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May 15, 2008
Experiment: Day Eleven
Last night we showed up to showcase auditions and found out they had given away our room. Double booked the space. We'd be down the hall and about a hundred folks who'd been told to go to one room would have to read signs and find us in another room. And who was in "our" room? Twinkie. Twinkie Byrd.
Now, those who know me know that Twinkie has been a friend of mine since she began the transition from associate CD level and music video casting into major studio feature film casting. (Stomp the Yard, anyone?) Back when I was a columnist for Back Stage West, I interviewed Twinkie and she STILL uses the bio I wrote for her in her press materials. Says no one ever did as good a job capturing her essence as I did. And when I started making my transition into casting, she mentored me through a bunch of hurdles. And will continue to do so, I'm sure!
So, while others might think, "Uh-oh. Room foul-up. Bon's not gonna be happy," the reaction instead was, "Twinkie!?! Where is she?" And when one actor left the room after auditioning, I burst past the casting assistant and ran straight in, into the warm embrace and squeals of my friend. We hugged and cooed and laughed for about one minute--I didn't want to be more rude to the waiting actors than I already was, by jumping in front of whomever was about to audition--and she told me she'd come down to our session room when she wrapped.
And she did. She came in on our sessions and watched four actors audition, giving her feedback and just sharing her general, awesome vibe with the room. She told me she was going to steal my husband, to which I replied, "That's okay. I can always come visit y'all." It was awesome. And it was all a happy surprise.
When we finished auditions, we headed over to a restaurant to do the usual post-audition casting decisions debate and strategy session. Who was in the parking lot but Erin. Erin Quill. Chil's awesome wife and someone of whom I've been a fan since going to see the first ever 15 Minutes of FEM a zillion years ago. She joined us at the restaurant and provided HOURS of comic relief to a sometimes tedious and patience-pushing process. She and Keith must've been separated at birth. They are both totally silly and brilliantly dry. And unapologetically inappropriate. It's awesome. By the end of the meeting about casting decisions, we were in tears from having laughed so hard.
As Keith and I drove home--after walking blocks and block and blocks to get to his car (another one of those things that could've felt like a burden, but instead felt like a wonderful surprise opportunity to walk slowly with our arms around each other, my head on his shoulder, sighing contentedly)--I talked about the bizarre world in which such strong, opinionated, passionate personalities can all be friends and colleagues and coworkers. Oh, how lucky we are to be here, living this life!
Day Eleven:
I am grateful for happy surprises.
(What is the Experiment? It is this.)
Posted by bonnie at May 15, 2008 3:25 PM