What Ifs in the Entertainment Business

I'm getting ready to leave Chicago this morning after a few days in this wonderful city, with great people, seeing some great and just eh shows. BTW -- if this place was just a little closer to the east coast, I would probably move here in a second. On top of having tons of wonderful things to do, every 3rd person is like the most beautiful person I've ever seen.

Anyway, while on this midwest vacation, I came across two clips that pointed out some of the randomness of being an actor. The first clip is from Siskel & Ebert (the Chicago based movie critics whose show officially comes to an end this weekend) talking about Cop and a Half. Back in the day, this was one of the first things I ever got called back for several times. I was called in for the main character and obviously things didn't work out. What if I had actually made this movie with good ole Burt Reynolds? Yes, it definitely would have changed some things, but looking back now the movie was directed by Henry Winkler! He was the Fonz on Happy Days, but to a new generation he played the wonderfully stupid Barry Zuckerkorn on Arrested Development.

At the time, I could actually see myself playing the lead role in Cop and a Half. However, from the minute I read the script for this next clip, I knew I was totaly wrong for the part before I even stepped into the audition. This next clip is from the new James L. Brooks film How Do You Know? -- a bunch of this movie was filmed in Philly last year. I was called in to play one of Owen Wilson's teammates on the Washington Nationals. My original instincts were spot on when I saw that part I tried out for being played by Domenick Lombardozzi from The Wire and Entourage fame. The character appears in the scene where Owen asks his teammates, "How do you know you're in love?" Mr. Lombardozzi gives a unique answer....

'How Do You Know' Theatrical Trailer @ Yahoo! Video

All to say, it's fun to see how these things pan out on the big screen even though I was a mere after thought in the casting process. At least in these two examples they actually filled my part with another actor and I was able to see who eventually got the role. In Law Abiding Citizen, I was called in several times -- and once in front of the director -- to read for one of Jamie Fox's 2 assistants. In the audition room, it seemed like it was down to me and one other guy. I never got the part and when I went to see the movie, I noticed they cut the part I read for out and instead gave all the lines to the hot blonde assistant. Oh good....