What an amazing last five weeks! Thanks to Mary, I landed a small recurring role in the hit Fox television show "Prison Break". I've been filming in Dallas the last couple of weeks.
PHOTO: Curtis Wayne and Sala Baker, Hollywood stunt man extraordinaire.
The bosses at my day job in Austin have been exceedingly cool and accommodating about the whole situation, but obviously, if it continues much longer, I'll be a full-time, professional actor ONLY, instead of an IT project manager at an insurance company, who occasionally does some acting. That would be awesome, but it's also plenty darn scary. Unfortunately, I don't know any more than my bosses do at the moment; I'm booked until this coming Friday, August 3, and after that, it's up in the air (I'm working on a weekly contract with the show).
And I almost blew it.
I almost didn't go to the audition. Mary was out of town, I was tired from long hours at work and doing home maintenance, plus several other irons we have in the fire, and wasn't particularly looking forward to a one-day trip to Dallas (3.5 hours each way) by myself, especially for roles that were described as "Panamanian prisoners", and which sides were in Spanish.
But Mary wouldn't let me NOT go. She's had a feeling that I would book Prison Break ever since they started filming in Dallas, during their second season. So she talked me into it, long-distance, thank God. We ended up going together, which was cool, and the stars aligned just so, then voila-- I booked the job.
Then, during the first two days of filming, my agent calls and says they want to bring back my character (now with a name- "Cheo"), and book me for a few weeks. Well, that was just too freaking cool, but there was the little matter of the day job, and the multi-million dollar, high-profile, mission-critical project I'd been working on for the past 3 years. I would kind of be leaving them high and dry, which I felt terrible about. I don't like that sort of treatment myself, and I don't like to do it to others.
My boss Greg, new boss Robert, and head honcho Jim were all very supportive, and tried to find a way to work with me. So if I don't get booked past this Friday, I may still have my day job. But if I do, well, then... I'm a professional actor. :-p
The first week was pretty lonely without Mary and Danielle, and of course, my thoughts were with Dad and India, as he is still recovering in the hospital. But Mary drove up, and has spent a lot of time with me here in Big D, so that's been wonderful. I don't get quite as much sleep with the baby here, but at least I get to see her daily.
PHOTO: Danielle kickin' it with Daddy at the hotel, and eyeing his Chinese food.
Back in Austin on Tuesday, with a few days off. Hopefully, I'll know more about the following week's schedule by then.
We'll keep you posted. (Hey, a fan mail campaign demanding to see more of "Cheo" during the third season wouldn't hurt, y'all!!! ;-)
Thanks to Liz Atherton, Shannon Pinkston, Toni Cobb-Brock, Kevin Hooks, my wife Mary, my bosses at TWIA, my folks, and all the cool people who helped make this opportunity- and my life's dream- possible.
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