I BOOKED IT!

My friends, I come bearing amazing news!  

(drum roll)

I booked a national NOKIA commercial!  

Whew~ What an emotional roller coaster these past week has been.  Details.

First, I got called to audition for the Kaiser Permanente Educational Theatre Group.  At first I thought big deal, but after looking at all the benefits and compensation the job entailed I shut myself in my room for two days and solidified my monologue and 15 bars of a song.  Two days after the audition I was called in for callbacks.  The callback was nearly 5 hours long.  It was no joke.  The day started with an orientation with the entire creative staff of the company.  It then moved onto a dance section which was led by a severely over-weight, hispanic man who I thought would not be able to move the way he did.  I learned Fosse that day.  The severely over-weight, hispanic man was magnificent, and by the end all 30 of us that made it to callbacks had a new appreciation for Bob Fosse along with a new found respect for the severely over-weight hispanic man.  Then came the Improv part.  Some people really shined here, some didn't.  They cut 20 people afterwards and then stood the final 10.  We broke off into pairs and studied sides to perform them in front of the staff.  Overall, I had a blast and thought I'd secured a spot with the company, for sure.  From 1,200 submissions to 250 auditioners to 30 called back to the final 10 that made it to the end of day.  A few days later, I found out I didn't get it.  Needless to say I was pretty frickin devastated.  I was never so sure of an audition before.  Lesson learned... never say YES before the YES.

Now the NOKIA.  When I got to the audition I saw some familiar faces I've been seeing along with a good handful of other very good looking Asian men I've never encountered before.  Surprisingly, I wasn't phased at all.  I think I'm really starting to grow my audition skin.  It's becoming impenetrable.  Kind of.  While others were nervously shifting their weight, making bad conversation, I played it cool and kept to myself.  It was weird but even amongst these somewhat exceptional guys, I felt that I somehow stood out.  They were hands down taller, tanner, and better looking than I was but I just felt right being who I was.  Pale and red.  After the audition, the casting director had very little to say except for a quick look that spoke to me, "you will be called back."  That evening I got the callback call.  A couple days later I went in and did the same thing I did the first time around except this time it was in front of the producer and director.  A bit more nerve wracking but I stayed calm nevertheless.  I got a call from my agent later the next evening saying I've been put on STRONG ON-AVAIL.  Now I know what on-avail means but strong on-avail I've never heard of.  I'm guessing this means being a stronger runner up?  Well whatever it meant, I ended up booking the job.  Got the call today and I'm shooting on Friday!  I'm really REALLY excited and happy and then excited again.  I've seriously been praying so hard that something tangible would materialize from my efforts.  Audition after audition, callback after callback... all for just one measly day of work and then off to the next job.  This is the life of a struggling actor.  A life I would not recommend to any poor soul unless you really love the grind and the rejection like I do.  Only then does it become a manageable life.

In the words of Babe Ruth, "Every strike gets me closer to the next homerun."

I'll keep ya'll posted.  Much love!

Panasonic Commercial

So a fellow Panasonic commercial cast member of mine Jesse Lewis IV, whom you might remember as the "fat" model from America's Most Smartest Model, told me the commercial was on the Panasonic Japan Website.  I dug a bit and found it.  I'm not too heavily featured but recognizable nonetheless.  Check it out!

And if anyone is computer saavy enough to actual put it on some sort of a reel for me I will treat you to a delicious treat.  I'm trying to compile a commercial reel so... help a brotha out!!

http://ch.panasonic.co.jp/contents/01261/viral.html

Find Me!!

EURYDICE and ME

Hello loved ones..  this one's a long one.  PLEASE READ UNTIL END.

I hope you've missed me as much as I've missed you.  It's been an insane month.  A month riddled with emotional pitfalls accompanied with financial ones as well.  That's what happens when you commit 3 months of your life to a play.  It also means complete obliteration of a social life.  

