Thursday, July 21, 2005
Joe: Superstar in the Making
I can’t believe that I’m about to write the following words:
I just finished completing my FIRST commercial!
I’m talkin real, on TV, totally on resume, biggest thing I’ve done in NYC, commercial! Wow. WOW WOW WOW. Whenever I have a bad moment today, I stop and think “Don’t be upset! You filmed a commercial yesterday!” For those of you that know me or have read my journal over these past 4 years, you KNOW that this has changed my life dramatically.
I have been so frustrated with myself since I moved to NYC that I haven’t given the acting career a shot; which is sad since I have NOTHING to fall back on. I gave up falling back on things back when I committed to being a career actor. Whatever whatever, I just can’t explain how proud I am of myself and the changes I’ve incorporated into my life over the last four months. A year ago today, hell…6 months ago today, I would NEVER have been confident enough in myself to do this commercial.
But I’m getting ahead of myself…lemme explain.
I showed up at the Fox studios at 8:15am and got into a party limo bus filled with 10 other actors. I gotta say, I was the hottest one of all of them. There was one guy who went on and on about being a model, but give me a break. I wouldn’t have sucked his dick if he paid me. Well, maybe I would have. I’ve recently started to give a shit about money. But anyways…
We waited in the party limo bus for about an hour before we even started driving to the first shoot. While waiting, I met Chris Gailus, who is by FAR my most favoritest news anchor ever! If you watch Good Day Live (7-9am on Fox Five) then you know him. He’s a 6”5 tall drink of hot water and he has got the personality of my dream. I shook his hand and made a joke that he laughed at and I fell immediately in love. Meeting him is almost a bigger deal than meeting Meryl Streep. Well, that’s not entirely true, but it’s true enough to make the joke.
After the production crew got their shit together and after this really heavy black woman talked my face off about everything she could think of, we drove to the heart of Times Square for the first “shot”.
There I was…in the HEART of Times Square filming a commercial. Of course there were tourists everywhere and they stopped and took pictures of us as though we were super famous. And I gotta tell you…the feeling in my chest…standing there…getting my picture taken for no reason…Oh. My. God. This is the career that I was born to do.
We filmed in Times Square for three long hours. The director took take after take after take and our only motivation was to laugh. Three hours of fake laughing and my jaw muscles were so pumped that I could have sucked any dick better than a vacuum. Now…the funniest part of this shot was that we had to group together and point at a TV-style billboard and laugh and laugh. Cuz what will happen is that in the editing room they will put the Fox logo over the top of the billboard and we will essentially be laughing at the hilarious program lineup for the Fall season. But guess which TV style billboard we were laughing at (only cuz it fit perfectly in the shot)?
We were pointing and laughing at the US ARMED FORCES billboard.
It was basically a big TV showing pictures of soldiers dropping out of planes and crawling under barbed wire and dedicating their lives to our freedom. And there we were…laughing and pointing and laughing and pointing. It was so mortifying and I felt like a complete asshole. Well, we ALL felt like complete assholes and one guy even came over and verbally berated us for being unpatriotic and laughing at the war in Iraq. The production manager tried to explain to him that we weren’t laughing at the Armed Forces. We were laughing at what will be a logo of Fox Five. He wasn’t having it and basically had to be taken away by the cops. Cept it wasn’t cops. It was the big and burly lighting guy.
But overall, the shot was so much fun to do. How often do I get cast in a commercial to begin with and how often do I get to shoot a commercial in the HEART of Times Square. My God. I’ll never forget it for the rest of my life.
After that, we all loaded back into the Limo party bus and headed out to the next shot. We ended up underneath the Brooklyn Bridge where I had to ride a Razor scooter. First of all, Razor Scooters and I are NOT friends. Riding them is for little kids or flaming gays. I am neither. At least I wasn’t in the MOOD to be either. But I rode it and did my best and now the entire city will see me riding by being like “YIPPEE SKIPPEE! I LOVE RAZOR SCOOTERS IN THE CITY AND I’M TOTALLY GAY!”
After that we took some more shots in various parts of the city and I gotta say…I’m a natural. At least that’s what I was told. But really…I’m a natural no matter what anyone says. I told you…I was born for this shit!
All of the actors got 3 shots. I got 5. I want to say it’s because I am so talented, but I think it’s because I have a hot face. Whatever. I’ll take what I can get.
The day finally ended for me at 7pm. I took the subway home and immediately collapsed on my bed. The life of an actor…shit. LONG ASS DAY. But I didn’t care. I made some new friends, totally rocked out at the assignment I was given, and for the first time in my life, worked the camera as though I was the first supermodel in the world. Fuck you Janice Dickinson.
The commercial starts airing in NYC in mid-August and will run until about mid-October. I’ll get a copy of the commercial, so if I know you, I’ll show it to you. If I don’t know you…look for the guy in the Kelly green shirt riding a razor scooter. Or more appropriately, look for the best looking guy in a commercial where everyone is dying laughing for no reason. Cuz that shit would be me.
Ok…this post is totally out of sorts today. I’m just so excited and happy that this opportunity fell into my lap and that I actually pounced on it. In the past I would have come up with SOME reason why I couldn’t do it. And this time, I did it and I loved it and it gave me a small push in the right direction.
I’m sorry Brad Pitt. But you can take a rest. There’s a new beast in town and his name is Joe.
