bloggie blog

Frequently, people tell me I remind them of Darrin Stephens on Bewitched. It’s confusing because Darrin Stephens was played by Dick York for 156 episdoes then by Dick Sargent for 84 episodes. Two Darrens, two Dicks.

Which Dick do I remind you of most? Links in Dicks’ names are to Google Images. Click, look, and weigh in via the comments.

Actors: If you’re new to town, or if you’re new to targeting commercials, you can turn to many paid online and print sources to learn who casts commercials in Los Angeles and where they work. The trouble is, these lists aren’t visual, and they contain long lists, while the reality is, that the few, busiest commercial casting directors do most of the work.

Take a look at this map I made over on the Google. It shows the busiest commercial casting locations in LA. This is handy information! But not complete. Some of these are drop-off friendly, others are not. Some good commercials do get cast elsewhere. But most commercial actors are going to one of these places whenever they get an audition from their agent.

Good luck!

Please leave a comment if you find it useful, or if you find an error.

All My Sons is going well every night and I’ve gotten some nice feedback, but last night? Well, I got a lovely compliment from audience member David Hartman, former host of Good Morning, America! I was gabberflasted.

My next stage appearance is in the great Arthur Miller play All My Sons. I play Dr. Jim Bayliss. I’m enjoying the rehearsal process, working with and meeting new people, and also working with my friend Lauren.

There are only 10 days till opening night!

I had my first rehearsal today to play the role of Dr. Jim Bayliss in a production of All My Sons, the great Arthur Miller play. More info will be forthcoming, naturally, but since today was my first rehearsal and since I speak first in the play, I thought I’d type up a snippet from the top of the play, including the last bit of prefatory stage directions into the first lines of dialog:

DOCTOR BAYLISS is nearing forty. A wry, self-controlled man, an easy talker, but with a wisp of sadness that clings even to his self-effacing humor.
AT CURTAIN, JIM is standing at L., staring at the broken tree. He taps his pipe on it, blows through the pipe, feels in his pockets for tobacco, then speaks.

JIM. Where’s your tobacco?
KELLER. I think I left it on the table.

I may wear a bow-tie. Stay tuned!

Careful readers of this blog know that I finished shooting my lead role in the indie film Look in the Mirror. Careful readers of this blog clearly have too much time on their hand, anyway, so I do not cringe to report that this weekend, we are spending two more days shooting some new scenes for LITM. These are scenes that were deemed necessary after months of ediiting to really make the movie work. Fine by me! Fun group, and I want to the movie to be as good as possible.

Today’s work is being overseen by this ever-vigilant butler, at the Calabasas house. He’s always been here, every day, at the house “I” own, but to be honest, I’m not sure he’ll be seen in the final cut. I wouldn’t want him left out, so you go, Mr. Butler!

As an actor, I audition a lot. Most parts, I don’t get. Most often, they don’t say anything and that’s how I (eventually) know I didn’t get it. I’m okay with that process. Sometimes they let me know I didn’t get it in a way that I very much dislike. I’m not okay with that, but I’ll save that for another time. Today I want to say that sometimes, every now and then, they let me know I didn’t get it in a way that I do like. Got one of those yesterday via email, after a couple of fun auditions for a local theater:

Hi, Kevin –

Joe Blow from Project XYZ, here.

I just want to take the time to let you know that you were not cast; but it’s basically because of the usual minutiae and not your work, which was nothing less than first-rate.

There were a fist-full of people like you we saw who really knocked us out, whose resumes we’re keeping on file — the idea being that we’re already planning where we can use you, we liked your work so much. I hope we get to work together then, because you really were terrific!

Thanks again for coming in not once but twice!

See you soon!

Best,
Joe

Thank you, “Joe,” for the kind message, and the fun auditions!

Article Four in my occasional series on things that many people in Hollywood talk about as if they weren’t true of other businesses or other cities. (For more, see Part I, Part II and Part III.)

Things about The Biz and LA that are not unique, #4
If you are over the age of X, you need to worry about looking younger

Sorry about the “X” factor, but it’s hard to put an exact number on it. Some say if you’re over 25, you face this concern in Hollywood. Same say 30. Some say late 30s. Whatever the number is doesn’t change the fact that there is a number where things shift statistically, and beyond that number the nature of finding work changes. Some find that number to work in their favor, but many do not. I could talk about age in the acting profession at some length, but that’s not the topic of this article. This article is about the fact that job seekers in lots of other industries face a concern over age as well.

My post today was inspired directly by a blog post titled Take 10 Years Off Your Image. It’s aimed at jobs that have nothing to do with acting or anything remotely connected to it — but how apt the title is. I think most people in Hollywood would like to take 10 years of their image. I know youngsters who wish they could do that! And of course, I have also met some people who do not feel that way because they know they’re in their sweet spot, and/or they are generally contented individuals.

Speaking of the latter option, one online job discussion board was discussing this article, and the following wisdom struck me:

These [ideas to take 10 years off your image] could be useful if you are desperate for a job and need every advantage, but another philosophy is simply trying to be yourself, with honesty and integrity — you might not land as many jobs, but you may be happier and more well suited with the job you do land.

Read the article. Now! Do that while I … uh … go to the gym. Okay, honestly? And that whole integrity thing? Okay, the truth is that I might just do a few pushups here at home instead. Or watch “Family Guy.”

When I was quite new to LA, I landed a lead role in a short film being made by Chapman University student Abiel Bruhn. Damsel was a 2-character piece about a guy that gets had by a young lovely. Perfect for me.

Abe asked me to be in another film of his several months ago, but I had to decline at that time. Last fall, he approached me regarding playing the role of Nurse in Anchor, yet another film of his, and I just completed that work yesterday. The nurse (murse) works at an institution doing cutting-edge mental work, and by cutting-edge I mean you may or may not want your tendencies treated at this place. It’s the kind of short film that should leave you with lots of questions. I look forward to seeing it!

I worked opposite Deanna Noe and Kristin Carey, who were great. Abe’s team was great. It will have a screening in Orange on May 1, which is also great — that’s going to be my week, what with my 24 episode airing 2 days later!

Several days ago, I wrote on this here blog about having booked a role on 24. Several days ago? Weeks ago. Last year.

But now the day has arrived. Now I can say, “I am working on 24 tomorrow.” Excellent.

Script revisions (they always happen, in case you’re not familiar with the TV process) have given me a much bigger chunk of dialog to memorize, it turns out. So no more blogging, I’ve got work to do!