INT. LIVING ROOM; GANGSTA'S PARADISE PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND

Did you watch CSI:NY on Wed. (12/14)? If you did, you might have seen a split second of me at 37:52 from the top of the show! Wow, my first 0.5 seconds on TV. Yeah! It was in a flashback scene. To find it you have to be patient. The fat hairy dude gets kicked into the pool; the next shot is him getting up out of the pool; the next shot is some guys jeering in mainly red clothing; the next shot is ME on the left hand side in a brownis-greyish shirt (there's another guy to my left; camera right). I was laughing and holding a beer. Nice! Not much, but its the little things in life right? There was another scene in the beginning of the show, but I didn't positively see me. Man, they edit those scenes real fast huh?

In the weeks since I last updated I've auditioned for two parts. I've submitted for hundreds! But that's how it is around here. One was for a short student film at Loyola Marymount University in which I was to play a man frustrated with life, searching for answers, when a person that could help me was right under my nose. The audition was actually very intense, especially for a student film. A two-minute prepared monologue, sides from the script, an improv, and an ice cold monologue from the script (ice cold read: the script is handed to you and you do it on the spot w/o having looked at it; cold read: 10-15 minutes to prepare). The second audition was for a History Channel show about Pirates. The character I auditioned for was Jack Rackham, a pirate most notable for having two women pirates on his ship. I got the sides and had 2 days to prepare. Had to have an authentic British accent, which I got down pretty well. Went into a taped audition and gave it to them and did a really good job. After the first run of it, the director said, "I hated it; a few parts I liked but most of it I hated. You have to understand that mutinies on ships were NO BIG DEAL (captilized for my emphasis). You're playing this way too big." So we did it again, in a nice mutiny-is-no-big-deal sort of way. The director liked it. After talking with my dad, who I would say is very knowledgable on this subject (he was the writer and producer of a radio program exactly about this stuff, The Legends of El Dorado), I found that I indeed had the right idea about the character. But all directors are different and have their own way of telling a story. Ended up not getting it, nor the other student film part. 2 down in the count to booking one! That's how I'm thinking (got to think that way).

If you didn't notice, my stage name is a pirate. Captain William Kidd. Except most people associate my stage name (smugly) with Billy the Kid, who is actually William H. Bonney. The astute mind might figure out why I chose the name though. I'm becoming known as "The Kid" or "Kid" at the acting studio. They got it wrong, but at least the name is sticking in people's minds. Marketing... Reminds me of "Boy", the name my grandmother made for me. The pic is not recent, but I thought it fitting. If I were a pirate, I guess I would be Redbeard. I'm so funny...

I regularly go to casting director (cd) workshops about 4 times a week where you do a scene for a cd of a particular tv show, film, etc... I'm getting a lot better feedback each time, and learning what they look for. The biggest thing that I've found that they like is CONFIDENCE! If you own the room, even if you're a little cocky, they love that! Before I got here, I thought of the casting process as more of a popularity contest or the cd wants you to do bad so it's easier for them to cast. It's quite the opposite though. They want you to do really well. They want you to be able to go in front of the producers and make THEM look good. Thinking of it in that way has helped me. I'm still getting the TX accent, non SAG, and no agent feedback though. Just got to keep working at it.

I joined Ivana Chubbick's scene study class last night. She's one of the most respected acting coaches in the land having taught Brad Pitt, Charlize Theron, Halle Berry and a lot of others. I was sitting in the studio chairs wondering if Charlize had sat there. I audited her class and was really impressed with her insight into the characters. Anyway, I didn't audition for her, she just looked at my resume and placed me in her introductory class. That class as well as the advanced class are not taught by her. She only teaches the third level, masters class. I wanted to say "Shouldn't I be in a higher class?", but didn't. She knows what she's doing, although I trust that I will do well and excel rapidly to be able to work with her personally. She said hard work is the characteristic that most applies to the ones who have made it in the business. She also said that most actors don't work hard. Brad Pitt supposedly annoyed many actors he studied with because they didn't wanted to rehearse as much as he did. I guess I will be annoying people too.

Besides the day to day submissions and stuff above, that's about it right now for the acting biz. It's begun winding down now that it's near the holidays where most everybody goes on hiatus. On other subjects, I saw King Kong at the LA premiere on 12/7. The real premiere with all the stars was in New York, so no star sightings. I loved it! You gotta see it. I got choked up at the end. Dang, too sensitive to gorillas dying. Oh crap... I gave it away! Also saw the Chronicles of Narnia, which I also liked a lot. Never read the book though and wish I had before seeing the movie. Rented Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow which I give an F-. Whoo, that was hard to sit through. I must have paused it a hundred times to do other stuff. Rented Three's Company Season 1, Grade A+. Love that stuff! Suzanne Summers was hot!

Going to TX for Christmas here on Monday the 19th. Flying into Austin and then heading to San Angelo. Looking forward to it! Well, that's all for now. Thanks for reading. Crank it!

P.S. I just learned how to post pictures. I'll have to get a digital camera now (someday). Ah, the beach at sunset! Ha ha, you can change a lot in a year if you want to.