Third Audition Of The Year

Audition #1 was a one-day guest on The Unit, where the LIE TO ME folks called me in. Liked me, but not for this part.

Audition #2 was the "Kevin James type" fiasco. Can I please have a mint to get that taste out of my mouth?

The mint came yesterday in the form of....

Audition #3: A protective father on [redacted]. (Shhh! They're very secretive over there). It's my first time at this casting office, and I hit it off with them so far. I have a callback for producers on Monday. Would love to do this; if I book the part, my character gets to punch someone and then get shot. How cool would that be?

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Basically the same content, but a little cleaner and meaner and cooler.

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For the Record

I am thrilled, thrilled, thrilled that the more moderate members of the SAG board ousted Doug Allen and replaced the negotiating committee yesterday.

Make no mistake about it, I feel that the deal the AMPTP has offered is a slap in the face. It sucks. It's grossly unfair. The lead folks at the AMPTP are bastards.

In other words, I feel SAG has the moral high ground here.

But despite those feelings I was not in favor of a strike.

I was in favor last year, when there was a chance of striking with AFTRA. Once that ship sailed, I was on the fence.

What got me off the fence and opposed to the strike was not the tanking economy, or fear of losing my own jobs, or pressure from various folks in Hollywood to play along so that the industry wouldn't face its second stoppage in as many years.

No, I was against the strike for one reason and one reason only: I had no faith that the current leadership could get a better deal.

I attended the open house for SAG members in West Hollywood back in December and found Doug Allen and Alan Rosenberg to be incredibly tone-deaf to the concerns of their membership. Valid questions about real issues related to a strike were raised throughout the meeting and were met with contempt, sarcasm, or condescension. What the guys on stage wanted was a pep rally, not a situation where they'd have to discuss their (now failed) strategy with the rank-and-file. There were lots of folks at the meeting who, like me, were on the fence, and with a simple reasoned explanation might have been tipped onto the "YEA" side. But Allen and Rosenberg essentially were saying, "you just have to trust us, we know what we're doing, just get onboard with us and tell your friends to as well." They were spinning us—exaggerating, sometimes distorting facts—spinning their own membership, the same folks who had elected them! And these are the same guys who alienated AFTRA, illegally tried to talk a soap cast into decertifying, the same guys who didn't get a strike authorization BEFORE their negotiations. Idiots.

I tried to imagine what it would be like in a collective bargaining meeting with them and realized I couldn't imagine anyone being able make progress towards a deal with them.

You only strike if you actually think it will lead to an improved contract. With these guys in charge, I think we would have likely had 3-4 months of no work, followed by the same deal we'd been offered—or worse. This is what most members of the writers guild feel was the result of their 4-month strike.

I'm glad we can move on. I expect the new negotiating committee to get one or two token concessions from the producers, cut a (still crappy) deal, and we'll all move forward. My fervent hope is that three years from now, with AFTRA and the WGA by our side, we can force the bloodsuckers to give us the deal we deserve.

In 2011 we'll have leverage. Right now we have none.

Loving Leah

Just for the record: The original title of this film?

Unorthodox.

Get it?

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Catching Up

In Brief:

• The same casting director who cast me as the co-star videographer on Lie To Me called me in for a sweet guest-starring role on The Unit. I was to play a dickish father who selfishly puts others in danger during a chlorine gas leak situation. An amazing part with a great arc. Great audition, made it to producers, did not book the role. But this office clearly likes me, so that's good
• Was also called in for a comic role ("Kevin James type"—aka the King of Queens) on a new comedy, Better Off Ted. Felt I had to make a strong choice, and did. Showed up to the audition to see a room full of guys who actually look like Kevin James (i.e., blue collar, balding, 300 lb. types). Realized halfway through the audition that my strong choice was not remotely funny to the casting directors. They were very sweet, but I tanked. Oh well. It's gonna happen. I didn't lose my cool, and I didn't apologize. Sitcoms are just not going to be my strong point
• Took Jody to Sundance for a belated surprise birthday weekend. Saw nine films in three days. Two of them sucked, one was so-so, three were very good, and three were breathtaking. Not a bad batting average. Park City was beautiful and amazing—I really want to ski there now. Bonus points: The entire trip is a write-off for me! Keep your eyes open in the future for Amreeka, Afghan Star, and Mary and Max.
• Lastly, saw the premiere tonight of Loving Leah, the Hallmark TV movie I shot in September with Lauren Ambrose. On the down side, most of my scene (originally about 3 minutes) was cut. Or "slashed" is perhaps the better word. Down to about 10 seconds! On the good side, I am still in the movie, and when I appeared onscreen, the entire theater cracked up. The sight gag is that good. Bonus points: the director apologized, said the decision to cut came from Hallmark (they were afraid it might offend). He's going to try to get me the whole scene for my reel. Yay! Loving Leah airs Sunday night on CBS at 9pm eastern. Reprising my Law and Order success of a few years ago (Bible Story), I once again play an orthodox jew. But this time I'm actually a rabbi:

