Back in town and we are on strike. This is not good. I am not one to take commercial auditions for granted, but it made me appreciate them even more. It really showed me how much I depend on my acting income which, thus far, has been mostly commercials. One good thing about the strike was that I got to know my commercial agents a lot better. I would see them on the picket lines, out in the hot sun like the rest of us. Also, episodics are shutting down and it is just slow. I still have the manager thing on my head as well. Not a whole lot going on, just continuing with my workshops. I'm not making much dough at my night job... gonna have to do something soon to bring in some cash.

With Pilot season coming to a close, I was trying see how I could get seen more. I had been going back and forth with the manager thing. Now, I felt I was ready to really pursue it. I had been compiling info about talent managers from various sources for years and knew a bit of who was who. I had done a mailing a couple of months earlier with not much success. I did get a call from a company that asked for a demo. I don't have a demo, just a couple a commercials on a tape. I went and dropped it off and got to meet with him, I would have signed with them on the spot, but I wasn't far enough along for them. I'm tired I wanna go home, to Virginia, so I do just that.

Casting director Jerry Whitworth calls me in to be a reader for a film. I had just met him days earlier at a workshop. I had a great time doing it. Days later I get a call from my commercial agent for a "callback" with the director of the "Pizza Hut" spot I did back in September. "Callback?" I hadn't been in yet. It's only me and two other girls; they had worked for "Pizza Hut" before as well. We go in and do some improv. He tells us that he wants to make us recurring characters. WHAT!!! As I am leaving the meeting Jerry calls me to come back in for the director for the film that I was the reader for, I was one of 3 choices. It starts the same day as the "Pizza Hut" spot would shoot.

Anyway, 2 days later I and 1 of the other girls are shooting. We have our scene together with the lead guy and I was in the background in another scene. I'm thankful for that background shot, because they didn't use my shot with the lead guy. When the spot aired, and it aired often, you barely saw me in the background. I wasn't "cut out" even though you would not have recognized me in the spot. Those residuals helped me through the strike. I didn't get the film.

It's the first business day of the New Year and I already have my first appointment. It's for "The Time of Your Life", the new Jennifer Love Hewitt drama show on FOX. I'm going straight to producers for a couple of lines. Get the word the next day I'm booked. The character walks up on a murder scene. The next day is the table read; my first for a TV show. The cast is very nice and involved in the reading. A couple of days later I'm shooting in downtown LA in an alley with real, big, nasty rats!!! WHAT!!! These were the first rats I had seen since leaving New York!!! I didn't know LA had rats. Anyway it was good way to start off the year.

Today I taped my first voiceover in LA. It is for "The Famous Jett Jackson Show" I was playing the star for two episodes with hopes of doing more.

Things are pretty routine for me, a good number of commercials auditions and a few theatrical ones. One of my buddies tells me about a "Pizza Hut" audition in the valley. I had already done drop-offs over there and was on my way to Santa Monica when he calls to say I should check it out. I say "sure I have nothing to lose". I go back and scope it out and before I even feel it out the CD is bringing me in. Obviously I'm right for it. I sign in and he brings me in and I have good read and he says "that has callback written all over it", cool. A couple of days later I have a callback (my agent was wondering where it came from, they didn't know I went in on it). The callback is for a different spot and I am first to go in. The other guys already new what the spot was about, so the CD pulls me out of line and gives me the heads up. The call flows "smoove like butta" I get the call that I'm booked!!! We shoot at Sony Studios, they built a "Pizza Hut" in the inside one of the stages. It was so real. Anyway, it was a fun shoot. It didn't run too much I think I saw it once on cable, too bad, it was funny spot.

Back in LA finally!!! A 2 week trip ends up being 2 months, what a story. I've got my car and I'm feeling good. I don't go back to Old Navy, I just couldn't do it. I got a job in the valet department at The Standard a "Hollywood Hot Spot" on the Sunset Strip. At first it was interesting driving those expensive cars. I think the most expensive one was a Bentley that this guy had shipped over from London he said it was worth $500,000. It was customized to the nines, it even had right-hand drive. I have never driven a right-hand drive car, but I acted like it. I encountered lots of industry people.

After three weeks in New York I am back to face those other charges. My car is almost ready for the trip and I have two friends to drive across country with. I was a little skeptical about my car; it's a '89 Honda Accord with 165,000 miles on it. I just had to trust it; she never let me down before. I had so much stuff going on that my nose would start bleeding for no reason. I went to my other court date and again everything was dropped. I had everything I needed a new license, current registration & a new city decal. The judge told me that if I didn't have that new license he would have given me ten days in jail. WHAT!!!

