9:54 AM - Mon 07.15.19
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Probably shouldn't be doing this - should be doing laundry instead - but this "beckoned to me" while doing laundry did not, so...here we are.

Got back into town Thursday afternoon from shooting the thing.

(Wishing, both as a person and a writer, that I could be more specific about "the thing" - I'd like to fully share my fun news. And whether sharing an experience with a friend or writing a journal entry, generic stories are simply not the best stories - but I could get myself into legal hot water if specifics got onto the Internet, so "generic" it's gotta be.)

Let me start off by saying it was a banner week - It's been years since I've had two acting gigs in the same week (And these two gigs were, as a pair, way better than the last two).

Shot my second Shameless of the season on Monday, which was great fun and a nice episode for my character. Although it went on longer than I thought it would (which I should have known would be the case), so missed a commercial audition, Zumba, and had to push back the meeting with my new catsitter.

Left for the airport very early Tuesday morning - basically getting up in the middle of the night - because the first order of business was going to the studio for a fitting.

Very much enjoyed having a driver - I forget what the vehicle was. Some kind of fancy SUV - to the point where I've decided that, should lightening strike and I become extremely successful, a driver will be my second hire (After a personal assistant but before a maid or a chef).

They were flying me "business class" for the trip, but I'm so used to "economy" that I actually overshot my seat and got half-way down the aisle before realizing my mistake, having to fight my way back to my seat; between that and the flight being too short to serve actual food, it kind of "blunted" the whole "upgrade" thing. But I still enjoyed the idea of it (ex. Enjoyed being served coffee in a real coffee cup, and the snacks being a little "fancier". Because, at heart, I'm a pretty simple guy).

So from the airport, I was trundled over to the studio for my fitting, which was initially...weird; the pants they were having me try on were all crazy small - the first pair I couldn't fit over my hips - and they were trying to gaslight me that they were correct sizes (A 38" and a 40" respectively; for the record, I can currently squeeze into a 38" and comfortably fit into a 40").

(Turned out someone had mistakenly put the suit sizes on the pants, and I had not mysteriously gained 100 lbs during my flight.)

After that, it was fun; At one point, the song "Under Pressure" came up in conversation, they put it on...and we danced.

Then instead of the usual boring, static test shots of an actor in costume, they had me "in action" dancing about, which everyone got a kick out of.

Then I was driven to the hotel - a Hilton - and got checked in (Oh, I was also able to snag a spare breakfast burrito and a coffee before my fitting - Don't want to forget that important detail...).

I'd like to say "I got unpacked"...but I didn't, really - I just looked over the place, struggled, eventually successfully, to figure out the Keurig, then got sucked into a House marathon on cable (The digs were not as luxurious as when I went to Chicago for Shameless - that experience was "fancier", top-to-bottom - but I still just enjoyed the "idea" of it all) .

Talked to Jane R, who had decided to visit me during my experience (In part, so we could do a little video about it for the documentary) and was arriving later in the afternoon.

Then I went to a nearby Target to get some sundries (Some of my toiletries had been confiscated at the airport, because I still haven't flown enough to know how to do things).

Hung out with Jane when she got there, having dinner with her at a nearby restaurant we both enjoyed.

My pickup at the hotel the next day was at 9:40, which allowed for a nice breakfast with Jane.

From there, it was back to wardrobe (I'm still not sure if it's "wardrobe" or "costume", cause I hear both, but I'm going to go with "wardrobe" referring to TV/Movie stuff and "costume" being for Theater) I think because they weren't happy with a particular bit of wardrobe that didn't quite fit.

That took a little less than an hour. Then they drove me to "base camp", which was in some derelict industrial area that looked like where you'd take someone to get whacked.

I filled out my paperwork (Was happily surprised that my agent had misspoke regarding my shoot fee, and I was actually getting $250 more than he had quoted me), and waited in my trailer to get called to set.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Then had lunch.

And waited.

Can't lie - That was tough, and hands-down the worst part of the experience (And very disappointing, because I thought I was going to film my bit, be done by early afternoon, then have time to celebrate with Jane and maybe film the thing) - but eventually they were ready for me.

They drove me to the location, and I'd say within an hour of getting there - maybe less - I was rehearsing the scene with the other actors (Where, in spite of having gone over it more times than any scene I've done/auditioned for in recent memory, I immediately went up on my lines - most embarrassing...!).

Can't really say it was fun right from the get-go - I'd forgotten how lonely it feels when you're the odd-man-out on a set (And even if people are basically nice - and everybody was - they all know and are friends with each other, while you're just some guy they aren't sure about yet) - but eventually it felt like things got into a groove.

And I was pleased with myself for overcoming my reticience about asking for pictures when I asked for a picture with the leads...which, of course, I won't be able to post anywhere till the show airs.

The Director (Who, happily, is also one of the Executive Producers) seemed to be very happy with my work, which was good, because I was feeling a little uncertain about it; I'd auditioned doing the scene one way, and she wanted something different from me (Something I'd actually told Jane might happen), so I was glad I apparently got to where she wanted me to go.

One thing I was very happy about? I was glad I was walking in as a recurring on Shameless. Whether it really "meant anything" to anybody (Word had gotten around...spread partially by Yours Truly), it did give me a good feeling of "This is not my first time on a set. I'm not a nobody" (And there was a Shameless connection on-set - The Script Supervisor had worked a couple seasons on our show).

I did find myself "judging" this show against Shameless, in terms of how things seemed to run

At first I thought this crew moved at a slower pace than Shameless (Which apparently had a reputation for speed), but I think my view of things might have been skewed by the lengthy wait in my trailer - Take that out of the equation, and the scene we shot took a comparable amount of time to do as a similarly simple scene in the Alibi.

When the scene wrapped, the leads and the Director shook hands with me and that was basically that (Though I did enjoy having a little extra time to chat with a couple of the actors as we were driven in the van back to "base camp").

By the time I got back to the hotel, it was around 10 p.m.; Had a couple celebratory shots of Grey Goose (Apparently that's my drink now. And apparently I drink now), as I hung out with Jane for a bit before adjourning to my room.

The next day we once again had breakfast together (Where I had my first honest--to-God waffles in years, which were amazing) and did a little cell-phone video of me going-on about the experience I'd just had.

I'd woken up with a good feeling about the whole thing - "Well, that was a thing that happened! And now it's going to be a lovely credit on my resume, not to mention a lovely check in my credit union account!" - but I hadn't even gotten home before the thought struck me, "Okay, that's done - What's next?".

And for now, "What's next?" is shooting episode #1003 of Shameless (On Thursday and Friday - "Yay!" for two days of work!), and having Jane arrive in a little more than a week for more Acting Like Nothing Is Wrong shooting.

Nice to have other things to focus on - Otherwise, I'd very likely have fallen into a depression over the return to "real life" - but even with that being the case, I am really hoping that this gig wasn't it for the year.

This was nice, but it feels like a glimpse of a thing.

And I'm a growing tired of occasional "glimpses"; I want the thing itself.

I want success that changes things.

I want success that changes everything.

But that's a topic for another day.

Till next time...

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