5:11 pm - Mon 11.01.2010
The \"Shameless\" Shoot

Well, Shameless has come and gone...

(That's something kinda rough about being a "day player" - My whole life centers around booking these jobs, then when I do, it's over in a matter of hours...and I'm basically unemployed again. But anyway...)

My call time was 3:30 on Friday afternoon, on the Warner Bros lot.

I got there early, as I often do, only to wait over three hours before anything really happened (It took probably about five minutes to fill out my paperwork, and do the minimal hair and makeup that was required).

For whatever reason, that three hours was really tough on me, more so than usual - I remember thinking at one point (And not for the first time), "I really need to be more successful, so I can afford to buy some cool toys to keep myself entertained on the set" (I'd brought a book, but it's hard to read/concentrate in that situation, when you could be summoned at any moment).

So for a while there, I was kind of losing my mind. But once the time came to "do the thing", it was great fun.

I was nervous - I always am, to one degree or another - but when we rehearsed the scene for the first time, people were laughing, and I got the thumbs up from Emmy Rossum (And later, from Bill Macy, who made a point of introducing himself and shaking my hand - very cool!), so that did a lot to "settle my nerves".

(I don't want to over-sell how nervous I was - The up-side of booking these small roles is that you already did the entire thing in front of them at the audition, and booked the job - but I'm still very much feeling like each time on a set is OJT...OJT which is costing the production thousands of dollars a minute... So I have a lot invested in being a "quick study".)

I was slightly embarrassed, when we had that first rehearsal, that I had apparently missed a script revision, and did some lines that were no longer in the script.

But other than that - and a slight difficulty hitting one of my marks at one point (Something I need to work on) - I was pretty pleased with how it went.

Unlike some things I've done, where I really didn't have any contact with the Director (Getting my directions from an assistant), this time out, I had a fun sense of collaboration with David (Nutter), the happy feeling that I knew what he wanted, and was able to deliver it.

(The big direction he gave me, which I thought was right-on, and very helpful, was that I was "unburdening" myself to "Fiona" - Emmy Rossum's character.)

Speaking of Emmy Rossum, she was very nice - In addition to being a very giving scene partner, we had a chance to chat for a bit, which was fun, and when we were finished, she gave me a goodbye hug.

(I'm serious considering making that part of any future contract negotiation - "When my work for the day is completed, I will then be hugged by Emmy Rossum".)

All-in-all, it felt like a pretty big win.

And as I told Cary earlier, this is an actual little scene, not just a "walk-on".

Which, to me, means it's possible it could actually do me some good over-and-above the paycheck, whether that means the scene "pops" and they bring me back in a recurring role (My current acting wet-dream), or that I get called in for other jobs on the strength of it.

A guy can dream, can't he?

Off the top of my head, I can't even remember if I wrote about this or not, but I had an audition on Wednesday for an ABC Family show called Pretty Little Liars.

Because I got the call while I was waiting to hear about Shameless (And was starting to think I hadn't booked it), it felt anti-climactic to have that audition when I really wanted the other thing.

But sometimes, every so often, it's not either/or - Once in a blue moon, you get both.

I got the call a short time ago, and after a little uncertainty (Over whether the role would be cut, and when it would shoot if it wasn't cut), I got the confirmation that the role (of "Exterminator") was in, and I'm shooting it tomorrow!

So there we are...!

previous - next