Archive for April, 2010
Can you win an Oscar for performing in Steven Spielberg’s home videos?
Peek-A-Boo with Robert De Niro
Jason Lassen – Seismic Retrofitter
Jason talks about a scary moment while working a party as Winnie The Poo:
Age: 40
Jason is originally from “a farm in the hills of New Hampshire,” but has lived in LA for 18 years. He has worked as a seismic retrofitter for 6 years.
COMMERCIALS YOU MAY HAVE SEEN HIM IN: Long John Silver’s, Dunkin Donuts, Sprint, Kaiser Permanente, Geico, AAA Auto Insurance, Black & Decker, Del Taco, Sony Playstation, Milwaukee’s Best.
MOVED TO LA BECAUSE: “I wanted to get into the TV and film industry as an actor. But I like to do every aspect of it, I’ve done lighting, catering, wardrobe. I’ve done a bunch of PA jobs. I’ve done grip work. I just like knowing what everyone on set does. As an actor you sit there and don’t know what’s going on around you. But now I know what everyone does and I know how to stay out of everyone’s way. There are a lot of hard working people on set.”
BEST MOMENT IN LA: “I used to be in a band and we had the opportunity to open up for Smash Mouth. It was right when “Walking on the Sun” had just come out. It was just such a moment like ‘man we are playing at The Whiskey, so many iconic bands have been through those doors.’ It was just so much fun.”
BEST AUDITION STORY: “Auditions, when you’re in the room for those two minutes you ARE the character, you HAVE the part. But as soon as you walk out anything can happen, so I just move on. This was a call back so you’re that much closer. It was for Long John Silvers and they were asking me what I like to eat and if I was allergic to anything. I said, ‘nope, you put it in front of me, I’ll eat it.’ We were all laughing and having a good time. As the door clicks behind me on my way out the casting director walks out the other door and gave me a big thumbs up from down the hall. As this was going on the director walked out and said to the casting director ‘we want to book Jason.’ I was standing right there, it was so cool. The casting director turned to me and said ‘We’ll see you on set.’ It was the best feeling leaving a call back knowing that I had the part.”
WORST AUDITION STORY: “When you go into the room in a group its always tough, you’re depending on these other people who go in with you. I remember this one group audition where two of the guys just kept messing up doing slate. The guy who was running the session just stopped the camera and said ‘ok, that’s it. We’re done.’ I said ‘we’ll we didn’t even get to….’ and he just cut me off ‘we’re done, next!’ The casting guy opened the door and we all had to leave. It was the weirdest thing. Anything can happen at an audition.”
DREAM ROLE: “Working on a sitcom, I’ve been to some sitcom tapings, I’ve worked on some shows. It just really seems like that’s where I would jive well. Believe me I’m the guy next door, I’m the quirky brother who kinda screws up all the time. I could play the brother to Jack Black or Zach Galifianakis, we just have a similar look.”
ADVICE FOR ACTORS MOVING TO LA: “Take notes during an audition. Many times I’ve been asked during a call back to do what I did during the audition. I’ve booked parts that way. If you can’t remember what you did it might cost you the part. It can also help if there is a dispute over credit. I was working a Home Depot commercial and they shot 4 different reels of me. When it came out I was bummed because I was cut and only ended up in one of the spots…or so I thought. My Mom called me and said, ‘I heard your voice in one of the Home Depot commercials.’ After listening to it, I realized that it was indeed my voice. My agent called the production company and was able to tell them exactly what reel it came from and what we did before and after. A few weeks later a very LARGE check appeared.”
UPCOMING ACTOR: Jason Lassen
Look at what Jason found while working his day job…
You might recognize him from these commercials:
Check back tomorrow to find out what Jason does for a living……
RYAN HONEY On “Days Of Our Lives”
“What did you do? Make a pact with the devil?”
GO RYAN!
