- Sat 3/10/12
Making Shit Up

Was at my friend Howard's place earlier this evening, for the first time ever, to watch the HBO movie Game Change with him and a couple of his friends.

It was fun (I don't think we learned anything we didn't already know, but Julianne Moore was very good as Palin, and I liked Woody Harrelson as well).

Anyway...

I know what the two or three of you who are still reading along want to know, and the answer is, "I don't know yet".

Got word from JS - On Wednesday, I think (Maybe late Tuesday afternoon?) - that I'm on "avail" for the New York Lottery commercial.

(That means I'm "on the short list" of actors they're thinking of for the role; we're supposed to call them first if another thing comes up, so they can either say "Well he can't do that because we want him for this", or else "release" me to go about my business.)

So anyway, Brett - my manager - used the commercial "avail" as a (reasonable) pretext to call the casting director for Friday Night Dinners, to see if he could find out where we stood (Regarding my big "series regular" audition).

And all he got from them was that they hadn't reached any decisions yet, and to keep them informed if I booked the commercial (Which shoots in NYC, sometime in the next two weeks).

Frankly, it was a pretty big letdown - When he called, I'd hoped it was to tell me I'd "made it to the next round" (Or even, as unlikely as it would have been after just a day or two, that I'd gotten the part) - but looking on the bright side, at least he wasn't calling to tell me I was out of the running (Or, as I joked to some co-workers at WW, that "We've decided to cast anyone but Jim Hoffmaster in the role. In fact, we're making it into a reality show - 'Anyone But Jim'").

Mon 3/12/12 (10:18 am)

Just got up a short time ago - stayed up late, got up late, and really want nothing more than to go back to bed...

Have a Chik-Fil-A commercial audition this afternoon, my third Monday audition in a row (The NY Lottery callback was last Monday, and the original audition the Monday before that) - I'm making note of the fact because it's relatively unusual.

We're getting near the "end of the first quarter" here, and I sure would like to book something - for my bank account and for my shaky self-esteem - and a Chik-Fil-A spot would definitely fit the bill.

(I've auditioned for Chik-Fil-A spots at least twice before, so it would be nice to finally land one. And I'm intrigued by the breakdown JS sent me, which said the actor "must like dogs".)

So at this writing, so far as I know, the NY Lottery thing is still open, the series regular thing is still open, I could still get a callback from the BMW audition on Tuesday, and I have Chik-Fil-A this afternoon.

I'm fast losing hope on the NY Lottery spot - I just feel like I would have heard by now - but there's no reason to believe the other things aren't still "in the realm of possibility" (And really, the Lottery spot could still be "in play" as well; their "shoot window" is 1-2 days, from the end of this week through the following week).

Clearly, it's a good thing to have a number of "possibilities", to have things "in play" that might go my way and substantially improve my situation.

It's certainly better than not having anything "in play".

But, being who I am, it can be hard not to feel stressed and anxious even when good things - or in the case of the series, possibly great things - could happen...because I guess "hoping for the best" leads to the possibility of said hopes being dashed.

(10:30 pm)

The Chik-Fil-A audition seemed to go well this afternoon (I can't say very much about it, because there was a non-disclosure agreement thing posted by the sign-in sheet).

It was at Kathy Knowles, the same as the NY Lottery audition.

So when Bobby S. (who was running the audition) asked if I'd booked the NY Lottery gig, and I told him I was on avail, he said he could find out if that was still the case, if I wanted.

I wanted.

And it was as I suspected - I did not book the spot.

Even though I'd kind of figured as much, I was still disappointed.

The loss puts something of a dent in my sunny outlook about the two "possibles" still in play - The BMW commercial, and of course, the series.

(Today's audition, as I said, went well - I think callbacks are supposed to be a week from tomorrow - so for now, I'm hopeful.)

I don't really care about the BMW thing as an "acting thing" - It's just another "Depressed Guy" bit, and more of a visual punchline than anything - but I do care about the money, since my Progressive spot has proven to be (yet another) dud (It's already stopped running on tv), I don't know when Austin and Ally or Shameless are starting back up (Or how involved I'll be when they do), and I'm still in limbo on Friday Night Dinners (And the longer I'm "in limbo", the harder time I'll have convincing myself it's going to ultimately go my way).

Weds 3/14/12 (11:45 pm)

Still nothing on the series...

The audition was a week ago yesterday.

I have no experience in this sort of thing, but common sense suggests that deciding who's going to be in your tv show on an ongoing basis might be a bigger decision than casting a one-line co-star role, and thus might take a little more time.

So while the wait is a little crazy-making, it seems premature to assume it's not "going my way" because of said wait...though that is my natural inclination.

I have to just tell myself - quite reasonably really - that since this is my first time with this process (I'm not counting the "Annoying Orange" thing), any effort on my part to "control and predict" here is just me "making shit up".

Even more than usual.

In one regard, I'm in a pretty decent position as I wait for this thing to be decided - I've had commercial auditions for the NY Lottery, BMW, and Chik-fil-a, and am going in on Friday for a co-star audition for "The Untitled Louis CK/Spike Ferenstein Project" (Fairly stoked about that last thing, cause I'm a big Louis CK fan).

So while the series is "The Biggest Deal" career-wise, it's not the only deal; it's nice to have these little distractions, to prevent me from obsessing over the series more than I already am.

And nice to have Howard as well - In addition to our regular movie-going excursions, recently I went over to his place to watch the HBO movie Game Change with him and a few of his other friends.

And yesterday we checked out a free movie-costume exhibit at a downtown museum (With his friend Nathaniel...who I guess is my friend too, at this point), then Howard and I met up with Donald (Who we both know from Arclight days) and Donald's very cute girlfriend, to watch a free screening of Quadrophenia at the NoHo 7.

I like that we're starting to explore some free entertainment options (Hard to make anything we do completely free - we usually get coffee and/or something to eat when we hang out, and if we're going to the NoHo 7, there's the cost of the Metro - but I like when at least "the main event" isn't costing me anything).

In addition to whatever's going through my head regarding Friday Night Dinners (And wondering what life will be like if I actually get the thing I've wanted since I came out here eleven years ago - namely a series), there's just that drumbeat of needing something to happen, because money keeps getting spent, and bills keep needing to be paid.

Well, something will happen...

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