The Finale - Damn it was friggin COLD!

Between getting my ass slapped around by Coby (which Julie is still pissed about, not that I got slapped by Coby, just that she didn't get to do it and call it art) and being tied to a table on the coldest recorded night of the year, I think I just might have pulled this Will character off.

I hope so anyway. Last night we shot the finale of the movie. It was the longest shoot of the movie so far, for me anyway. Normally when I am on set of a film or show, there is a lot of "stand around and wait", "go to holding and wait for someone to call you, hang out at the craft services tent, someone will be around soon", Not so much on a Ben Green Film, which by the way makes the day go by quickly, last night someone said, "wow, it's 11:00" next thing I know its 1:20 am and I am on my way home. After a 30 minute shower to clean the blood and make-up off, I crawled into bed at about 2:15 essentially ending my day that began about 5:15 am the day before.

It went fast, but it was friggin cold in the work room of the theatre strapped to that damn table. For one scene I had to (in the words of Ben) "Arc Blood", it took me about 20 tries with water before I was willing to "try" with the blood (I didn't want to make too much of a mess, waste blood, or look like an idiot, which I think was a total waste of time) I could just hear all the experienced guys thoughts . . . "friggin amature". Just kidding, actually everyone was very supportive, between Joyce and Coby keeping me cleaned up and keeping my shirt from riding up, I felt like a star there for a while. Anyway after all that practice we got the “blood arc” in two takes, so I hope it came out well and Ben wasn't just wanting to move on!
Will's fatal gun shot is another story, we had a Squib set up under my shirt using a technique Ben found on the internet, it was a really cool idea and it worked great each time, but because of over compression during my death scene, it resembled something seen in a Kill Bill film, blood just came spewing out of my body and actually hit the ceiling of the work room, they are easily 15' high ceilings. On film it looks like a geyser erupted from my chest cavity, Ben says he can fix it in post; I look forward to seeing that.

Rafael came in from Houston to play a part in the film. It was good to finally meet him, everyone around the theatre has been telling me since the day I started hanging around there what a great guy he is, and it was nice to finally understand what they all meant, he made it look so easy sliding in and out of character. He was a lot of fun to be around; I hope someday to work with him again.

One big thing happened last night, and I have to give her credit for it. Last night Coby made a comment about something that essentially ended my writer’s block of almost two months. I think I finally have a conflict for my character in my screen play thanks to her, now I just have to make it happen. Coby asked if she could be in it when we film, and I said yes, what she doesn’t know was that from the first night we read together, I started writing a part for her and was hoping she would want to take it, funny how all that happens. Anyway all in all it was a great night; I can't wait for the final product to be finished.

Will Is still Alive!

Well Coby and I have completed one of our scenes. About a week ago or so we met over at Joyce's Apartment and shot our first scene. Everything went great, and I figured out that I could crack her up a little with an involuntary facial tick, it was totally by accident at first, however now that I know, it is my little weapon! (insert evil grin here). It was hard to be a mean guy, fun, but hard. Coby is so cute and sweet its difficult to look her (character) in the eye and force yourself to want to beat the hell out of her for being stupid, I'm so not that guy, and the really mean scene has yet to be shot, that'll be fun. Joyce was shooting some photos (behind the scenes kinda shots) and I was hoping to post some up soon, but haven't seen any on any of Ben's blogs yet. Maybe soon.
Tuesday night Ben, Jamie, and I did some of my solo scenes (that sounds so wrong) anyway here we are clippin away, I'm taking drugs, cash and a gun out of my bag get throught that, and some guy just walks through the front door, we all kinda looked at each other like one of us should know who the hell this guy is and he says "is this 1102?, this isn't 1102 huh?" we all say no and he walks out. I look at Ben and said "good thing he didnt walk in here two minutes ago when I had a gun in my hand, and in character, He Would have freaked!" We move the shoot outside, and along the road and believe it or not it was pretty damn cold in a Tshirt in December at 8:00 at night.
Looking over Ben's shoulder at some of the shots I have to say I am really looking forward to seeing the final product. Ben has a really good eye and sees things in cool angles, I like working with him, plus he has no idea, but I am soaking up all of his experience for future use.....
With that said, my screenplay is still in a holding pattern, hopefully one night next week I can spend some serious time working on it. I have found that it is a lot like my music, it is going to have to "come to me" I can't force it, which is not like me at all. . . . .

