A Working Actor's Lament (Chapter 42)

"A Few Good Men" Not Considered

Let me start by saying that if this blog comes off egotistical, that is not my intention. Anyone who knows me knows that my ego is in check, and if it ever gets out of check, my friends are first to put it back in that position. I hope that my frustration shows through stronger.

I was really looking forward to this weekend. There is a play that I have been wanted to do for a while now, "A Few Good Men", and there was an AEA (Equity Waiver) version in my neck of the woods, if the woods went for 25 miles to the North of me. I had my initial audition on Saturday and had to do a one minute monologue. The director said he liked it but wanted to see if I could take direction and asked me to do as a kleptomaniac. After a couple of lines, the director stopped me and told me that he was glad I came in as I was the strongest actor to come in so far. I thanked him and he asked me to come to callbacks on Sunday (today), then he asked me what characters I would be interested in playing. I told him Daniel Kaffee (the Tom Cruise role from the movie) or Jack Ross (the Kevin Bacon role). He said no problem and he would see me later.

I woke up this morning, caffeinated myself, and was in my car heading 25 miles North by 9:15 AM. When I arrived, there were plenty of actors in the lobby waiting for 10 AM to start the callbacks. I was called in first to read for Kaffee and did an alright job (a B in my book). I left the theater and went into the lobby where I heard the other 4 actors reading for Kaffee. I was then called back in to read for Ross. The director kept in one of the Kaffee's to read with me, then I was excused back to the lobby to listen in on the rest of the auditions. Then I started to notice that no one else was going in to read for Kaffee. The director had kept the same guy in while other characters were being read. And, I was wondering why the director was keeping this man in...he was not that good. Not that I was the best, but I did a better read then this guy, and there was another actor I saw go in who had a pretty good reading and he only went in once, too. I started to realize that the guy who was still in there seemed to know the theater pretty well, as he was making coffee and answering the phones before the audition.

I was called in about 40 minutes later and read for a smaller role (one played by Noah Wyle in the film) and then sent back out to the lobby to listen and wait some more. Then I noticed something else...the guy auditioning for Sam (played by Kevin Pollack in the movie) never left the theater area. I never saw him in the lobby. I took it upon myself to ask one of the audition-ers who the guy was who was reading for Kaffee, and he told me that he was the manager of the theater. Putting two and two together, I remembered the manager and the man reading for Sam were pretty chummy with each other. I told the monitor that I had to run to my car, I called Robin and told her there was no way I was going to get Kaffee.

After about 2 hours of auditioning, the director came out and said that the roles for Kaffee, Sam and Jo (the Demi Moore role) had been cast and if anyone wanted another role to stick around. I was still interested in the role of Jack Ross, but then I started to think about it.

1) Why would I want to work with a director who doesn't support the competition factor of auditions? If you know that you are going to cast the role and not keep an open mind to other actors, then don't put that role in the breakdowns and waste other actors time with the carrot that they are never going to get.

2) Why would I want to work opposite of an actor who is cast in the lead and is not that talented? Obviously, that actor is not going to put his heart and soul into the role if he didn't really have to work that hard to get it, and it could affect the actors they are playing against.

I know there is nepotism in Hollywood, whether it is in Hollywood California or Hollywood Florida, but it was so disheartening to see it up close and personal. And, as I sit here, I think "do I do the same thing?" I mean, I did cast my wife in my last movie. But, then again, I wrote the script with her in mind and didn't hold auditions to crush other actor's dreams.

I have decided to focus on my TV/Film career (since one usually doesn't see how good or bad the other actors are until the commercial or film comes out) and put my love of theater on the back burner for now. Once this bad taste has left, I may hit the boards again. But, trust me, I won't be anywhere where I can view my competition. Just in case.