Show Business: The Inexplicable Love
I think a lot of people worry about me. Moreso, maybe, than is necessary. It’s natural, I guess, for people to worry about those they love, and I’m blessed enough to have many, many people who love me. Family and friends worry about my wife and me, that maybe moving to Los Angeles has been a strain on our marriage, that we’re struggling financially, or that we’re being led astray by the sins of the City of Angels.
To put matters to rest, I can assure everyone that, yes, moving to Los Angeles has, at times, been a strain on my marriage. We’ve certainly struggled financially. As for being led astray, I have an affinity for whiskey that I did not have prior to living here.
Tiffany and I have had blow-out arguments. Things have gotten ugly, usually as a result of us simply being too similar. We’ve had the stereotypical car troubles, rent issues, etc. And I love Childish Gambino and whiskey, and Los Angeles traffic has led to a number of S-bombs being dropped.
Life has changed.
My wife and I have never even considered the D-word. We know that our problems are a result of being joined at the hip since we were kids. We know each others buttons, and we can push them when we want to be right. In a matter of months of getting out here, we were blessed with amazing friends, a support group of individuals who are passionate about God and art. I’ve grown spiritually in the past year, despite being without the challenging sermons of my former pastor.
As for “making it” in this business, here’s what’s happened:
In a year of being out here, I’ve worked on movie sets, shot student films, got an excellent commercial agent, guest hosted for Teen.com, had numerous writing projects, and am now about to begin work on a Web series that could up the ante on how Web series are done, complete with guest stars and sponsoring. The Web series, which I won’t speak of in specifics, might be my proudest creative effort ever, and the people involved so far are all, in their own right, brilliant at what they do.
On Friday, my agent informed me that I am “on avail” for a Dodge commercial. For those of you not in show business, on avail basically means I auditioned well and am being strongly considered for the role. It’s a very good sign, and regardless of whether I book the gig, I’ve been out here a year. That was the second commercial audition I’ve ever been on.
For an actor, the process goes like this:
Audition –> Callback –> On Avail –> Booked
Each step, every single step, is extremely hard to get. You have to submit for the audition (basically audition for the audition), then you wait, and you hope, and you pray. Repeat.
Show business is hard. Every day, I’m waiting for a call, but that’s okay.
I was born to work in show business. That much is clear to me after an extremely blessed year here. I don’t have pep talks with myself. I don’t need to tell myself things are okay, because they’re better than okay. I don’t look myself in the mirror and say, “This is it. This is your time,” and I don’t meditate on success. I will be successful, because this is where I’m supposed to be. This is what I’m supposed to do. And if one day something changes, for better or worse, then I’ll move on. But any success I have had or will have is not a result of me. It has very, very little to do with me, both practically and spiritually speaking. My goal is to stand aside and let God do his thing. And maybe try to make people laugh along the way.