Character Development

Probably one of the most interesting things I have done in a very long time happened last night. Coby and I met Ben at his apartment with the intention of working through a couple of scenes, but as we got started Ben asked us who we thought our characters were, where did they meet, how long have they been together? We spent the better part of an hour answering those questions and developing the "back story" that needs to be in place for our characters to react to each other. We never broke out the scripts (mainly because Coby and I both thought Ben would have some, and he thought we would bring ours, I seriously thought mine was in the car, but it wasn't, it was trapped at the office). Anyway, I learned a lot about the way Ben writes and his vision of the characters. I had a great time and I left there even more convinced this is going to be a great project.

Friday Night Lights

Well, Weds. came and I sat down to watch Episode 3 Season 3 of Friday Night Lights on Direct TV channel 101. As the party scene began, you can barely make me out, if you know to look, as the coach and wife make the drive up the driveway we walk in front of the vehicle. Once they enter the home, you can see me standing in the middle of the living room looking up and around at this enormous home, It's pretty obvious, and kinda cool. I am standing with a young lady with long blond hair and we are pretty much the only two in the room, its pretty obvious. Later on outside by the pool you can see me just to the right of the Coach , walking toward the camera. Anyway, My mom called the other day, I answered the phone, and the first thing that she said was " I saw you Four times!" of course she was pretty excited, as was I.

I found out the movie I was involved in last year "The Kings of Appletown" has had it's Sneak Premier out in L.A. and as I understand it was really well received by the kids. It is scheduled for a December 12th Release, As of yet I'm not sure if it's going to go Nationwide or just released in certain markets. I am looking foward to it, and have been trying to find a link to a preview, however haven't been able to find it.

I mentioned earlier about being cast in a new Ben Green film with a working title of "The Incident", I got an email a little while ago from Ben, who wants to have a rehearsal this week, so I am pretty stoked that we are moving forward on the project. It's a pretty cool story and should play well. I've been fortunate to work with one of the cast members, and had the pleasure of meeting my "significant other" during the read through, I really think this is going to be a fun movie to film.

My screenplay is at a total standstill, I am going to try and work on it a bit while Jules is out of town this week. I have a severe case of plot block. I have no idea where to take my main character, he's kinda hanging out there needing something to do, so I gotta figure that out. Once I do, I think it will take off pretty quickly from there.

Last Minute Casting

Last night my mom came into Austin for a business meeting, so Jules and I drove down to take her to dinner. We had a great night and great meal and had some much needed time to visit. We decided to stop by her Hotel room for a cup of coffee before the drive home. Around 9:30, while we were visiting, my cell phone rang, on the other end of the line was a casting director that I had never met. She was in need of a last minute addition to the following days call and cast me as a Funeral Patron in the new Claire Danes movie "Temple Grandin". It was a very small, intimate scene, with only about 20 extras and three principals on set. Let me just say that the whole cast and crew were Awesome, from the director to the drivers, everyone was friendly, and very helpful. Also on set with us today were Julia Ormand and Catherine O'Hara, two wonderful ladies. One thing that I will say about Clarie and Catherine both, they are as down to earth as any "stars" I have ever been around, during our lunch break, both grabbed a plate and sat right down in the middle of all 125 of the cast crew and extras to eat. That is not to say that Julia is not also very down to earth and friendly, I just didn't see her there during lunch, however I was very impressed with them all. The day started for me at 5:00 am to drive to Austin to make call on time, we finally wrapped the scene at just past 5:45 pm, It was a very long day but, well worth it.

Since I was on set all day, I had no time at all to work on my screenplay, which is coming along, but slowly. I am looking forward to getting a little further along on it, and everyday I write I "see" the scenes unfolding in my head, I just hope they are as interesting to everyone else as they are to me... till next time.