There's a ripple effect that occurs when you agree to a play.  First, rehearsals are 6 days a week from 7-11.  When you're getting out of rehearsal at 11, no one's hungry and no one wants to wait for you to go home and get ready to go out.  And if by some chance you do make it out you leave early and sober because you have an early morning shift the next day.  And the only reason why you have this early morning shift is because of rehearsals.  And because there's no money in working mornings you leave work completely dejected and hungry.  So you're hungry and you look into to your wallet to see the whopping $30 you made that shift and contemplate what you can afford.  Jack in the Box it is, again.  Do this for a couple weeks and the result begins to form around the waistline.  You then begin to start judging yourself.  Slowly you feel inadequate and self-conscious which then bleeds into your rehearsal process.  Then you start to feel worthless because the character you're creating isn't at all where it needs to be at that stage of the work.  This sense of worthlessness then directly reflects back to your customers which make them feel uncomfortable which then results in a bad tip.  So you call up your friends to blow off some steam but they've planned an evening without you and are out of town somewhere because they've assumed I had rehearsal.  No friends, no money, no character, no life.  Excellent...  

Actually I kinda blew it out of proportion.  At first I just wanted you to feel bad for me but now I'm feeling kinda pathetic.  It actually hasn't been that bad.  Luckily due to Alex getting married, March has been the most eventful month in quite some time.  There was a lot of alcohol involved.  Vegas, the cruise, and the wedding = vomit vomit vomit = fun fun fun.  But srsly... I can't believe it.  Two down!  CONGRATS ALEX AND JANET!

Anywho... I'm here to plug my play.  Please come see it!  At $25 a pop it's kinda steep but don't fret, there are options.  

Option #1:  Come as a group.

The production staff is really really good about group discount rates.  So get a small group together and make it happen.  Give me a shout, PLEASE.

Option #2:  April 16th is pay-what-you-can night.

Self explanatory.  Save the date!

Option #3:  There isn't one.. just come anyways!

Here's the detailed info:

EURYDICE

by Sarah Ruhl
directed by Trevor Biship

 

EURYDICE, by Pulitzer Prize nominee Sarah Ruhl, is a bittersweet and off-beat retelling of the classic love story of Orpheus and Eurydice, this time through the perspective of the departed heroine, Eurydice.  After her arrant death on her wedding day, Eurydice finds herself in an aphasic underworld, where she reunites with her father while struggling to reconcile with her lost love, Orpheus.  As visually breathtaking as it is curiously charming, passionate, and heartbreaking, Eurydice is the play that established Ruhl as one of America's most inventive contemporary dramatists. 

 

"RHAPSODICALLY BEAUTIFUL.  A weird and wonderful new play--an inexpressibly moving theatrical fable about love, loss, and the pleasures and pains of memory."    THE NEW YORK TIMES

 

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND!

OPENS FRIDAY APR 10^TH!

April 10 thru May 16, 2009
Thursday, Friday and Saturday shows: 8:00pm
Sunday shows: 2:00pm

Plus a “Pay What You Can” night on
Thursday April 16

The Hayworth Theatre
2511 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90057

$25 – General Admission
$20 – Previews/Seniors/Students/SAG & AEA & AFTRA Members

Call Now!
323-960-7726 
or visit 
www.plays411.com/eurydice

For more information about the show, visit:
www.rangeviewproductions.com

The UROclub

OK seriously... The UROCLUB?  You'll see what I'm talking about.  Watch this...

Favorite moment: 0:19

"The UROclub comes with a towel and appears that you are just 

checking out your club."

HAHAHA!!

Oh man.. that's great.

Well, on an awesome note, I'm headed off on a lovely cruise to 

celebrate the wedding of my dear friends Alex and Janet. It's a good 

thing people get married from time to time. It's usually the only 

opportunity I get to get away from the hustle n' bustle of this ravishing 

machine called 'life'. My goal for this trip would be to find inspiration 

in the vastness of the ocean and to return a new man.

I hope I still feel small when I stand beside the ocean. And if one 

door closes another will opens. I'll give faith a fighting chance.  

And if I get a choice to sit it out or dance... I will dance.

I hope I daaaaance.

Peace, love and everything in between.

Pictures, Updates and Abracadabras...

What up peeps!

I hope everyone is doing just dandy.  It's getting a bit warmer which means it's time to get them unsightly hairs waxed and get a tan like a true Californian.  I take that back... I love hair so do what you want... I'm not waxing nuffin.

