The Office

Thursday evening, August 20th, 2009

You may remember my mentioning in my last entry that I had auditioned for a role in the NBC Television series, The Office. The audition was on the 11th of this month. Today, I received an early afternoon email telling me that I had been selected to play the role. I read the email once, and thought, “well that can’t be.” Then I read it again and realized that is exactly what it” be”. The scene I’m in shoots this Saturday.

In many ways this defies the odds. While I am represented by a commercial agency, I have no theatrical representation yet, nor am I yet a member of SAG. Of course, this will help with both in the long term, as agents like representing people who have worked, and, also, by working in an episode of The Office, I become SAG eligible, which makes it all that much easier to be hired for another SAG production. It doesn't make the auditions any easier, but it does mean that when chosen for a SAG role it will make it easier for the production company to hire me.

I had a bit of other good news recently. I auditioned for the television pilot episode of a series about political campaign workers. I was chosen to play the role of the Governor of Wisconsin. It’s a small role and the character will appear in the pilot only, if the series is picked up. The majority of the pilot will be shot on location in Madison Wisconsin. It’s a non-union project with a modest budget, but the role was interesting, fun to play, and the director was quite sharp. I shot that scene last night, and enjoyed it immensely.

Friday afternoon, August 21st, 2009

I have just returned from my wardrobe fitting. The scene I am in is not being shot at the Sunset Gower studios in Hollywood where much of “The Office” is shot, but instead is being shot on location in Sherman Oaks. The "base Camp" for the location, is a schoolyard is full of about 15 trailers ranging from equipment and lighting trailers to wardrobe and dressing room trailers. I reported to the wardrobe trailer to be fitted with my costume (Yes, my character requires a sort of a costume….nothing garish, but a costume never-the-less). The wardrobe people were quite nice and a pleasure to work with.

Earlier today, I received the script via email. Each page had KREPS splashed across it in background style gray letters. All shooting scripts for most films and TV shows do that so if a portion of the script is copied or leaks out, it’s easy to see which script it was.

Once you have been to wardrobe and received a script with you name emblazoned across every page, you start to feel like you are part of the show, at least for one episode. I’m looking forward greatly to tomorrow. It should be fun.

Oh, and by the luck of the draw, the location where we are shooting (very near where the equipment and wardrobe trailers are all parked) is only five miles from where I live Sometimes you just get lucky!

Sunday Morning, August 23rd, 2009

Yesterday was a day that all actors dream of….a speaking role on a hit TV series. It was a day of waiting , as are all days on set for actors, a day of joy at being part of the experience, and a day of whiling away the time by talking with other actors, the two most notable being Kate Flannery who plays Meredith on “The Office” , and Rick Overton (a guest star for this episode), who has appeared in many TV shows and films. Kate was a wonderfully friendly lady, and Rick was as outgoing as anyone could be. Both were great people to chat with.

The director decided no costume was necessary so I wore a dark suit provided by the wardrobe department. The director, by the way, was a very good person to work with.

Doing this show just about concludes my first six months in LA. Besides The Office, I have appeared in roles in one film, one TV series pilot and one commercial. I have a commercial agent, a wonderful acting coach, and recently started taking workshops from some fine LA casting directors, with my next workshop scheduled for this coming Thursday. Best of all, I have climbed one steep hurdle for any new actor in LA, and that is to become SAG eligible. This first six months has greatly surpassed my expectations.

That having been said, there is much work to be done in the future. I said in a previous entry that to compete in the LA market, I would have to be a better actor in six months than when I got here. Six months later, I am a better actor. That means nothing if I am not a better actor in six months than I am now, and better still six months after that. Today was a wonderful experience, but it doesn't guarantee any future success. It is, however, a nice step in the right direction.

To the best of my knowledge, the episode of The Office, a part of which we filmed today, will air on October 8th. That, however, is always subject to change and I will give you a definite date before it airs.

Until we talk again…………………..