Reading for a pilot for a television series.

So I made up my mind to call this big casting director that was in the process of casting a pilot for a tv series. I knew he had seen me in the play so I called and the assistant on the other end ask who I was and when I gave my name, to my surprise, the big cd got on the phone. I said to him you must know who I am as you saw the play that I was in. He said he didn't remember but to come in for a interview. I went on the appointment the next day and he said there was one character in the pilot that they had not cast yet but I was not right for it but why not come in for a reading. He gave me just the sides to the character and made an appointment for me to read for a couple of the producers the nx week. The shoe as I could see from the sides was a comedic cop show and my character was a pickpocket who works for the police. I went over these sides constantly for the nx couple of days and when the day came I was relaxed and prepared. When I went in the room there were about 10 people there including the 2 main producers plus this tv director from la. I read got a few laughs and left. I thought I did well and a couple of days later I got a call back. They asked me before the callback if there was some agent or manager that could handle any negotiations that may arise. I said I would have to think about as I still did not have much relationships with agents or mangers.

The play runs and then ends?

The play ran for six months. All during that time I did 195 performances straight without missing one performance. I went on wether I was sick or with a hangover. After a couple of months into the run it became like a revolving door with actors coming and going as different members of the original cast left to do other acting jobs and their parts filled by graduates of the famous CONSERVATORIES. It was amazing. I knew plenty of actors that would sell their souls to work at this theater but parts were given to upper middle class graduates of these CONSERVATORIES wether they had great talent or not. I felt very fortunate to be working there and as a matter of fact I thought I had made it in the acting business which turned out to be a huge mistake. The play finally came to an end but I had not secured an agent. I didn't care that much as now I was back on Unemployment and living the bum's life again. I thought for sure that the other big time theaters in town would bring me in as I had done so well , at least I thought, at the big prestigious theater. It's not that I was rejected by the agents but that I made no attempt to seek them out. Now I was not content to go back to off-off but waited and waited for the big call that was surely to come. After a few months of nothing I got off my ass and started to check out what was going on out there. I discovered that the producers of a pilot for TV that was going to be shot right here in New York, saw the play I did at the big theater. Well, if they saw the play they saw me and I was good so therefore I Will contact them directly without an agent which was forbidden.

The run continues.

The play continued on it's run and when it was reviewed by the major newspapers in town , it received good reviews with some of the cast receiving great reviews, while the major reviewer said of me that I "evoked laughter". I guess that's good for me, the other cast members received much more descriptive notices. Around this time I made some serious mistakes concerning my overall career. I still had no agent but I didn't care. I was making money as an actor and as far as I was concerned I had MADE It. I was in a hit off-Broadway equity show so instead of trying to parlay this into bigger and better things I reacted like a sailor in a whore house. This probably turned off a few people at the time but I didn't care or know what I was doing. I was , and I am not saying this in any boastful way, but I was stealing the show. I had 3 scenes, the first scene in the play where my character is introduced which got a lot of laughs. Then I came out in the beginning of the second act and audiences laughed at my entrance like they were glad to see me. Finally I came out at the very end and closed the show. What pissed me off at the time was most of the cast would get auditions for films and Tv and I would get nothing. The industry still was not sure about me and I probably helped that perception at the time.

Reading for a big film

One day soon after the play opened I received a call from a big film casting director. She called my answering service and left a message to call her.. I did and after several tries I got her on the phone. She asked why my agent didn't submit me for this film she was doing. I told her I didn't have an agent and she said why not are you nuts or something how come no agent has ever signed you. I said I don't make rounds and people come to me I don't go to them. Anyway, she made an appointment for me to meet the star of the film. The play was about tough guys from the Bronx so I was to be street. Now street was who I was. I dressed up for the part as the real tough guys that I knew from the hood never looked dirty burt actually were sharp dressers.
When I went in there were other actors waiting and all were dressed in torn jeans and leather jackets, each looking like a poor imitation of Marlon Brando. When it was my turn to go in, I mentioned that to the big star that even tough guys went dressed up for a job interview and that those guys outside were not true to the character. The big star seemed to like that and sure enough i got a callback to meet the director. The Cd told me to be more street for the meeting. Now I had not seen a script and had no idea who the character they were considering me for. So I went in with the opposite of what they were looking for. I played the tired street, the guy coming home from a long days work and just wanted to lay down. What I mean is, I played naive. The audition was in a fancy apartment in the heart of mid-town . When I went in I remarked "What a beautiful Place" like I had never seen a fancy place before and the director talked to me like I was there to fix the plumbing. The actual character was a gangster and I didn't get the part. I played down who I was, let me tell you I could kick all these tough guy actors asses. I am a vet. I survived the navy but here I made the wrong choice. If I could have seen a script and known maybe i would have got the part. I can be many things, I have many sides but I have to know what side to show.

The Best of Times

After this initial performance the rest of the run ran smoothly. The audiences were picking up on the play's light humor and I was getting real good feed back, mainly from the audience which now was in the palm of my hand. Here I was, a working class guy from Queens doing an Off-Broadway show in the most prestigious theaters in New York. I noticed some resentment from some of the people who worked backstage or in the offices. After-all these people have been kissing ass for years to get the opportunity I was getting without having to pay thousands upon thousands to go to CONSERVATORIES of theater. During this initial period of rehearsals and workshop I mainly kept my mouth shut and went along. But after the big producer move the play to a bigger theater, we received a raise in pay and now much wider exposure with all the big shot reviewers from NY Times etc. coming in to review the show.

First Performence. (continued)

After the incident with the security guard I went back to the dressing room as angry as I had been since my navy days. Here I am, making my off-off Broadway debut in a comedy and the security guard almost throws me out of the theater. Now this play was very light and if the audience didn't see the comedy, they would hate it. Anyway when I got back to the dressing room I wanted to go back and beat the shit out of the guard for ruining my debut. Luckily another actor was there and talked me out of it. I had 2 other scenes in the play but I can't remember how they went but looking back, it was my "exciting sense of authenticity" as one critic called a past performence of mine. After the show the other actors in the play and the director were very sipithetic to me and said it was a compliment, which it was.