LIE TO ME, Part II

Okay. Since I now know that two or three of you are actually reading this (Hi, CMB!), I'll dish the goods.

The reason I was bummed for the latter part of the Lie To Me booking involves the actual shooting of my scene.

As I discussed at length a couple years ago, and a bit in the former Lie To Me post as well, co-star roles are less about the acting and more about the plot advancement.

So after two days of hanging around on a shoot that seemed perpetually behind schedule (but aren't they always?), we got to my scene on the third day. I played a videographer who is reluctant to turn over a tape from the wedding because he wants to try to profit from selling it to someone. It was a fine little role, one that I thought I'd nailed at the audition, and I was prepared to have my small but fun moment in the sun as we wound down the third day. "Character" is too strong a word for a 4-line part, but nonetheless, I'd figured one out—a guy who was understated and crafty and quietly steaming at the situation. It got me the part, and I was planning to stay true to my choices for that reason alone—maybe flesh the dude out a little, but generally stick to what had worked.

It was not to be.

We got set up for the scene. The director came in, looked at lighting, looked at getting the shot set. Pretty much ignored me and the other guys in the scene. Did not even introduce himself, which I guess is not that unusual, except I'm used to at least getting a handshake. The first AD put us on some marks, and we got ready to go.

Fine, so far, so good. I don't need to have my hand held.

We do a rehearsal. The director come over, says to me, "no no no no no. Much bigger, much more BLUSTERY. He's waving his arms around. This guy's a tough New Yorker, he's basically losing his temper in this scene....Alllllllright, let's SHOOT IT!"

Now, I know it's my job to take the note and turn on a dime. And I really had no problem with his direction. It was a very different take on the scene, but it was a perfectly reasonable one and I could see how it would go that way. And he's got to make the story work for him, so it's his call.

But I would have liked maybe ONE more rehearsal. Because going from "understated seething guy" to "blustery arm waving guy with an accent" is more than a little pivot. It's a shift. And on camera, the way everything gets magnified, if I don't do it very specifically and precisely, it's going to come out like a bad Pacino impersonation. So I'd have liked a moment to recalibrate.

But there was no moment to be had. We immediately ran through about 8 takes. The new guy landed in my body somewhere around the 4th one and felt pretty good and organic after that. Ahh, but by then we were no longer on my coverage. So my best crack at this dude was during the scenes where the focus was elsewhere; and my most hamhanded attempts at him were the ones where the camera was on me.

I dunno, it might be fine. But it kind of felt like ass. And it reminded me, once again, why I prefer to do roles that get a little talk time with the director instead of these fly-by scenes.

If, when it airs, there's a lot of editing around me (shots of my hands, shots of the extras while I'm talking), now you'll know why.

Rinse and Repeat.

"Hey, I just overheard you say you moved here from Brooklyn? We just did too."

"Oh my God, there are so many people from Brooklyn here!"

"Where did you live in Brooklyn?"

"Park Slope/Fort Greene/Carroll Gardens!"

"Yup! Us too. And where do you live now?"

"Silver Lake/Los Feliz/Echo Park."

"Us too. Quite an adjustment, huh?"

"Yeah. I'm really not used to the driving/flakiness/sprawl/driving/plastic surgery ads/smog/driving yet. But we love going to Intelligentsia/Pazzo/Gingergrass. And you can't beat the weather/beach/sunsets. Plus, the produce out here is to die for."

"Do you come to this farmer's market every weekend?"

"We like this one a lot, but sometimes we go to the Hollywood/Plummer's Park/Glendale one."

"And what brought you here from Brooklyn?"

"Work."

[ed note: no one says, "I'm an actor" here]