Hopefully the sands of the hour glass will create more time for Ryan on upcoming episodes
CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT RYAN’S PROFILE AT THE WORKING ACTOR
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Dexter LaRoderick – Go-Go Dancer
Watch Dexter talk about his man pillows and his dream role:
“I’m originally from Atlanta, GA but have lived in LA for 5 or 6 years now. Every year I’ve been out here I’ve been able to keep going. I’m still here I’m still working, which is good.”Dexter has been Go-Go Dancer for 2 years.
YOU MAY HAVE SEEN HIM IN: Budweiser commercial, Carl’s Jr. commercial, IHOP commercial, Tidy Cat commercial
UPCOMING: “I wish, but no.”
BEST MOMENT IN LA: “I was sitting on this roof at a party looking out over all of Hollywood. I’m with a Director friend of mine and it just hits me. I know these people, and these people are my friends. It was a defining moment, it makes you happy to know you made it this far.”
WORST MOMENT IN LA: “I was working for a restaurant and lost my job, my car got hit on the street, and I lost a new phone I had just bought all in the same day. I was living in this crappy apartment, just barely surviving. I would come home and there were rats, it was a pretty low point.”
HOW DID YOU GET INTO GO-GO DANCING: “The reason why I’m a Go-Go Dancer is because I was in between jobs a lot and this kinda fell into my lap. I stuck with it because it just worked. You want to keep the train moving you want to keep the wheels turning. It’s a small world, but a hard world to get into. It’s very judgmental”
ADVICE FOR ACTORS MOVING TO LA: “Come prepared and always want to be the best of what you are. You need to know who you are and what you are. If you’re the big guy, be the big guy. Don’t fight to be the skinny guy. Don’t fight to be the pretty girl if you’re not really the pretty girl. Look at yourself, make an honest assessment of who you are and what your gonna get, and go with it. Learn where you belong. Honestly, Hollywood is all about knowing your role. It’s a tough thing, all of us want to be A-list celebs but it doesn’t happen that way. You need to come prepared to be the best at what you are. So even if you are a chubby guy, be the best chubby guy. Your talent is important, but so is your appearance.”
UPCOMING ACTOR: Dexter LaRroderick loves the Jalapeno Burger
Watch Dexter talk about the audition that landed him a Carl’s Jr. commercial
Check out the commercial here:
Check back tomorrow to learn more about Dexter
Luke Barnett – Vintage Bar Group: Bar Manager
LUKE TALKS ABOUT THE POLITICS INVOLVED IN A HOLLYWOOD AUDITION….
Age: 27
Luke is originally from Maryland, but has lived in LA for 5 ½ years. He has worked at NoBAR for 4 years.
YOU MAY HAVE SEEN HIM IN: “Manswers,” “Grounded For Life,” Mama’s Boy, Saved By The Bell: The Musical
UPCOMING: Weeding Out, Thrillseekers, Hardcore Hearts, You, Only Better.
FAVORITE CELEBRITY SIGHTING AT WORK: “Sean Penn came in a few months ago with a friend of a friend. It was a quiet Sunday night, he hung out at the bar for about 2 hours. It was rad because in LA you see Jessica Simpson and all these people who you kinda don’t care about. But Sean Penn is like one of my top 3 people of all time. So, to have him come in made my week.”
BEST MOMENT IN LA: “I was doing a show called The Playground about 8 homeless runaways. I played a 21 year-old meth addict. The show was about these kids and their struggle for survival on the streets, most of them had been abused. I remember at the end of one of the shows I walked out and this woman from the audience was bawling. She told me a relative’s daughter had been homeless for a few years and had been abused. She didn’t know the subject matter of the show, she just came up to me and was like, ‘you touched me.’ It was that moment of ‘wow’ what we are doing here matters and has the ability to touch peoples lives.”
DREAM ROLE: “To play Elliott Smith in his biopic.”
MOVED TO LA BECAUSE: “I always acted. But I went through a phase where I wanted to start a non-profit. I always felt if I moved out here I could start one and create change. I realized I don’t have to NOT act to do that. If I could use acting to create social change, that’s the goal.”
