There's happy news to report today - Yesterday morning, while training at the 9:30 a.m. Culver City Weight Watchers meeting, I got a call from my manager; I am "on hold" for the infomercial with John Cleese!
"What does 'on hold' mean", you ask?
Good question.
It could mean I'm it, and it's just a question of them calling Brett back with the shoot day (Sometime between the 13th and the 17th of next month).
But I'm guessing - In part out of "emotional self-defense", and a fear of "getting my hopes up" - that it means the same thing an "avail" means on the commercial side - You don't have the job yet, but they want you to keep your dance-card open...just in case.
Basically, that I'm "on the short list".
Emotionally, I find "holds" and "avails" a pretty mixed bag (And I wish everyone would use the same phraseology about this stuff, so I'd know what the hell people were talking about); yes, a "hold" or an "avail", or whatever you want to call it, is better than not being "held" or "availed", or whatever you want to call it. It's something you should be happy about and take pride in.
But I've had a lot of avails turn into a whole lot of nothing. And it's painful - To want the job as badly as you do, get that close...and then miss out.
But I'm going to stretch my "positive thinking muscle" here, because
1) There's every possibility I'm the guy who booked the gig.
And wouldn't that be loverly?
The money would be negligible, comparatively speaking. But the "brush with greatness" aspect of getting to work with John Cleese? Priceless.
(And...)
2) Even if I'm not the guy who ultimately books the gig, this still has to be seen as a "win"; Kendra C. saw me at a workshop, and I made enough of an impression that she called me in. Then I made enough of an impression at her office that I won "First Runner Up" for the gig (Too bad there's not a cash prize for "First Runner Up" in this case).
I'm now "on the radar" at another major casting office, which is "the name of the game" (Booking the job is great, but there's also something to be said for making such a strong impression that, even if you don't book the job, they keep calling you in for other things).
I heard about Paul Newman earlier today.
It wasn't shocking - he was older, and we knew he was in ill health (Diagnosed with lung cancer) - but it's still very sad.
He starred in some of my very favorite movies (Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, The Sting, and Cool Hand Luke, amongst others), and was one of only a handful of actors I admired as a person as well as an artist (How could you not admire him as a person? In addition to his impressive body of work, he gave about a billion dollars to worthy causes, even before starting "Newman's Own").
Selfishly, I'm sad because a fantasy of mine dies with Paul Newman - like all aspiring actors, I've dreamed of getting to act with my acting heroes.
And how amazing would it have been, being introduced to Paul Newman before doing our first scene together?
(As I said to a friend I just spoke to on the phone, it makes me want to send Dustin Hoffman some vitamins, or write a note to Robert Duvall reminding him to eat right and exercise...)
1 comment:
I, too, found the news sad about Paul Newman. He is one of my favorite actors - and usually my favorite roles are ones no one remembers. But I'm more upset by the fact that the media seems to take his death for granted. When Heath Ledger died (out of his own stupidity) we could not get away from the news. Paul Newman dies and I hardly hear a word. That's truly sad.
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