ScreenPlay

For those that don't know, I started writing a screenplay about a week ago. I have never done anything like this before, but have always been interested in movies, TV, and Theatre, so I challenged myself to do something creative with those moments of downtime, which in my situation are few and far between, however I am trying. Ben Green is a Central Texas film maker who has a new project shooting in November, has written a really cool script, and then cast me in one of the roles. I read his screenplay and was really charged afterward, so I decided to give it a try. It's coming along, slowly, but coming along... I am trying my best to write an interesting and creative script that will leave people feeling like they just got hit by a truck. I am becoming increasingly aware of my characters and their reactions to the situations I am putting them in. I am hoping that once it's done, we can shoot a short film and see what it looks like in real time.
On a totally different note, Friday night Lights called Monday wanting me to come in on Tuesday, and unfortunately I couldn't break away, I had too much to do, however the party scene we shot a month or so ago should air next Wednesday October 15th on Direct TV channel 101. Look for me walking up the staircase of a VERY LARGE House in Dillon Texas just as the Coach and His Wife arrive at the party. There are various scenes inside and outside around the pool during this Booster Party were you should be able to see us. It was a really great shoot and a lot of fun.

Day one. 10/08/08

A little over a year ago I began to fulfill a need that I had ignored just about all my life. Mainly because I had no means to persue it. When I was a child, often I fantasized about being famous, a musician or an actor, I wanted to act, but it was something almost out of reach. About 10 years ago or so, I decided to take matters into my own hands, I taught myself to play guitar, wrote a few songs, and recorded a CD. Thanks to some very talented musicians it sounded pretty good. I ran around the state playing every college bar, frat party, chili cook-off, and festival I could get my band and I into. I essentially went broke paying musicians, hotels, food, and gas to travel to shows. My guitarist/bassist/backup singer/road shrink Mike, was a real trooper, often taking the same cut from the money that I got, which was nothing after expenses. I met and married my wife and decided that the financial instability of the band would create a challenge when it came to trying to provide for anything resembling a roof over our heads, if she could be happy living in a 1985 K5 Blazer, I was GOLD!, however she made it perfectly clear, she would not. So I tucked my tail between my legs and got a job.

Flash forward 8 years to around July of 2007. One of our best friends Megan is an Actress, she got a part in a play called "I hate Hamlet" which Ironically, I can relate to, I HATED READING HAMLET in school! I thought "great another night at Community Theatre" I was very surprised, no, I was Impressed. The amount of talent on the stage that night was impressive, that's the best word for it. I NEVER expected that out of a Community Theatre. After the show we all went to dinner and I admitted to them that I always wanted to act. Megan made the statement that the Theatre is always in need of guys and I should just audition. Of course I said no, I don't have any training, I have no idea what I'm doing and those people are too good, I will just screw things up. After a few days of me saying "That looked like it was fun”, "I would love to do that." "Would they really give me a chance?" Megan and My wife Julie finally got enough and made me read for the new production of Arsenic & Old Lace. I went in and chickened out the first night of Auditions, on the second night the director did a call back for Megan and she told me I was going, of course when I got there, I had to read because the director needed guys in a big way. Long story short I got my first part in a Community Theatrical production, A small part, but a part, which to me was a really big deal, my first audition, I got a role. I had such a great time on that show, met some of the best people in our area, and extremely talented people at that, All of them were very supportive and encouraged me to continue to act.