ADVICE FOR ACTORS MOVING TO LA: “Be persistent, never stop. The people who would rather work a day job and do what they love for the rest of their lives rather than settle for anything else are the people who will have success.”
UPCOMING ACTOR: Luke Barnett
Deacon Conroy Drives a Mazda
Everyone remembers Deacon Conroy. He works at The Village Idiot and is an overall great guy. Check out this Mazda commercial which is currently airing.
Stop into The Village Idiot and let him pour you a drink, don’t forget to order the Fish N’ Chips!
CLICK HERE FOR DEACON’S PROFILE
Hello John Cusack
I wish I could take the Hot Tub Time Machine back to when this happened….
I think I would have freaked out if this happened to me.
Has anyone you admire ever come to one of your performances??
CLICK HERE to check out Miranda’s full profile.
Miranda Shade – Speech Language Pathologist
Age: “I play between 25 and 35″
Miranda Shade is originally from Athens, GA but she has lived in LA for 6 years. She has worked as a speech language pathologist for 7 years.
WORST MOMENT IN LA: “I went to sleep owning a brand new Jeep Grand Cherokee. When I got up the next morning the Jeep was gone. I kept thinking maybe I parked it someplace else and kept wandering around looking for it. When I got back to my house, I noticed someone had carved ‘I’ll be back’ on my door. I called the police and the officer said ‘We’re gonna write up a report and send it to you. In the report it’s going to say we came out to you. But we’re not coming out.’ My car was never found.”
BEST AUDITION STORY: “I don’t know that I’ve had a good audition, I’ve had luck. Maybe it was the eHarmony commercial. They just said ‘be a bad date.’ I guess I’m a very convincing bad date.”
YOU MAY HAVE SEEN HER IN: eHarmony commercial, Mercedes-Benz commercial, Motel 6 commercial, and a Gap commercial
DREAM ROLE: “Anything with Ricky Gervais”
ADVICE FOR ANYONE MOVING TO LA TO BE AN ACTOR: “Always have a roll of quarters. Always look at parking signs. Always have extra clothes in your trunk. You’re gonna be dressed like a nun and they are gonna call you in for a hooker with a heart of gold.”
Will John Cusack show up if you put him on your guest list every night?
Pamela Joy Walworth – Nanny
WATCH PAMELA TALK ABOUT AN UNCOMFORTABLE AUDITION:
Age: 25
Pamela is originally from Dallas, TX but she has lived in LA for 3 1/2 years. She has been a nanny for 2 1/2 years.
FAVORITE CELEBRITY SIGHTING AT WORK: “It actually happened today at my other job; I wait tables as well. Idena Menzel from Wicked was in. She was with her husband, which is also an amazing sighting because he’s pretty good looking. Idena was singing to her baby . It was just the coolest thing I’ve ever witnessed. It was awesome. I was actually taking an order from another table when she started to sing. I kept tuning out my table so I could hear her sing. They had to tell me the order like 3 times. I wanted to be her baby (laughs). I want her to sing to me.”
MOVED TO LA BECAUSE: “I was acting in Dallas for 2 1/2 years. It just got to the point where I wanted to take it further and came out here. I felt prepared and ready and was ready to tackle this dream. So I came out here.”
BEST MOMENT IN LA: “When my first appearance on a TV show aired. It was an episode for “GRΣΣK.” My parents were in town and all of my friends got together. Everyone in that room had been on TV before but they still took the time to make a really big deal out of it. It was really cool to have my parents there and be in a room with everyone who is important to me.
YOU MAY HAVE SEEN HER ON: “GRΣΣK” a web series “Life with Kat and McKay,” Agenda, Broken Path.
DREAM ROLE: “In a movie playing Rachel McAdams’ sister and Meryl Streep’s daughter.”
CASTING CALL: In-N-Out Burger
Do you work at In-N-Out to support your career as an actor?
If so, we’d love to talk to you….
