This week I had the wonderful opportunity of visiting my family back East. I somehow managed to book the role of an intimidating gang leader with a “cage fighter physique” on an early episode of Blue Bloods, airing sometime in September. <\/p>\n
Now we all know I’m no stranger to the whole gang leader thing (I actually forgot the name of the show when checking in at CBS Radford!) but when I sized up the other choices present at the audition, I couldn’t help but tell myself to take this one with a grain of salt. I have been making the rounds this year, scoring a dozen or so
\nauditions for very similiar roles, however this particular one called for a specific body type\/look. I was positive that a friend of mine would just blow everybody else out of the water (including me) and even told him this on the way out.<\/p>\n
Alas, my old saying regarding the casting process: “This is God’s Game.” has clearly rang true. My girlfriend and I shared quite a laugh the night before going on tape, “With my luck, I will probably get this thing, since it’s a local hire and having to travel to New York on a moment’s notice, PLUS bounce around the city in and out of hotels will be EXACTLY the kind of job I need right now.”<\/p>\n
Well kid, ya got what you asked for.<\/p>\n
As time goes on, I think I’ve located the pulse of destiny which I believe exists inside the casting room. I had this vague sense that I was just a little ahead of everybody else, despite being severely outmatched in terms of what the breakdown stated was required for the role. I woke up just a little earlier that day, I studied less, barely rehearsed. (about half a page of dialogue in the 2 scenes I was to read) <\/p>\n
But somehow, when I fell into my habit of pacing like a tiger outside of the casting office while Nora looks at me like I’m a lunatic, or darting in and out of the bathroom to pretend to wash my hands, only to spit my dialogue at rapid speed in the bathroom stall, I felt this unusual calm. I normally get a burst of courage just moments before slating, but this was different.<\/p>\n
It was like a quieting warmth, I never know if I’m going to be the best there is, but on this day, I really knew I was giving the best I have.<\/p>\n
As quick as it came, as quick as they all do, it was over even quicker.<\/p>\n
It never occurred to me that I would remember this role forever, due to what it would enable me to accomplish in my personal life. I received an offer for the role the next day, a Friday. Unfortunately, that’s when the part of my job that is normally the easiest became a logistical nightmare. <\/p>\n
I was told to be in New York by Tuesday the latest, which gave me about one business day to get my finances in order and figure out where I was staying for the next 10 or so nights. Despite the stress, I was grateful to have such a wonderful problem.<\/p>\n
After about a dozen phone calls to my incredible team at MSI Management, I had everything I needed for my trip. At this point all I needed to do was to call my Uncle and tell him which terminal to pick me up at the lovely hour of 5:30 AM.<\/p>\n
I’ve been in New York since Thursday, sleeping at my grandparent’s house in New Jersey.<\/p>\n
These last 4 days have been some of the most amazing, rewarding, simply magnificent days of my life.<\/p>\n
I have never felt so admired, so humbled, so loved or so proud in all of my adult life. I am truly blessed to be able to be a part of such a unique and special Family. In my career, the rewards are endless, everyone knows the money is ridiculous. But the bonus that this project provided: The chance to repair the results of years spent away from the people I love most, was simply priceless.<\/p>\n
It just so happens that turning 27 marks the year that a lot of the most important men and women from my childhood will enter their 50’s, 60’s or 70’s. Now, this is something that has caused me quite a headache. My mother has now picked up the habit of reminding me that she is 50 years old, when she is not. <\/p>\n
Before I left, I started to write a note to leave with my grandparents,
\nat the time of writing this I haven’t quite finished it, but here is a part that I would like to share with you all:<\/p>\n
If there is Divine Design,
\nbehind a Family chain,
\nthen truly,
\nwe are all gifts in a line,
\nthe pressures and weights of our lives,
\nwhile they might shift time to time,
\njust like links in a chain,
\nwe bear the tension together,
\nI hold my brothers and sisters in place,
\nand my parents hold mine.<\/p>\n
I gain both my strength and my name,
\nfrom my parents who birth me,
\nand support me with their grace,
\nmost have just just a mother and father,
\nsome less,<\/p>\n
But I am a special case.
\nMy father’s loss, I mourn,
\nbut when I look upon my mother,
\nsurely a Woman so great,
\ndid more then her part, still to this day,
\nshe filled my father’s place.<\/p>\n
I have made it this far, so I can only go farther,
\nwith a family like mine, who’s love is so great
\nthis year I’ve gained a brother and sister,
\n2 mothers and fathers,
\nnever again will I be afraid,
\nto leap for my dreams with no rope to hold me,
\nno, that is not what they’ll throw me, I will be saved
\nby a chain. <\/p>\n
I worried a decade away, could not be regained,
\nwas not there when I could be,
\nand for that I am ashamed.
\nBut when my worries were worst and I thought I would break, I came home to my family
\nand they shared in the strain.
\nI never imagined so much, was always right here to claim,
\nI gained a brother and sister, 2 mothers and fathers, all in a matter of days.<\/p>\n
—
\n-FCC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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