February 15, 2000
The wheels keep turning and I keep moving forward. I feel like at some point, someone is going to stand up and ask, "What is he doing? What kind of ridiculous choice has this guy made for this character?" I have taken it nearly as far as I can. Today five gentlemen went before the executives at Paramount Studios to be considered for Max. Only three will continue on to The Network. And when I say "The Network," I think we all know which one I'm talking about. They go by three little letters: ABC. I fear that being on a show for this network that doesn't give away a million dollars may prove fatal. On the plus side, though, I do think that they like me over there. Tomorrow will be an interesting day.
What about today? Well, I came over the hill from rehearsal on Movie Stars, so I was able to miss the early rehearsal that left some people with an hour-and-a-half to kill on the Paramount lot before the actual audition. When I did get to Victor Fresco's office (the producer) I was able to meet and run the scene with David Krumholtz, who is already cast in the pilot. That was helpful. And Julie Mossberg gave me a great note. I felt that both my audition and callback had been the same, just received differently. She pointed out the difference. In the audition, my MAX was a tad too fake, mostly because of the voice I was putting on. She felt that in the callback, they were able to see through that facade at different points in the scene and that made the character believable, likeable, and interesting. Good to know.
Once inside the office and reading for the studio execs, things did fall apart a little bit. The laughs were hard to pull out of these guys, so that through me a little. But whether it was that or not, I found myself stepping on David's lines. And not just one random line, but at least three times he was still talking when I started to speak. And then another three or four times, I let him finish his line and then I stood there silently because I was so afraid of cutting him off again. It was excruciating. I don't know what was happening to me. My off-hand analysis is that I had over-rehearsed my bits. I became so focused on the shtick that I wanted to do, that I forgot about the scene and the interaction between the two guys. And deep down, I think that's my biggest fear with this scene, and with this show in general. Can I make the relationship between me and David seem believable, likeable, and interesting? Tomorrow is the last step in this process. If ABC thinks I can, then I guess I'm going to have to.
Go on to the... Network
Test.