Three days later I was on the road to LA. It was a great drive with my friend Patrick Mylod and former girlfriend Keilana Smith. Keilana and I had been on and off for some time. More "off" than "on" but we had always been there for each other. During the beautiful drive across this great country I actually started to feel that, one day, I will marry her. WHAT!!!

The moment of truth. I arrive in court and after waiting for 2 hours. I am informed that the magistrate gave me the wrong info. The correct date was the 26th. WHAT!!! So I decided to roll up to New York for a week and work at my old job to make some dough. Bless those managers, they had no idea how much they were helping me out. Obviously I wasn't supposed to leave the state, but "you gotta do watcha gotta do".

So I work for the week then go back to Virginia a few days before my court date. Here is where I really add to my problems. While working at the family deli with my brother & mom I get upset about something and leave upset. I decide to drive to another city and pick-up some parts for my car. I get stopped by the police. Remember that suspended license? Yeah. Oh Snap!! I'm thinking this guy is definitely taking me straight to jail for driving with a suspended license, expired registration and no city sticker. I couldn't get those things because of the "suspended" license. I received 3 tickets, but he didn't take me to jail. I also got another court date of June 29th '99. WHAT!!! I'm never gonna get back to LA!!!

A couple of days later I go back to court for the original suspended license charge and it is all dismissed. The only charge me a twenty-five dollar failure to appear charge. It was suspended by mistake. I left the courthouse walked a couple of miles to DMV and made everything legal. Yo, I'm outta here!! I blaze back to New York to work in the restaurant for 3 1/2 weeks.

This is the plan. I had "my" car back in Virginia Beach; it had been sitting in my brother's driveway for 4 years while I lived in New York. I figured I would go home; get it fixed and either drive or ship it out here to Los Angeles.

My "Ford" spot was running pretty well, but I made "high school freshman money" at Old Navy so I was living pretty low on the hog. A friend in Virginia Beach, John Dail, worked for USAir. He got me a cheap ticket back home. I was to leave LA on May 5th and return the 15th. When I got to Virginia a letter is waiting for me from VA DMV saying that my license is suspended. WHAT!!! I call DMV and they say that I have a warrant out for my arrest. WHAT!!! She says I have to go see the judge the next day. WHAT!!! "I had never been in front of a judge!!!"

I go to court the next day. After watching hours of cases being heard I was sweating bullets. They hear what I have to say and then I am arrested. WHAT!!! They give me a court date of May 26th. I am supposed to be back in LA on May 15th!!! They lead me thru the door that I had seen so many people go through.

The whole nine kid!!!

"Take out your shoe laces".

"Empty your pockets.........completely".

They search and document everything in my bag and then they put me in a holding cell with 5 guys and stainless-steel toilet. WHAT!!! At first I am tripping out and then settled into an observational mode. After 3 hours they handcuff me together with 3 other guys and walk us underground to the jail.

I was wearing a nice, pressed white oxford shirt to look presentable to the judge. As I was being led to the jail I untucked and unbuttoned my shirt to try and fit in, ya know, "look the part". It's all about survival baby! Then they separated me from the other 3 guys. WWWHY!!! I didn't know if I was better off or worse off. You always think the grass is greener on the other side. Turns out the other guys were going to jail and me to another holding cell. After 2 hours I saw the magistrate. My bail was five-hundred bucks. She also changed my court date to May 12th. As I was lacing my boots back up one of the inmates asked me why I was there. I told him and he said "man you look like you should be in college or somethin". I called a bondsman and was free.

DRAMA DRAMA & MORE DRAMA Remember that car situation I mentioned months ago. Well it was about to get interesting. Even though I knew quite a few people in LA I didn't really do much other than pursue my career and work at Old Navy. For one thing I was broke and the car kinda held me hostage. Often times I wouldn't even leave the house until work @ 10pm or going to a workshop. My life was closing in and I was feeling it. I'm a bicycle enthusiast, so I decided to go to a bike convention that was in town. I figured I would get off at 7am get some sleep and then go to the event. As usual I had ridden my bike to work the previous night. So I go out my car and it is gone. WHAT!!! Yep, it had been impounded. At first I thought it was stolen. I guess the expired Virginia tags caught up with me. No car in LA gotta think fast.

My commercial appointments are coming along fine, but those theatrical ones are MIA. I had a callback for "3Dfx" a computer software company, they had me on avail. The next day they called and released me and asked if I would do background work. I declined and my agent thanked me. The next day they called back and booked me as a principal. She said she wasn't allowed to urge me to decline, but she had a feeling that they were bluffing.

Back in LA and ready to rock & roll!!! I remember talking to one of my buddies about the lack of minorities on certain shows, particularly "Friends", I had never even seen the show. I knew it was set in NYC, but where were the Latinos, Dominicans, Blacks, Asians, and Indians, etc? Later that same day I get an appointment for the show. I booked a co-star on the show. My agent called me at 7:30 in the morning and said that they needed me at the studio ASAP by 9am I was face to face with Lisa Kudrow. It was my first TV gig and it goes down as one of the many highlights in my career. Being in hair & make-up with the 6 of them doing a line reading as the live audience went crazy was some kind of experience.

