LA Blog #4

All right, I'm still getting used to keeping this updated so forgive me if I miss a couple weeks between posts... haha. What's new you ask? Let me tell ya.

It really blows my mind to realize how much money is wasted in the film/TV industry.  For example, last Monday I worked on the television series SHARK.  All I was to do is walk from a movie theater and cross the street for 2 shots.  There were already pedestrians walking the same path I was every time!  It seems to me that they could've gotten away with not paying 25 people to walk around for 4 hours and just let the pedestrians walk through their shots... oh well, I'm getting paid. No worries on my part :)

Now, the most exciting thing I have experienced working out here in LA so far was my very first costume fitting.  I pulled into the Disney studio lot (Yes, this is where Snow White, Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, basically everything was drawn), to try on alien costumes for the upcoming film titled RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN.  This appears to be a continuation of the classic series, and not a remake.  Billed to star in the film is none other than The Rock... I mean Dwayne Johnson...  So that sounds cool to me.  Its been years since I have read the books or seen the movies, but I do recall enjoying them very much.  I'm really hoping this will be shot inside of a studio because I am layered in a costume that is all black with a rubber mask and hood. This LA heat could do some real damage wearing that thing haha.

Wednesday of last week I started a small stint on an ABC Family show titled GREEK.  Now first off, the fact that there is a show about fraternities drinking and having sex and all on ABC "Family" is very humorous to me.  Now this day on the show I wasn't real fond of working on it.  It had a strange vibe that evening that I didn't care to be around.  However, now that I have done more work on it, I'm beginning to enjoy it much much more.

The weekend of course leads to more work at the theater, down two stories in Pasadena. Nothing changes there... 

Last Sunday was indeed spiced up by my cooking of some bomb ass meatloaf in my new slow cooker.  You better believe that.

Now, to catch you up on the week currently in order.  This past Monday I was part of what many refer to in the acting business as a "cattle call."  This is where they bring in about 300 people, and nobody really matters. All they need is a bunch of people to fill seats or make a crown, etc.  This was for a film called Seven Pounds, starring Will Smith, Woody Harrelson and Rosario Dawson.  I sat in a chair at a middle school choir recital in 95 degree weather for nearly 12 hours.  I must say I was getting a bit loopy near the end, but all will be well when that paycheck rolls in next week :)  Will Smith was not on set while I was working, but a very funny Woody Harrelson and an absolutely gorgeous Rosario Dawson were present.   Its annoying, but also quite humorous that all of those 9-12 year olds were making a dumpload more money that I am... whatcha gonna do?

I had no work on Tuesday which bummed me out.  I had planned on sleeping in a bit though because I had not done so in about 3 weeks.  However, my sleep was brought to a conclusion with a phone call from the casting service asking me to drive out immediately for a commercial shoot rush call.  A rush call is used when someone backs out at the last second and someone else is needed for replacement.  Now I was very excited about this, not only because it would be my first commercial and it would pay about double was I normally make, but commercials can be huge for a career.  Unfortunately she had to call me and tell me that there was a misunderstanding and that it wasn't working out.  I was bummed, and she felt upset herself about it and was worried that I'd be angry with her.  I told her that I was grateful that she considered me and that I appreciated all the work the office has gotten for me so far.  

This of course led me to having a day off, but what to do with it?  Greg suggested to me, "Let's sneak into Universal Studios Hollywood..." so we did.  He had done it once before so he kind of had it down.  I was a bit nervous but all went well.  Unfortunately the park kind of sucks.  They only have 2 rides in the entire park!  Very disappointing.  However, the Mummy Ride and Jurassic Park were pretty entertaining.  Normally they would have 3 rides, but the recently took down the Back To The  Future ride to begin building a Simpsons ride.  We'll see how that goes over...

Now, back to GREEK.  I have now worked a total of 3 days and it doesn't look like it will be stopping there.  They like to use the same people over and over as it wouldn't make sense to randomly have new people living in the frat house every week.  So, you could say that I am now an active member of Kappa Tau Gamma. Ridiculous. I'm getting to know the people on set pretty well and the crew folk are calling me by name which can't possibly be bad. (Most of the other guys are called "You") haha.  So, we'll see if that developes into anything.  If you are into the show, keep an eye out for me lurking in the background or playing pool or something. I should be in there often this season. Let me know if ya see me!

Now the weekend is here and I am back in theater again.  Nothing else planned for the coming days, but I suppose ya never know what could come up.  

Grey's Anatomy fans! My episode is airing on Thursday the 24th! I will be appearing in the scene in which the 3 leading ladies are out front of the hospital and an ambulance pulls up with Cheech Marin inside.  It may be my backside, but I should show up, at least briefly.  I will be seen in brown scrubs carrying a clipboard past the doctors and into the hospital doors.  Check it :)

In visitor news, it looks like DJ Snell will be making a brief appearance here in the next coming weeks.  Cassie Kendeigh will be stopping by for a short stay in the middle of May, followed by Leslie and Kevin shortly after.  Should be a very enjoyable month my friends!  Be jealous of those visiting me... and then un-jealous yourself and visit as well!

 Now, before wrapping up, I will post my top ten (for now) list of movies I'm excited for this year.  There will be some that I leave out mistakingly, but this is just an improvised list to satisfy your hunger until my much more in depth list is done :) Enjoy and take care!

10. The Incredible Hulk

9. Tropic Thunder

8. Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince

7. Zack and Miri Make A Porno

6. Star Wars: The Clone Wars

5. Burn After Reading

4. Pineapple Express

3. Step Brothers

2. Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull

1. X-Files 2

LA Blog #3

Hello again. Thanks for coming back to see me friends.

