BackGround Acting: LA – The Visitor (Chapman Univ)

After a late-night shoot in Las Vegas kept me up nearly to dawn back in March 2009, I got a really cool phone call from a young director at Chapman University in Los Angeles.

I had been on set in Las Vegas until 5:15am, had slept in until noon and was working lines for the pages we’d shoot that night when my cell phone sang out: “Hit that jive, Jack!”   It was Breanna Wing, director of the Chapman University student short, The Visitor, asking me to play the lead in her film.

I had auditioned for the role of Maurice in her film a few weeks earlier at the ubiquitous CAZT Studios on Formosa near Santa Monica Blvd in Hollywood but all I could recall was feeling foolish.When Breanna heard that I already had the requisite costume (overalls) for the character of Maurice, she asked me to wear them to the audition. To the ill-disguised amusement of the slim, handsome young actors waiting in the CAZT Studios lobby to audition for other films, I had acquiesced and wore the outfit with a silly hat, no less.

Frankly, I feared I had not done well in the audition and had nearly forgotten about it.

Breanna shared her notes about my audition, later: “Lary, you took the role very seriously, which was good. I loved that you played the character sad and scared but likable. Compared to the other actors who auditioned for this part, on a scale of 1-5 (5 being the best), we thought you rated:

• 
  Preparation: 4
• 
  Looks the part: 5
• 
  Professionalism: 5
• 
  Acting ability: 5
• 
  Taking directions: 4

“I am thrilled that you are going to play the role of MAURICE, and am very excited to work with you.”

So, I spent a warm Saturday afternoon in March 2009 in Santa Ana acting in the Breanna Wing film, THE VISITOR, co-starring Tyler Haines. 
The smart, prepared young director had the good sense to rehearse both Tyler and me the day before our shoot. We blocked the scenes a bit, looked at photos of the monster and the room where we’d be shooting, and ran our lines about a half-dozen times.

On set in Santa Ana, Breanna Wing turned out to be a dream director; prepared, smart, flexible, good with actors and blessed with real vision. (She also wrote the script.) Bre turned out to be extraordinarily good at giving actors a bit of space to interpret and bring stuff to the scene, which I loved. I pledged her my undying devotion.