11:00 pm - Mon 2.27.2012
Second Time's The Charm

Had my commercial audition - for the New York Lottery - earlier today.

Since I wasn't looking forward to driving home in rush hour traffic from Santa Monica - and since it's my day off, and I had nothing but time - I decided to ride my bike.

(Had an anxious moment or two where I was afraid I hadn't given myself enough time to get there at the appointed hour - It's been a long time since I've rode my bike to SM - and it was threatening to rain. But I actually got there exactly on time...and dry.)

I thought I was auditioning to play one of the people trapped in a mall besieged by zombies - shades of Dawn Of The Dead - and I was kind of psyched about it.

(I actually thought it was a little weird - I know my casting well enough by now to know that in a "zombies vs. humans" scenario, they probably aren't looking to cast me as "human" - but the breakdown said I was going in for "human", and I took them at their word.)

But when I went upstairs - which was weirdly empty, except for Marvin (The camera-man) - I was told I was auditioning to be a "zombie", and that Jim (The Director) had specifically requested me (The reason I got the breakdown I did was because they hadn't put out a breakdown for the "zombies". I guess they just called in some "regulars" they liked).

I was a little disappointed, to be honest, but made the best of it; I slated, then Marvin had me do my "zombie thing", lurching at the camera.

He had me do one more take - coming into the frame this time before "noticing" the camera - then I did an end-slate...and that was it.

This is actually my second time auditioning to play a zombie - I went in years ago, for another casting agency, to play a zombie for a movie-theater "Don't use your cell phone in the theater" spot (I didn't get it) - so for my purposes, I'm going to change the old saw to "Second time's the charm".

And the thing about the Director "asking for me specifically"?

Not quite as exciting as it sounds; this is the director who actually cast me in the FedEx spot I did back in 2009, and I've auditioned for him a number of times since then...and haven't booked shit.

I don't know if he really likes me...and gets overruled by the sponsor, or he likes me, but on the day in question, there's always someone he ends up liking a little more, of if he's still holding a grudge from when I yelled at him at one point during the FedEx shoot, and is just fucking with me.

But whatever's going on, his asking for me "specifically" doesn't mean anything close to "I've got the job".

And I have to say this - I could play one of the humans in a "humans vs. zombies" scenario; yes, I'm clearly not going to be the hero, but I could be the guy who's scared shitless, or the bad guy who's caught hoarding food, or even the old guy who "takes one for the team" by holding off the zombies long enough for the rest of the group to escape.

I could play a "human".

After all, I am a human.

But for now, fingers crossed on my playing a remorseless, flesh-eating zombie.

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