Last week was a very long week with my clocking in nearly 65 hours of work over 7 days.  I was extremely tired after getting off of work last night that instead of attending a benefit party for actors in North Hollywood last night, I decided to crash in my bed and watch Feasting On Asphalt with Alton Brown... 

Anyhow, lets recap the week shall we?

On Monday and Tuesday I had very early calls to set which made for very early waking times, such as 4:30am.  I was booked on the next spoof movie by David Zucker (Airplane!, Naked Gun), which is titled AN AMERICAN CAROL.  I believe I heard that it is due in theaters later this fall.  It has a decent cast for what it is, Leslie Nielsen, Kelsey Grammer, Jon Voight and Kevin Farley.  There are some other recognizable faces, however, I'm not sure of the names.  Most interesting to me of course was Kevin Farley. Kevin, if you do not know is the brother of the late Chris Farley.  I had never really seen him in anything other than a few brief appearances in his brother's and David Spade's movies.  He is a damn funny man.  Between shots he would joke around with the crew and background actors, which is something I have yet to experience and don't believe I will again for a period of time.   I'm not totally sure of the premise of the movie or his character, but I believe he is playing some sort of Michael Moore spoof.  The film is a spoof of A Christmas Carol and Kelsey Grammer plays Ebeneezer Scrooge... again.  I suppose we will find out if its worth watching in the future when the trailer is crammed down our throats every commercial break in a few months :)

On the set of American Carol, I finally met some decent human beings.  I met a very nice woman named Nikki, who had recently quit her job as a substitute teacher to continue with her acting career that she loves, opposed to being stuck in a job that she isn't passionate about.  I love it!  I also met a girl named Lisa.  She was so tiny that I had to fight myself all day not to ask her what her actual height measurement was.  She looked to be about 15 years old, but I knew Central Casting does not work with anyone below 18 years of age so I assumed she was 18-20 years old.  Eventually someone else asked her about her height and she was 4'10!  I couldn't believe it.  She hardly came to my chest.  Standing by her made me feel like the Big Show / Mayweather match up last weekend at Wrestlemania 24 (which, I won't bore you non-wrestling fans with, but it was Ric Flair's final match. Very emotional evening for those of us who did grow up watching him in WCW and WWF).  Even later I found out that she was 30 years old!  She called me youngster! haha.  Anyhow, 2 very cool gals I met there.

Next on Wednesday and Thursday, I went back to the high school homecoming dance via CSI: NY.  A lot of people say they hated high school and would never go back, blah blah blah (I do believe those people will be first in line looking for info to the 10 Year Reunion in 2012.)  I think mostly because it seems very fashionable to say so.  Either that, or I just had a damn good time during those 4 years, I don't know.  Anyhow, putting on my best suit and walking into the school "auditorium" which was decorated with balloons, candles, a punch bowl and the like, was very much a throw back to 2002.  All the girls had their dresses on (and some still had the price tags on them so they could be returned, just like high school!) .  I found it funny how most of the people that were cast as high schoolers looked to be about 35 years old...  Grease anyone?  Apparently there is some sort of murder that takes place during the dance and then Lt. Dan... I mean Gary Sinise comes to the school to investigate.  During the dance scenes we were instructed to... well dance.  Hands in the air kinda stuff. It looks good on camera, so I'm told.  Of course there was the slow dance as well.  It was very high school like in which all of the guys and girls scrambled to find who they wanted to be seen on national television with.  I met and danced with a lovely gal named Rebecca.  She was a California native and had been doing theater acting since the age of 15.  Very pretty gal, with red hair, which I am a fan of... haha.  Don't get too excited folks, she's married! She told me about her husband and that they had been married for 6 months and all that.  My young high school heart was shattered... hahaha.

Quick note: Gary Sinise was wearing thee largest platform shoes I had ever seen to appear as tall as his female co-star. Very very funny looking.

I also, on the set of CSI: NY, met a girl named Jen.  Easily the coolest and nicest person I have met in LA since my moving here.  This was actually her first time working as a background actor. She had plenty of questions, most of which I could not answer...  but we spend a good portion of the first day hanging out and talking about whatever came up.  She is actually focusing more on a music career than acting but is looking for some extra income.  I was actually taken by surprised to find that she was a contestant on season 5 of American Idol. I listened to some of her music and she is very very good.  She has recorded a cover of Jewel's "I Was Meant For You" and it is very very nicely done.  Jen was great company and I really hope to work with her again sometime soon.  

I wrapped up the weekend at the movie theater serving pounds of popcorn for 3 days... ugh.  I will get out of there. I must.

I'm getting a lot of feedback when I ask for tips on head shots.  They should be coming soon. I'm just saving up a bit more before I decide what I will look like for a good while here in Hollywood... As far as movies... I don't think I really had time to watch anything much this week...  Ah, I did watch David Fincher's PANIC ROOM again.  I did not like it the first time I saw it, but I feel with each following viewing, I enjoy it much more.  Very cool flick.  Ihope to catch Walk Hard on DVD this week, along with Leatherheads in the theater.  I am getting damn pumped about the new X-Files movie...  speaking of, my most anticipated list... I keep promising without delivering, but it is in the works, I swear hah.  I'm just trying to line everything up in order of which I am most excited about.  I will keep you posted!

Well, to wrap this week up, thanks for reading. I love seeing your comments back on my blogs so keep that business up.  This week so far I have been booked on SHARK, another show I have never seen before... James Woods is in it...  So, check out the links below and I will update you again as soon as I can.  Take care!

My new friend Jen's music Jenny Lane

An American Carol on imdb: An American Carol

Until next time,

Arthur