So I've been compiling some stuff to get my website up and going and I came across some pictures I took in August with Michael Roud and wanted to share them with you guys.  It was my first time getting "modeling" shots so I can't really take some of them too seriously either.  I won't be upset if you laugh.  Actually I encourage it.  Go ahead.  These are some I can stand baring so, enjoy.

I'm going to try my best to keep everyone updated on my goings on.  There usually isn't much going on so I don't think you need to anticipate much.  Nevertheless, I will do what I can to make my life seem interesting.

One little update... I am in a play called Eurydice which is going up mid-April at The Hayworth Theatre!  I'm actually really excited about this project.  I know it sounds like a classical Greek play but it's not.  It's a somewhat new, contemporary play that dabbles in the realms of surrealism which I promise will be, at the least, visually thrilling to watch.  It's a relevant yet absurd love story.  I won't divulge too much info but, check it out.  Seriously.  

Herrrreee them pictures...

Slava Polunin and Me

Hello friends and lovers..

First off, thank you everyone, who have in one way or another spoke with me and shed some wisdom onto my previous post about the "Asian Dilemma."  It's at these times where I find that people do care about the choices I make because ultimately, I wish for whatever I end up doing to push not only myself but the entire Asian community of performers forward.  I don't want to make it harder on myself than it already is.  

You'd be surprised by how many castings I find with directors looking for that "ethnic" part.  You know what I'm talking about.  And the more I see these the less sensitive I become to what that actually means.  Unless it's some biopic of some historic Asian figure or unless there's another Asian person involved in the creative process, the sides I receive of the character reads flat, one dimensional and culturally flawed.  And because I feel that I can bring more to an "ethnic" character than just that I submit for roles I shouldn't be submitting for.  Now, I understand that these auditions I've been going out on aren't big budget, Hollywood scale productions and I'm working with other newbies like myself so I probably shouldn't be too let down by what I'm coming across but, CMON.  If you're going to write an ethnic character into a film how about a little ethos that goes beyond knowing your roommate's best friend's sister-in-law who goes to school with this guy with once played little league with this half Asian guy.

That is why I've decided to begin writing for myself.  I know this is something I should've been doing for a while now but I'm sick of people just not getting me right.  I know myself best.  I know what I like and what I'm good at.  If Polanski can star in his own films than so can I.  I was never really a supporter of writers who direct and star in their own pieces but I now I'm wondering what in the world led me to think that was wrong.  Fear maybe. Because if it sucked it would be completely on me.  But honestly, I like to think I'm capable of good work and I usually take immense pride in everything I'm involved with.  I know several amazing actors, as well as an extremely creative group of people that can help me with any of my artistic shortcomings... so why not put us to use?  I'm doing it.

I'm totally inspired by this dude right now.  Slava Polunin.  He's a clown.  One of the best at his craft.  If you want to look him up, watch the clip of him with the coat.  He's got a show out right now that's touring the world called Slava's Snowshow.  I really hope it makes it's way back to the states.

Here's a wicked quote by him..

What Is My Kind of Theatre?
or
The Theatre I Love

- It is a kind of wedding cavalcade,
where I try to marry everyone to everyone;

- It is a theatre of ritual magic
and festive pageantry,
constructed on the basis of images and movements,
games and fantasies,
that are the common creation of the audience and the people of the theatre;

- It is a theatre which inexorably grows
from dreams and tales;

- It is a theatre of hopes and dreams,
full of longing and loneliness,
losses and disillusionment;

- It is a theatre which always changes,
which breaths spontaneous improvisation
and cares scrupulously for tradition;

- It is in the vein of contemporary
multi-layered synthesis,
on the boundary of life and art;

- It is a theatre that works in an epic-intimate alloy
of tragedy and comedy,
of absurdity and naivity,
of cruelty and gentleness;

- It is a theatre which escapes
definition and the unequivocal
understanding of its actions,
as from attempts
to usurp its freedom.

Slava Polunin

PS.. I think they started airing my channel 7 promo again sooo look out for it!