My Frist Hollywood Paycheck!!!!

That's right folks.........I am officially a working actor.........kind of. Let me break it down for you. This may be a long and intensive post, but should be more entertaining than the last ones (just warning)

So, Monday (7/31) I registered with a Casting Company that books people for background (extra) work on television shows and films. I knew this was going to happen. I was too freakin bored and I knew I would get a job out of boredome way before I would get a job because of financial issues. The good thing about doing background work is that while it doesn't pay a whole lot, it's some good pocket change while I'm looking for an agent, and it's also neat to get on the sets of these major motion pictures and television shows, all while making contacts with other actors, directors and producers. People average about $100 a day doing this work, and the average work day is 8-12 hours on the set. A funny thing that happened was that when I was registering with this company, I had to fill out a form with all my info, blah, blah, blah, and of course I circle African American for race. I take the form up to the lady so she can approve my form. She looks at my form, then looks at me, and without saying one word to me, RIGHT in front of my face, she scratches out "African American", and circles "Mixed" on my form!!!! Haha, I know Hollywood is all about looks and what you can "play", but the fact that she didn't say anything made it funny.

With all the stuff being made here in L.A., there is plenty of "extra" work" and this casting company has been working me everyday this week. Wednesday and Thursday (8/2 and 8/3), they called me to be a paid studio audience member on the set of Deal or No Deal. This was actually a fun show to do, and it was entertaining, but I only could have done it for 2 days, and no more. There is A LOT of clapping involved while sitting in a seat for over 8 hours. They tape about 3 or 4 contestants in a day. Obviously I can't say what the contestants won or anything, but I will say something else. The set is very entertaining on commercial breaks and in between takes. There is a comedian type guy that tells jokes, has singing contests, dance contests, etc. etc. to keep us entertained. This is some funny stuff. There was one singing contest he had, and some lady got up there and sang a Whitney Houston song. She completely butchered it, obviously. But then there was this younger girl, and guess what the hell she sang!!! "Kiss the Girl" from The Little Mermaid. You know that song that the crab sings??? WTF?!?!?! Who gets up there and does that. It was sooooo funny. I love seeing people make fools of themselves. Never gets old.

Howie Mandel is actually really cool. He interacted with audience in between takes, talked to people, and he's funny. And he did something really funny on accident on the show. The contestant (a woman), was about to open a case, and asked Howie if she could rub his head for good luck. He said she could, so she did and then she opened her case. It was a really small amount, so we all cheered and all that mess, to which Howie then says, "Ahhh.....a little head is good!" Of course everyone was dying from laughter and then Howie realzied what he had said and it was that much more funny. So, to open her next case, the contestant went over to rub her husband's head (who is also bald), and her husband goes, "Well, you know, my head is bigger than Howie's". Again, laughter for like 10 minutes straight. That was a funny show and I hope all that stuff gets aired. There was one time where I was sitting right in front of the big dollar board and got a lot of camera time, so I can probably be seen. However, I won't tell any of you to watch anything (for me) until I have a speaking part.

So yesterday I got called to do a show called Dexter. This is a police/detective show that will be premiering this fall on Showtime. I played a detective. Again, I'm just background, but I was in a scene where the camera was right up in my face, so I know I can be clearly seen. Anyways, the main characters on this show are a guy from Six Feet Under (never watched that show in my life, so I didn't know this guy), a guy from The Sopranos and the girl from New York Undercover. Remember her? She looks really good in person. She's really young looking, and she's nice too. The scene that I was in, I was standing right next to Dexter (guy from Six Feet Under) with my handcuffs and gun on my belt, since I was a detective. It was fun, but I am mad at one thing. The casting company called me to work on the set of ER on Monday, and I was all excited. Then a few hours later they called me back and said that the people from Dexter wanted me back, so I had to do that. Ahhhh....ER would've been so fun with my medical background and everything. I was only going to play a hospital visitor, but still. Some of the guys on the set of Dexter told me about this other casting director who casts people for Grey's Anatomy. They said if I contacted him and told him about my medical background, and the fact that I have a white coat, stethoscope and some other tools, I could probably get something good. You know I will be all over that on Monday. I'm going to use my medical experience for anything I can here. It'll be interesting to see what happens.

It is good that I got called back for Dexter though, because anything can happen on a set. Scripts are always getting re-written and revised and changes are always being made. If a director or producer likes you, and asks you to have a speaking part on the show, even if it is just a one word line, you automatically get paid $600 for that day. That is the minimum daily pay for speaking roles in films and t.v. Pretty nice huh? There have been people who have worked as extras on these sets, and were asked to have a speaking part, and then got written into the script as a recurring role!!! It happens. That's why so many people do this. There's no better way to come in contact with the directors and producers other than auditioning. And even in auditioning, you have to read for casting driectors first and then get called back before you read for the directors and producers. However, when I do get an agent, I'll probably have to stop the background work because agents can call you with an audition to go to that same day. And if you're on a set working as an extra, you aren't allowed to leave the set, so it conflicts in that way. I try not to think about what will happen though. It's up to the universe. Whatever is supposed to happen will happen, as long as I'm doing everything in my power to stay productive and move things along.

That's all I have for now. Hopefully this was a little more juicy than some of my previous posts!

Later