Back in New York City and it feels good!! Holiday season at the restaurant and it's busy. I'm making money; I'm auditioning a little and seeing my old friends. It was a very nice Holiday season.

I had to do something and quickly!! I wanted to go home for the holidays, but I couldn't afford to take off from work. Slowly, the "Ford" residuals started coming in. I knew I would go insane if I had to go through Holiday season at Old Navy for minimum wage. It was not an option. So I hatched a plan. I would go home to Virginia for Thanksgiving for 5 days, then to New York and my old job at The Harley Davidson Cafe for 5 weeks and then back to Virginia for a couple of days and return to LA on January 5th. With 4 phone calls I had both of my NY agents, a place to stay in Brooklyn with my brother and a full-time schedule at Harley. I had never had to scramble like this, but things were looking good.

With money running out, I needed a job. I couldn't work days because I was already auditioning. I figured it would be next to impossible to get night shifts in a restaurant, I tried unsuccessfully.

Finally I got a job working at Old Navy doing shipments 10pm-7am. It was not a good experience, but I was free during the day and able to do my workshops and study at night. By the end of October I was running out of my money. The "Ford" spot was starting to run, but I had not seen any money yet. Finally, I totally ran out of money. I specifically remember one night when I couldn't buy a soda at work....BROKE. The soda was .55 and I only had .45. It felt good though, I was risking it all for my future.

My car situation was a disaster. I had taken over Greg's old Honda (bless him) because, after all his show got picked up, and it was shooting in Hawaii. It was an older car and he would just buy himself a new one whenever he came back. After he left for Hawaii, it was still registered to him. The Virginia plates expired two weeks later. To be safe, I rode my bike back & forth to work. I was too paranoid to drive most of the time. I was having a rough time, but it was all good and did not lose my faith.

I left New York and had a layover in Chicago, I called my new commercial agent from the airport to tell her that I was ready to get started and she already had an appointment for me. I arrived at LAX @ 10:30 that night and had my first audition @ 11am the next morning. I had sent my photos prior to arriving so I could get started right away. In the first week I had 3 auditions and 3 callbacks. On the theatrical side I started with my number 1 prospect of the 3 TV/Film agents, they wanted to see a monologue or scene. The first week I was here I took care of that and the deal was done. 7 days in LA and I was fully repped and ready to go.

I returned to New York early for my callback which went really well. The next day I found out that I had been approved for the apartment. WHAT!!! This is really happening and fast!!! The next week I had ANOTHER callback for the same spot and I booked it. It was that same Ford v/o demo from months earlier it had turned into an on-camera spot. I put in my notice at work and with my roommates. I shot the "Ford" spot less than a week before I moved. LA here I come!!

JUNE 23rd '98*I arrive in LA with 6 appointments 3 theatrically and 3 commercially. The day after I arrive in LA I get a call from DBA for a v/o audition, but I was able to do it over the phone.

The next day my theatrical agent call with an audition, but it wasn't until the next week. Now my commercial agent calls again with a callback for a different spot. This cuts my 11 day trip down to five. I had not yet met with my target commercial agency, so I called them asked to reschedule my appointment because I needed to return to NYC sooner than expected for the callback. The assistant said she would "pass the word" (yea right); 10 minutes later she called back with a new appointment time. The meeting went well and they wanted to sign on the spot. I felt good about them as well.

Of my theatrical meetings 2 of them were about even and the other had me concerned about the "favor factor". It was my friend's agent, and they are really good, but I didn't want to feel like a "favor". They all offered me 2nd meetings when I actually moved here permanently. I looked at an apartment on Sunday and left on the red-eye that night for my Monday morning callback. While in LA my friend Marvin Bang made sure I got everywhere on time and let me stay with him. It was my birthday, June 28th, I had no idea that I would be living in LA 30 days later.

Again it is dead. Did I make a mistake in signing? Nah, it's just slow right now. Eventually, things got going with DBA and I was very happy, booking 3 jobs over the next 4 months. One of the first auditions was for a v/o test for what may turn into an on-camera spot. I booked the v/o and the producers were hopeful that it would be on-camera spot as well.

Commercially things were going well, but I couldn't seem to get many TV/Film appointments. I started thinking about bouncing out to LA; Greg was also telling me to come out. Early May he gets the word that his show is on the fall schedule and that he will be flown to New York for the announcements. When he arrives he tells me that his agent will meet with me if I come out to LA. The wheels start turning......I do a 50 piece mailing to agents, the calls started right away.