December 14, 1998
There was something about this callback that really spoke to me. Maybe it was the role: best buddy of the lead who is struggling to find solid footing in the dating world, with no help from terminally single Sam. Or maybe it was the dialogue, full of incisive monologues, sprinkled with cute little jokes. Or maybe I was just excited because my audition had gone very well and I had my career on the line in a role that could be fun to play. Whatever it might have been, I was quite excited as I drove over the hill to the Beverly Hills production offices for the callback.
All that changed.
The scene went so unbelievably awful. There were six other people besides the reader, who was the actor already cast in the lead role. Maybe three of them forced a laugh at my first joke. The next line that dropped to two. Finally, no one could make the effort to force extra air out of their lungs to generate a laugh-type sound. Even when they did, it was like a dying gasp for laughter, feeble and uninspired. They seemed very opposed to what I was doing. The scene was painful and I felt terrible about it. Or at least, I just felt out of place. They did not care to have the John Ducey persona inhabit the character of Sam. Simple as that. It clicked for no one in that room. Blah. Oh well. It will all turn out OK.
Go on to the second Callback.