This week I made my TV acting debut on NBC’s We the People With Gloria Allred. Several weeks ago, a casting agency I registered with sent me to audition for a part on the show.
I ended up getting cast as a plaintiff who was suing the owner of a small airline for emotional distress and the cost of her therapy sessions after her vibrator accidentally went off in her luggage. The baggage check guy alerted the airline owner who made my character take out the vibrator in front of everyone on the plane, to her great humiliation. It’s based on a real case.
Haha, my first Hollywood experience, my first role, and this is how I’m cast! It felt very Jonathan Ames! So I did it. And it was a lot of fun, and a really interesting learning experience. I figured, so L.A., right?! I don’t know how much acting I’ll do – what I really want to do is write, but I wanted to see what it was like on a TV set, how things were done, what auditions were like, etc.
Anyway, it aired this Thursday afternoon on NBC. I’m working a job with long hours right now, but fortunately a very nice co-worker who lives close to the office let me use her apartment on my lunch hour to watch the show. Of course all I could do was stress about how neurotic I came across with my shaky voice and how drab I looked, but that was the character, so it was all good. I thought we all – the airline owner, the baggage check guy, and I – came across as very real. So I’m actually pretty okay with the way it turned out despite my blah look.
It’s funny that I’m a former litigator and have courtroom experience. And Gloria Allred is such a huge personality here. So very cool that my first gig was in a courtroom, being on her show!
Anyway, if it ever goes up on YouTube or NBC’s website, I’ll embed or link to it. I don’t think it’s up yet, but if you see it please let me know! The episode is called “Batteries Included.”