A week and a half ago, on Darrius' birthday, we were in the car going to who-knows-where, when a commercial came on the radio. It was a commercial I've heard before but never paid any attention to. It was a commercial asking for people to text 'STAR' to a number and if you're one of the first 100 texters, you will be contacted to go audition at an open casting call. And then the commercial started naming every Disney and Nickolodeon star who was "managed" or was loosely associated with this company. And of course, they had to mention Twilight and suggest that the audition was to be in the next Twilight movie. They know that anything related to Twilight will get kids attention. Darrius got all excited and asked me if he could send the text. I told him go ahead and do it but it's probably a scam and you won't get a phone call. Darrius tells his friends about the commercial as we're going to Bertucci's for his birthday dinner. A week goes by without a phone call. And then last Wednesday one of D's friends gets a phone call. His friend isn't interested so D gets the phone number and calls the people back. The person tells him that his parent needs to call but he can come to the audition. D is super excited. He calls me, excitement in his voice, and asks me if he can go to the audition. I first tell him to calm down and ask for the phone number so I can call the people and get the information.
I call, get the info. D will have to memorize a "script". They're going to email it to me along with directions. I receive the email and print the script. The script consisted of 1 scene and about 5 lines for D to memorize. I let him know that he needs to take this seriously if this is something he wants to do. He says he is and that he's going to memorize the script. The place that's holding these auditions is the Youth Film Academy in Tyson's Corner. Saturday arrives and we're off to D's "audition. We sign in, get lunch and return with minutes to spare. The parents and kids are herded into a room for a presentation by the people who are holding the auditions at the Academy. We listen to a 30 minute spiel about what they are about, what they are looking for in a kid (the term they used was "star quality"). I'm just happy they didn't say "It factor". After the presentation, we wait for our names to be called. Once your child's name is called, you interview with the talent agent and then you do your screen test which is performing the script that you memorized.
I was in the room with Darrius during the interview. They guy that interviewed D kinda looked like Tony Robbins. And funny thing is, his name was Tony. So Tony asks Darrius why does he want to be an actor. I held my breath. D isn't great with giving answers off the top of his head so I was nervous about what he was going to say. His answer was OK; I think it could have been better. (We will be practicing for next time). But he did the one thing I told him NOT to do - every 3rd word he said "like". Ugh! I hate that. I'm trying to get him out of the habit of using 'like' so much. It drives me crazy. Anyway, after D gives his response, Tony hands me a piece of paper, telling me to call tomorrow at 10:15am to find out if D gets a call back. Oh BTW - did I mention that he thought I was Darrius' sister? My ego was nicely stroked. Next step, screen test. Darrius goes to the TV room where he was to perform his memorized script. I wait in the lobby because I don't want to make him nervous or make him laugh. A couple of minutes later Darrius returns. He's happy. He said he didn't mess up; he remembered all of his lines. The entire process took a little over 2 hours. Not that bad. So now we go home and wait.
Sunday morning arrives. Darrius can't wait for 10:15 to get here so we can find out his fate. I call and no one answers. I leave a message. I call again 5 minutes later and the receptionist answers the phone. Tony's on another call. He'll call me back in 20-30 minutes. I am on pins and needles because Darrius is pacing like an alley cat, ready to find out if he gets a call back. The phone finally rings 15 minutes later. Not good news. No call back for D. Per Tony, out of 261 kids they only had spots for 30. But they will be auditioning again in March 2010 if Darrius is still interested. I give Darrius the news. He seems okay with it. I asked him if he wanted to go back in March and he said he did. He then proceeded to go over to my laptop and Google auditions. I think the boy has caught the bug.
We'll see how it goes in March. It's a huge commitment that I don't know I'm ready to make. But if it's something he truly wants to do and I am more than willing to support him. That's what parents do, right?
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