of-Show Guest star audition for a comedy called “Rita Rocks” @ Greenstein/Daniel Casting. I was really excited after printing and reading the 12 pages of sides. Soon after my agent calls back to say that new, revised sides will be released in about an hour and not to get too attached to the ones I just printed. Okay, cool.

The call comes in later that my appointment has been cancelled entirely. They decided that they were no longer going to see “more petite” guys, as my agent put it, for the role. “More petite??” WTF is that? I asked my agent about her smart-ass comment and we both laughed and knew I was going to say something about the comment. Hey, I’ve been told that I have a phat ass. Slightly phat…a little phat…I’m just sayin…it’s true.

Anyway, it was great that this very busy casting office was willing to call me in for a series regular role after recently booking me on a two-line role. So that the plus I’ll take away from the experience.

Arrgh!!!! Today was not a great day. First I get released from my “T-mobile” avail @ Ross Lacy Casting, then my car breaks down and I have to ride my bike to the employee meeting at work. THEN I notice that my tire is flat when I was preparing to ride home from the meeting to deal with my car. Geez, can I get a break? Plus, I’m starting to feel just a little sick. I mean it’s not terrible compared to how things could be, but lets hope there are better days ahead.

On a different note; my commercial/print agency of 10 years Kazarian-Spencer & Associates(KSA) has changed its name to Kazarian-Spencer-Ruskin & Associates (KSR).

Audition: “Toyota” @ Ross Lacy Casting. This goes pretty well; I’m not sure how right I am for it though.

So I was at The Grove this evening and after attending a workshop at the Apple store I went into Barnes & Noble and who did I see? Me, yeah, on the cover of the Backstage West. Obviously, I knew I was on the cover of the issue, but I hadn’t actually seen it.

 

Myself & Kito Robinson on the cover of BSW.

I must say it was a pretty neat feeling. I hadn’t thought too much about it before, but I’ve heard from a lot of people that have seen it and that made me feel that it was a bigger deal than I previously thought. I even had a woman that lives in my apartment building leave a dozen copies at my door – I think she works for the publishing company.

I’m on the cover of the current issue of Backstage Magazine – go figure. I was interviewed about a month ago, but had no idea I was going to be on the cover. I’ve written an article or two and been interviewed by the magazine in the past, but I always just emailed a headshot to them. This time, while I was shooting recently cancelled FOX Drama “Do Not Disturb” I got a call to schedule a photo shoot. At that point I had no idea it was for the cover. Even at the photo shoot it was just a rumor that we’d be on cover. I’d kinda forgotten about it until I started getting text messages informing me about it this morning. Pretty cool I guess.

Audition: “Ford” @ Joe Blake Casting. This went really well and I hope and expect to be called back for round 2.

Audition: “T-mobile” @ Ross Lacy Casting. Another one that went
extremely well; they should bring me to callbacks too.

I’ve been burning the candle at both ends lately (what else is new?). Not sure how long I can keep the pace or that I want to. At times the day/night job has my mind in a frenzy; but other times it’s okay. I’m super focused at times and super confused other times with incredible headaches. What to do, what to do…do guys have a biological clock? I think I might…

I have to say that something that’s GREAT is that I have a new laptop and I can take free workshops at the Apple store. It feeds my thirst to learn new and exciting things. I look forward to getting deeper into photography as well and part of me wants to be home working in the family business with my brothers. So much on my mind these days…

I attended another SAG Town Hall Membership Meeting tonight and, once again, there were embarrassingly few SAG members in attendance. Not to judge, but I don’t understand it, there are 50,000+ plus SAG members in Hollywood and I would think that at least 1,000 would attend some of the meetings. It’s only our futures as professionals at stake. Let me tell you, the AMPTP is trying their best to eliminate residuals, weaken SAG and work closer with AFTRA who seems to be willing to make things as easy as possible for them to give actors the short end of the stick. Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s the way it looks to me.

Some of the newly elected SAG board members were in attendance, but none of them spoke. Hopefully, they can help to get things back on track – whatever that means these days.

