Back in July, I had an audition for a role on NBC's Grimm. I was living in Seattle at the time and those auditions are about a 4 hour drive to Portland. I asked my agent if they wanted me to just do a self taped audition (most of them were) or would they like me to drive to Portland and audition live (which I did twice before). My agent simply said "You can do a tape but it is preferred that you go." Now, I'll be honest. The responsible family man in me thought just tape yourself at home and save yourself the day trip and gas and stay home with your wife and son (which isn't a bad thing and was an acceptable option for all parties involved). But then the responsible actor in me said GO! A live audition is always better for you as they can give you adjustments if they want to see more from you and what if they want you to stay for the callback, which is the same day. My wife was super appreciative that I wanted to be the responsible family man, but the main goal for both of us was to do everything and anything that would benefit my acting career as it effects my family in the long run as well. So she gave no hesitation in supporting my decision to go to Portland and give a live performance.
The type of role I was auditioning for also played a role in my decision because if it had been a 1 line "Man in Coffee Shop" role, I would have stayed home and self taped it. The role for this particular audition was for a FBI Agent that is questioning the main characters at a crime scene and had a great part with multiple lines and scenes. So this absolutely called for a live audition.
So an early morning start and a 4 hour drive later, I was in Portland ready for my audition! I get in there, do my thing for the casting director, and she says "ugh...ok...you might hate me for this..." I'm thinking oh well, maybe next time. She says "...but can you read for two other roles? I'm afraid they are going to think of you as too young for an FBI agent." Uh, YEAH I'll read the other roles! Went out for five minutes and then came back in to do the other reads. She said "Great!" And she sent me on my merry way. A very tasty Pork Belly Cubano from Bunk Sandwiches and two hours later I received a call from my agent that I got the call back!
This time I went in front of the Casting Director, Producer, and the Director of the show. They only had me read one of the roles. They thanked me and I was done.
About a week later, I got the call that I had booked the show! Let me tell you, it FELT AMAZING! I remember what it felt like prior to the call. In the past, I had done about 1 other live audition with a call back and 3 on tape auditions for this show. This time it felt different. I know after auditions, you're suppose to leave it at the door and forget about it. Not this one. I felt more that I would be surprised if I didn't get it. It wasn't cockiness, it was just a feeling that was strong. If you have booked stuff before, you know that feeling, because everything seemed to line up perfectly. Sometimes, it all lines up and you never get the part too.
Whenever I get calls from my agent, after having good auditions or being put on hold, my wife always looks at my face to see if she can tell if I received good news or bad news. This time, she knew it almost immediately. We were in the car on our way to a store and we pulled over and we both were smiling ear to ear and almost crying before the phone call even ended. I almost forgot all the info my agent gave me. It was a feeling of "Finally, I got one!" Prior to that point we made several life changes and sacrifices to be able to give more concentration to my acting career and up until then, it felt like maybe we took too big of a risk. We had just made the decision to move back to CA and this was finally a credit that could carry some weight on my resume!
Now the time has come. My first day was an early travel day to Portland with an 11am call time for a fitting. I got to the wardrobe department and got fitted with my clothes for about an hour. Then I got a call from the prop guy because my character is eating a sandwich in the scene and he wanted to know if I had any type of sandwich preference (that was kinda cool). I then had to go to hair and make up on the shoot location to get a final check for anything else like my hair style or glasses or no glasses. Signed all my paperwork and that ended my 1st day. I checked in to my hotel and luckily my best friend was in town for a wedding. So, we got to hang out and catch up. That was an awesome bonus!
The second day was sort of long. It was a night shoot which meant that it had to be after 9pm for the sun to go down. Again, luckily my best friend was in town. At my call time I met the production at the production trucks site. Now here was the cool part; I was led to my very own dressing room! It was so cool. Hanging on the bar above my "sofa" bench was my wardrobe with a little note on a jacket from the wardrobe department saying "...in case it gets cold. Love, Costumes". That little note really made me feel part of the team, it was nice. They had a print out of the shoot schedule and a copy of the shooting script for me too. Then it was to hair and make up. After hair and make up, me and the other actors were shuttled in to the set where we did a walk through and lighting check. As for a rehearsal, we just ran through it once with the director and that was it. Things were moving pretty quickly. After that, it was up to us to run the lines if we wanted to in between set ups.
There were 3 principal actors shooting that night. One in particular seemed to be a little quite, to himself, and maybe a bit nervous. I finally engaged in a conversation about his work and come to find out that it is his first big gig too! It was sort of the same situation for him as it was for me and the same excitement when he told his girlfriend that he won the role. I was happy for him and congratulated him. It was cool to be on this bigger set and be with another actor with a little bit of the same story as me.
Finally, it was time for my scene. They walked me from the green room to the set. Now, remember that sandwich I was asked about? Well on the they way to the set I saw a cart with about 15 sandwich halves. That made me a little nervous as my first thought was I don't know if I can eat all that but I sure can try. They sat me at my set desk with three techy computers that were scrambling with techy information, computers behind me, low lit room. I felt like I was Batman in the batcave on his bat-computer looking for the Joker. I got a quick run down of the scene again and a quick run down from the prop girl about the sandwich. Oh...that sandwich! That was a fun experience. I had to take 2 bites at the beginning of each take (about 8-9 different takes between the different angles) and then they switched them out after each take for continuity. There was one take where I took perhaps a little too big of a bite and as it was going down (it was one of those slow and dry swallows) and I nearly choked as I was saying my line. I wasn't gonna let that stop me! So I tried to continue and I ended up sounding like a grumbling Christian Bale Batman holding back a cough while telling Alfred he may have found The Penguin. It gave the crew a good laugh. I guess it was also a good thing that I had decided not to eat a heavy dinner as I knew I would be eating a sandwich in the scene. And then, the scene was done! I was thanked and I thanked everyone (ALWAYS BE POLITE IN LIFE AND ON SET NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOUR JOB IS). We were shuttled back to the production trucks where we returned the wardrobe. I even wrote them back a little letter too saying "Thank you. You guys are awesome!" I checked out with one of the A.D.'s who told me approximately when it would air. I couldn't wait to see it.
About three months later, it was premier time! It was nice; My wife had planned a little surprise viewing party with my family. She made a special dinner and my parents bought star balloons because I was "...finally a star!" I was only a little nervous hoping I didn't end up on the editing room floor. But there I was! It was really cool. And that darn sandwich? It never made the cut! But I am chewing, you just never see what on.
While watching the episode, I was also curious to see who ended up booking that FBI agent I originally auditioned for. The actor did a great job and I got to see what exactly the Casting Director may have been looking for, in terms of "look", for the role. She was right, I may have been a little young looking for that particular role and will now help me determine what I may need to present as my "look" for those FBI/Detective/Cop roles. You can always find something to learn from and make yourself better for it.
The whole thing was a wonderful experience and everyone from the Casting Director to the director and all the crew were amazing and nice. As far as an intimidation factor from the size of the production is concerned, it didn't phase me because of my experience on sets. If you get enough experience on sets, especially after student films and on industrial films and/or commercials, it shouldn't be big deal because it is all the same routine in the end. I hope that all of you have a wonderful experience like this on all sets, especially on your first big gig!
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| Michael Ochoa as The Tech on NBC's Grimm, Season 4 Episode 1 "Thanks for the Memories" |
Cool! Thanks for the story.
ReplyDeleteThank you Mike for keeping us all updated. That darn sandwich.
ReplyDelete