March 23, 1998
Last Friday night I had a Game Night at my apartment and in attendance was J.P. Not an imaginary friend I made up based on the character, J.P., from this pilot, but the "inspiration," if you will, for the character himself. The real, original, one-and-only J.P. The only difference between the real one and the one I had to audition for today was that the character in the show isn't gay.
There were other differences as well, thank God. The real J.P. is 5'6", 140 pounds, with very short, black receding hair. The script describes him, however, only as enthusiastic, gullible, from South Dakota. That leaves the door a bit more open for the strapping, young Aryans. But could I capture that essence that is J.P? And how the hell did all this come about?
The writers of this pilot are old friends of J.P.'s and also friends of mine from Harvard and some L.A. theater adventures that included all of us. They were the very theater adventures during which I met J.P. Little did I know at the time that I would eventually have to become J.P.
So did I? Well, Aline, the Harvard writer, was a very good audience. She chuckled a lot. (I always appreciate the chucklers.) Not much response from Nan Dutton, though, and the other writer, Jeff, wasn't there yet. Aline gave some notes and we did a scene over. It felt good but not like I had blown anybody away. And, of course, the biggest strike against me? J.P. would be there auditioning in about an hour. How do you compete with that?