There was an all female show going on at the theatre, and I had heard a rumor that the NBC Television show Friday Night Lights was looking for Extras. I contacted the casting office and put my name in the hat so to speak. About two days afterwards, I got a call and asked if I could be on set that Tuesday, of course I went, and learned a lot. We did the same thing over and over and over, but we were in and out in about 3 hours and got paid for a full day, so that was pretty cool. I was fortunate enough to meet some really cool people on set and apparently I made an impression on someone because two days after the Friday Night Lights Shoot the phone at the house rang, on the other end of the line was a Casting Agent in L.A. and a friend of someone who met me on the set of Friday Night Lights.
She told me she was casting a movie in New Braunfels, and wondered if I would be interested in being what she called a Featured Extra, an off duty Fireman and Marina Officer. Of course I accepted and began the daily 2 hour commute to New Braunfels. We had to be on set at 6:00 am which meant I left home about 3:30 am. The first two days I learned why actors make so much money. I got on set at 5:45am and pulled off set at 10:15pm drove two hours home to get up in three and a half hours to do it all again. IT SUCKED, after the second day; I stayed with my parents in San Antonio until the weekends. At first there were a ton of extras, over 200 per day, then a select few of us got the call to come in and do a 1 or 2 day shoot, when we got on set there were six of us plus the stars of the movie.
It was at this time we learned our role in the movie, we were the guys swooping in to arrest the bad guys for the finale of the movie. God that was awesome. We were all decked out with fake glocks and tactical gear, and racing around on police boats, it was a great time. I became pretty close with two of my fellow "officers" JP and Rob. JP has done quite a few movies; he was in The Alamo, Last of the Mohicans, Grind house and a few more I can't remember. Rob was the Doctor on the Pilot episode of Friday Night Lights. We get to see each other on the set of FNL all the time; they are a great group of guys and a lot of fun to hang around.

Shortly after the movie wrapped, Me, Julie, Megan, and our two best friends Will & Chris took a week long trip to New York City. Megan was the only person who had been to the City so she was the one in charge, which was pretty weird taking direction from someone who is 15 years younger than you, but she knew her way around the city, and the Subway system, she proved herself invaluable within the first 12 hours of being in the city. We took in some great shows, Wicked, Rent, Avenue Q, and got to see Bebe Newirth and Huey Lewis in Chicago, It was a great vacation, one of my top three. Ever since the day that I first met Megan, she said that she was moving to New York to pursue a Broadway Career. I was a little worried about that until I saw her eyes light up the first night we walked down Times Square, it was obvious, she was home.

When we got home, I decided I wanted to try a larger part in the Theatre. After being in New York, I was hooked on acting, completely and totally. The production of On Golden Pond was being cast at TCT, so I went to read for the part of Bill Ray, the son in law to the main characters of the show. I was so excited when Tim (the director) called me to tell me I got the part, and even more excited to learn at the read through that the lead role of Ethel Mayer would be played by one of the founding members of TCT and a very gifted actress who had roles in Robocop, Road to Perdition, and is very well known within the Chicago Theatre Group.

After On Golden Pond came Harvey... I was beginning to feel like somewhat of a stalker at the Theatre, but was assured that was not the case. I read for the part of Dr. Sanderson, Megan Auditioned as well and I knew she would get Nurse Kelly, she wasn't convinced of that, but I was. I was very happy when Tim called to tell me I got the part of Dr. Lyman Sanderson playing opposite Megan as Nurse Kelly. It was an experience I will always treasure, I learned a lot from her in that role, and a lot about myself. She may not know it, although I try to tell her, she became one of my best friends during that show, and someone I will always be a fan of. Megan moved to New York City in September after a three month stint at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. She has always believed that New York is where she belongs, after seeing her in that element, I would have to agree, I miss her terribly, we all do, but we are all so proud of her and I know she's going to take Broadway on a ride it will never forget.

The group of people involved in the Temple Civic Theatre are some of the best people I have ever met. They are thoughtful, gifted, creative, talented, and committed to being the best they can be. Each and every one of them from the actors on stage, to the props runners back stage are determined to produce the best show night after night. If you are in the Central Texas area, it is well worth your time to take in a show there, I assure you, you will find a talent unlike anything you would expect in a community theatre, and it will bring you back for more.

About three weeks ago, I got a call from Ben Green a Director who has written an original screenplay entitled "The Incident". Tim from TCT put him in touch with me; I went and read for the part, twice. It's a really cool script with an interesting story line; the role is one of the main characters. Last week Ben called to inform me that he would like me to play the part of Will a drug using slacker thief. I can't wait.