Near Miss - ee - ness

It's a strange sort of thing that getting close to booking a job is a sign of success. What a close - to week I had recently!

I auditioned for a stage production and, before I left the room, the director asked me to a call back. That never happens. To me, anyway. I was feeling pretty good. More about that in a minute.

A casting director reached out for me to audition for a movie she was casting based on a previous audition I did for her. That never happens. To me, anyway.

I auditioned for a movie set to shoot in October 2025 (It's September 16, 2025 today) and my agent told me they wanted to call me back. Okay, that does happen. But it's still cool.

I called up my faithful reader and taped the solicited audition and thought, "I just might have a shot at this." After all, they asked me, right? I felt really good about it and sent it along hoping for the best. I should say praying, because that's what I did. Hope and prayer. It's one of those, what I call, make a living jobs. Good pay. Great cast. Great opportunity.

The movie that called me back asked for availability on September 4 in LA. On Wednesday September 3 I reached out to my agent to see if she had any info. You know, time, place, etc. She dove right into it, as she always does and came back with, "There was a mix-up in casting. Can you do a Zoom audition on September 11?" Well, of course I can, but, dang, I was looking forward to an in - person audition for once. On September 8 I reached out to my agent to see if the producers had any additional material they want read. Later that afternoon she told me they cast the part and have "released" all call backs. Son of a...On the face of it it seems really unfair. Then I tell myself I got "in the room" so to speak. Maybe next time I'll get the job. So, I sent a quick thank you to the casting director saying I was sorry I couldn't read for him but thanks for the invite. Hey, you never know when next time will come.

All the while I'm thinking the other movie is still out there. Until a couple days later when the casting director told me they cast the part. Son of a...She told me it was always a pleasure watching my work and she'd keep me in mind for future jobs. Well, that's nice. I guess the old adage is true - you're not just auditioning for the part, you're auditioning for the next part too.

In the midst of those two victorious disappointments I went to the theatrical call back in LA. I was warned ahead of time it could take some time. They thought they'd be doing some chemistry reads, etc. No problem. Acting is acting. My call was 7p and I arrived 15 minutes early, 'cause that's what you do. Knowing I would have to wait, waiting didn't bother me. At 8. Then 9. Then 10. It was starting to get ridiculous. More actors filed in with later audition times and we all waited together while the director and writer sussed through the morras of actresses vying for the fairer leads. After nearly four hours of waiting the director asked all of us auditioning for my part and a couple others into the the room. In the interest of time, he asked, would we be willing to read our parts in groups. Okay. Sure, we said. And, he added, the others could just hang out here so they wouldn't have to hunt us down on the other side of the door. What? Wait in the room while the other guy reads my part? That never happens. Very unusual. But, in the intrest of time, we all said, "Sure." One by one my competition read my lines. One by one I was sure I was better. (I know. That sounds egotistical. It's not. I was better. Way better). The audition over I left thinking, "If it's between me and those guys, I think I go it." September 1, the first rehearsal day, comes and goes and I hear nothing. A couple days later I get a, "Thank you. We hired someone else," email. Son of a...Three call backs, three near misses. Boy, I sure do get tired of near misses. I guess it's better than far misses. So, there's that.

Then, out of the blue, I get cast as a lead on a VO/Dubbing job for Netflix. No breakdown. No audition. Ain't that grand? If only I could just get cast all the time. I can't tell you anything about the project because of standart non disclosure. But I got to work with a wonderful director I'd worked with before. In this biz, it's great to re-connect with good people because we don't always get the chance. Even if we're living the dream.

Here's hoping your day is near miss free and you are blessed. Resist when you must (fiftyfifty.one) and fight the good fight. We can all use compassion, kindness and civility.