Monday, June 7th | Culver City
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May.
And summer’s… summer’s…
I think I’m going to be sick. This can’t be happening right now – I hate myself. Past me would look at present me right now and just bust in a roaring laugh. I suddenly realize that the person I am today is just an empty shell of who I once was: Jace Herrera, a once-promising actor with a bright future, is standing in front of a casting director trying to land a measly two-minute role, and I forgot my fucking line.
“Oh God, I’m so sorry” I stammer. “I don’t know what happened. Do you think I could maybe start again?”
I did not just ask that. That is like textbook “what you should NOT do” during an audition. And it’s not like I didn’t study for this part! I spent all night with my best friend Juliana trying to get all my lines down, testing out which inflection on certain words sounded better, and on top of that, trying to add as many subtle nuances as possible to my performance (which is my specialty). And yet here I am, looking like a damn fool in front of this casting director asking for a do-over. What am I, still in drama school?
The casting director looks up from her clipboard. She stares at me blankly. “Uh, sure. Yeah, whenever you’re ready.”
But it took just two seconds for her to look down at her phone before telling me that she’s seen enough and thanked me for coming in. Translation: I sucked and I’m not getting the part.
I feigned a smile and thanked her for her time before grabbing my bag and exiting the audition room feeling destroyed. I passed by three other guys sitting quietly in the hallway waiting to be called into the audition room. All blue-eyed, dirty blonde, and white – no hint of any Filipino or Mexican blood in them like me. And at that moment, I felt more alone than ever.
