Playing the Waiting Game...

The mind can play tricks on you while you are waiting…

They told us during the casting call that it might be a while before those who were selected would be contacted… but for the life of me I cant remember how long they said it would be?

Waiting just plain sucks.

As a society we are just no longer wired to wait. We want things fast and we want results NOW! Waiting for the train, the bus, the phone to ring… This is not a part of our daily lifestyle any longer. We want it on time, every time without delay or any surprises… So, no wonder this waiting game was starting to get to me…

At first you are just a nervous wreck and you wait anxiously by the side of the phone. You turn down invitations to go out, "just in case" someone from casting might call you… When were they going to get back to us? You ask yourself this same question over and over… then you start checking with others to find out if they have been called… No luck... No one has heard anything.

Then you get the invitation to one of the longest running Five Act Plays that ever played …

The Five Stages of Death; Staring "My Acting Career"

Act One: Denial

They must have lost my number. Did I give them all my contact numbers? Home, Work, Cell… Surely I wouldn’t forget to give them my work number… they must have lost that information…

Act Two: Anger

Why the Heck wouldn’t they select me!? They must be out of their frickin' minds, I was perfect for the role, those &&%%$#

Act Three: Bargaining

If only I hadn't stared at that casting person… I think I freaked her out. Maybe I should have shaved… I wonder if I found out where else they are holding casting calls, they would let me give it another try, I can do better, really I can.

Act Four: Depression

I cant believe I didn’t get selected. I feel like such a loser. My one big chance and I blew it. Maybe I will just stay in bed today. I will never get to be an extra. Nothing ever good happens to me…

Act Five: Acceptance

Ok, I didn’t get the part. I can accept that. I wasn’t what they were looking for. No big deal (slipping back into denial…) Time to move on with my life… get out of bed and back to the real world.



I think I took in this play about every week, for the first six weeks after the casting call. I had a front row seat for each performance. Sat right there in the front row, and relived the experience over and over (and over) again…

Finally, I skipped the first four acts, and just popped in for the fifth and final act. "Acceptance". And when the final curtain fell, I simply accepted the fact that it was over. It wasn’t my time. Fair enough. Time to truly move on…

To furhter confirm this, the local news media had started to report that several people in the area had already been contacted to participate. One group was a local theater group from a small technical college. They reported that several of the students were contacted and selected to participate in the filming.

And that was that. The final nail in the coffin of my acting career. Dead before it even began…
The final casting had been done. Those people selected had been contacted and it was finally over. No longer did I need to wait, chained to the phone in eager anticipation of a call…

So in April, as a way of further convincing my self that it was over, and that I really meant it this time… I actually booked a trip to Arizona, and took a week to "get away from it all"
We packed our bags and headed to Red Rock country... Sedona Arizona…

After a beautiful and relaxing week in Sedona and the surrounding area, I realized that this trip was just what the Doctor ordered. I was able to clear my head, clear my heart, and be at peace with myself again.

Life was looking good again. I didn’t need the role as an Extra in Public Enemies movie to define who I was… (although it would have been really cool…)

It was on my last day in Arizona, we were headed to the Phoenix airport when I received a call from home. The message was something to the affect of:

"Someone from the Public Enemies Casting department has been trying to get a hold of you… They want to know if I would be available to work as extra in an upcoming scene being filmed at the State Capital in Madison… Please call them back right away if you are interested…"

If I was interested?

Play that message back again, I need to make a call!