I can’t believe that I’m about to write the following words:
I just finished completing my FIRST commercial!
I’m talkin real, on TV, totally on resume, biggest thing I’ve done in NYC, commercial! Wow. WOW WOW WOW. Whenever I have a bad moment today, I stop and think “Don’t be upset! You filmed a commercial yesterday!” For those of you that know me or have read my journal over these past 4 years, you KNOW that this has changed my life dramatically.
I have been so frustrated with myself since I moved to NYC that I haven’t given the acting career a shot; which is sad since I have NOTHING to fall back on. I gave up falling back on things back when I committed to being a career actor. Whatever whatever, I just can’t explain how proud I am of myself and the changes I’ve incorporated into my life over the last four months. A year ago today, hell…6 months ago today, I would NEVER have been confident enough in myself to do this commercial.
But I’m getting ahead of myself…lemme explain.
I showed up at the Fox studios at 8:15am and got into a party limo bus filled with 10 other actors. I gotta say, I was the hottest one of all of them. There was one guy who went on and on about being a model, but give me a break. I wouldn’t have sucked his dick if he paid me. Well, maybe I would have. I’ve recently started to give a shit about money. But anyways…
We waited in the party limo bus for about an hour before we even started driving to the first shoot. While waiting, I met Chris Gailus, who is by FAR my most favoritest news anchor ever! If you watch Good Day Live (7-9am on Fox Five) then you know him. He’s a 6”5 tall drink of hot water and he has got the personality of my dream. I shook his hand and made a joke that he laughed at and I fell immediately in love. Meeting him is almost a bigger deal than meeting Meryl Streep. Well, that’s not entirely true, but it’s true enough to make the joke.
After the production crew got their shit together and after this really heavy black woman talked my face off about everything she could think of, we drove to the heart of Times Square for the first “shot”.
There I was…in the HEART of Times Square filming a commercial. Of course there were tourists everywhere and they stopped and took pictures of us as though we were super famous. And I gotta tell you…the feeling in my chest…standing there…getting my picture taken for no reason…Oh. My. God. This is the career that I was born to do.
We filmed in Times Square for three long hours. The director took take after take after take and our only motivation was to laugh. Three hours of fake laughing and my jaw muscles were so pumped that I could have sucked any dick better than a vacuum. Now…the funniest part of this shot was that we had to group together and point at a TV-style billboard and laugh and laugh. Cuz what will happen is that in the editing room they will put the Fox logo over the top of the billboard and we will essentially be laughing at the hilarious program lineup for the Fall season. But guess which TV style billboard we were laughing at (only cuz it fit perfectly in the shot)?
We were pointing and laughing at the US ARMED FORCES billboard.
It was basically a big TV showing pictures of soldiers dropping out of planes and crawling under barbed wire and dedicating their lives to our freedom. And there we were…laughing and pointing and laughing and pointing. It was so mortifying and I felt like a complete asshole. Well, we ALL felt like complete assholes and one guy even came over and verbally berated us for being unpatriotic and laughing at the war in Iraq. The production manager tried to explain to him that we weren’t laughing at the Armed Forces. We were laughing at what will be a logo of Fox Five. He wasn’t having it and basically had to be taken away by the cops. Cept it wasn’t cops. It was the big and burly lighting guy.
But overall, the shot was so much fun to do. How often do I get cast in a commercial to begin with and how often do I get to shoot a commercial in the HEART of Times Square. My God. I’ll never forget it for the rest of my life.
After that, we all loaded back into the Limo party bus and headed out to the next shot. We ended up underneath the Brooklyn Bridge where I had to ride a Razor scooter. First of all, Razor Scooters and I are NOT friends. Riding them is for little kids or flaming gays. I am neither. At least I wasn’t in the MOOD to be either. But I rode it and did my best and now the entire city will see me riding by being like “YIPPEE SKIPPEE! I LOVE RAZOR SCOOTERS IN THE CITY AND I’M TOTALLY GAY!”
After that we took some more shots in various parts of the city and I gotta say…I’m a natural. At least that’s what I was told. But really…I’m a natural no matter what anyone says. I told you…I was born for this shit!
All of the actors got 3 shots. I got 5. I want to say it’s because I am so talented, but I think it’s because I have a hot face. Whatever. I’ll take what I can get.
The day finally ended for me at 7pm. I took the subway home and immediately collapsed on my bed. The life of an actor…shit. LONG ASS DAY. But I didn’t care. I made some new friends, totally rocked out at the assignment I was given, and for the first time in my life, worked the camera as though I was the first supermodel in the world. Fuck you Janice Dickinson.
The commercial starts airing in NYC in mid-August and will run until about mid-October. I’ll get a copy of the commercial, so if I know you, I’ll show it to you. If I don’t know you…look for the guy in the Kelly green shirt riding a razor scooter. Or more appropriately, look for the best looking guy in a commercial where everyone is dying laughing for no reason. Cuz that shit would be me.
Ok…this post is totally out of sorts today. I’m just so excited and happy that this opportunity fell into my lap and that I actually pounced on it. In the past I would have come up with SOME reason why I couldn’t do it. And this time, I did it and I loved it and it gave me a small push in the right direction.
I’m sorry Brad Pitt. But you can take a rest. There’s a new beast in town and his name is Joe.