Sleep is a wonderful thing. Good sleep is even more mo’ betta. Once again, I woke up to a missed call from KSA - my commercial agency. In my drowsy state I checked the voicemail while my mind wandered about what the call might be concerning this time – an audition for this afternoon or something else entirely.

I knew that if the voice of the person on the message was that of assistants Leah or Stefanie it was most likely an audition or a callback. I also knew that if the voice was that of my agent, Alicia, there was a good chance it was “something else”.

Sounds familiar huh? Stay with me.

Last night was supposed to be my night off after working 5 graveyard shifts in a row – yup, until 7am. BUT I received a call from management asking if I would be so kind to come in to work for a 6th night . Me, the sucka who always wants to help, agreed to help out.

More accurately, me the sucka who needs to replace his 6 year-old Sony VAIO desktop computer before it completely freezes up and dies; looked at it as an opportunity to make a little extra cash. Extra shifts (and acting jobs) fit in with my plan to get a new laptop in the coming weeks or months. With all of the times I’ve helped them out at the job with picking up shifts it’ll be interesting to see what happens when/if I find myself in a jam and need someone to help me out.

Okay, back to the voicemail. Who would it be? What would they say? What is the difference between making a “brotha wanna holla” and making a “brotha wanna scream”? Again, I have chosen to keep it short.

It was 7pm on Wednesday September 22nd 1993 when I started my first acting class in Virginia Beach, VA. Wow, 15 years ago!!! So much has happened since then! All the way up to and including this morning. It was definitely a life altering decision. I admittedly wonder what things would have been like if I’d gotten along better with my father and never left home and continued to work in the successful family business with my brothers. It’s amazing how often I think about that. Don’t get me wrong; I’m happy enough here in LA and had a great time living in New York, but I have the best time when I’m with my family at home in the suburbs. It’s been a great 15 years and I anticipate that it will get much better.

Okay, I won’t keep what happened in that voicemail THAT short. This is what happened. I woke up this morning at 11am to get ready for my 12pm wardrobe fitting for “Cheetos”. On my BlackBerry was a voicemail message; turns out it was from my agent Alicia which was immediately concerning. I’ve booked 25+ commercials though her and there was no reason I could think of that she, in particular, should be calling me at 9:49am. The call should have come from production or the assistants at the agency, unless it was extreme news – good or bad, but any normal correspondence shouldn’t have been from Alicia.

The extreme news was that one person on the creative team for the “Cheetos’ commercial wouldn’t give his approval for me and that I had been “unbooked”. That’s all I really know. I don’t know if he had given approval and then revoked it or what happened, but I do know that I am no longer a part of the production of the national “Cheetos” commercial.

Wow.

I wasn’t quite sure what to say. I could tell that it was a very hard call for Alicia to make. She assured me that I should take full victory and ownership of the fact that I booked the spot. She also feels that with all of the callbacks and avails that I’ve gotten we, as a team, are turning the corner to many more bookings.

So that’s it. Just like that, after all that anxiety of getting to the callback from FOX studios and whatnot – poof, up in smoke. This is ANOTHER prime example of when booking the spot isn’t the whole story. Just because you book a commercial doesn’t mean you will get to shoot the commercial…I know from experience.

What to do; what to do…I could feel really bad about this happening to me on my anniversary or I can find the gem in the experience. I’ll find the gem. I look at it as badge that I wear and it’s a testament to the successful career I’m building. Simply, if I book enough jobs this is bound to happen; so in that sense I’m proud to be able to share the story. Now I need a drink! Isn’t that what the cool people do? I’m not and have never been that cool.

I could buy a new pair of shoes. No, that doesn’t fit either. I know what I’m going to do to take my mind off of this and at the same time celebrate my 15th year anniversary in the business – I’m going to get a new laptop – a MacBook this time. Today. Right now!!! Happy Anniversary Stephon!!

Audition: “Honey Baked Ham” @ Ross Lacy Casting. Ironically, this was at the very same casting office of the “Cheetos” spot. I stopped by Ross’ office and thanked him for believing in me and giving me a chance to make a living for all of these years. He said not to worry and that they’ll get me on something else soon.

http://www.stephonfuller.com/consultations.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hRX79E75yA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vMXinr1N9w