Bring Back Jerome to Lost!

Carpe Diem

If you’ve ever had a great acting teacher, or worked with like a wise ninja sage or dojo master, you’ve probably been told to believe in yourself, and even to write down the positive things that you believe to yourself. These wise masters call these positive things “affirmations.” They can be things that you’re thankful for, things that inspire you, or things that you know about yourself that are good in some form or other. Today, I’m going to take a great personal risk, an extension of my trust to you, my fans, and share my affirmations for the day with you. They are below. Think of them as a thank you laundry list to the god or goddess or gods or invisible light that may or may not be in all of us. If you want, feel free to do some deep breathing and meditation to help you truly understand their power on an emotional and spiritual level. I know I have.

Here goes:

* Rice Krispies. I am extremely grateful to the universe and all that is for Rice Krispies, and all of the various forms that they take - Rice Krispie Treats, Rice Krispie Squares, Rice Krispies Treats in various shapes and sizes like bats or santa clauses etc. , and Cocoa Rice Krispies.

* My acting. Never have I been so good at anything.

* My parents, for raising me, feeding me, and letting me follow my dreams from the comfort of their lovely home.

* Tim Russert, George Carlin, Anderson Cooper and all of the other brave souls who have come and gone from this world recently. And who have made a positive impact.

* Monkey, the small yellow glass seahorse I call my friend.

* Starbucks Lattes: in Vanilla, Caramel Macchiato, Cinnamon Dolce, Skim, and Hot Chocolate. Let’s be honest, Starbucks is the reason that I keep going. Even when there’s nothing to do and I have time to kill or the opportunity to take a break, that caffeine kicks in and gets me going, keeping me productive even if it’s not directly helpful to me or anyone in particular. And it keeps my stress and sense of urgency high so that I’m always pushing forward.

* To the girl in Starbucks yesterday, who borrowed my napkin and thanked me when I complimented her sweater. I can be reached at bringbackjerometolost@gmail.com.

* All the great people at On the Bubble: Andrea, Luke, Kevin, Clyde, and of course the one and only Gordo - vimeo.com/onthebubble. Don’t forget to re-watch the episode in which I’m featured. I feel pretty good about the work I did on that appearance.

Love to all of your respective mothers,

BJ

The Magic of Connectivity

I will swear by coffee, because I think all of my greatest revelations happen when I’m drinking it, or soon after the buzz kicks in.  Have you noticed that?  I’m not one of those “have an idea in a moment of peace” kind of people - I’m always in the middle of an overwhelming caffeine buzz as an idea jumps out at me and changes my life forever. Or at least for those next several minutes.

So today I’m sipping on my latte, it’s about 10am in the Starbucks - I’m in a crappy spot where the sun is blinding my eyes and making it hard for me to focus, when bizity bam - this question pops into my head: how can I use the internet, and my very incredible devoted fans, as a way to help my career, and even get me back on Lost?  I’ll tell you how people: NETWORKING.  Let’s be honest, I can’t get into the A-list Hollywood parties, can’t get seen by CAA - at least not today.  BUT WITH YOUR HELP I can.  I can do anything with a little help from my friends. Here’s what I’m thinking - there are lots of you - and even more out there in the world beyond. Surely one of you is dating or rooming with or hung out with the best friend’s cousin’s sister of someone in Hollywood with access to the window to my dreams.

WON’T YOU HELP ME?

Call around, ask your friends, hit up that uncle who works in post-production that you had a beer with last Christmas.  OR, help me with my outreach efforts.  Create a facebook cause.  Start a myspace page.  Digg it. If my friends and your friends reach out to their friends and their friends, we could have millions working on the Jerome project by morning! So whattya say, compadres?  Will you join together to give Jerome a new start?  A new start as a recurring character on Lost Season 5!!?!?

I mean, let’s be honest - Lost is amazing but all good things can get better. I’m not trying to be a hero, I’m not trying to say I’m better than any of the very fine actors on Lost in past and current seasons, I just want to share my love with something that I love and be loved in return.  Just love. I just want lots of love like a love house with love all around it and beautiful with love. And I need your help.  Tell your internet friends that you want to spread the  love and the universe will return the favor.

Love and blessings,

J lo-ve

As Not So Much Requested

Ok so fair enough there wasn’t a major response or really any at all about the worst role I was offered.  But let’s talk about it anyway. Maybe some shy fan of the Jerome meister wants to hear this dark tale, and I need to fulfill that unspoken request.

WORST ROLE EVER: Toilet Embezzlement Guy #4.  In a student film entitled the “Whizzard of Oz.”  A trip, right?  Yeah no literally.   Apparently that’s what happens when directors let hallucinogens do their creative thinking.  I thought it looked like a really promising project cuz the director offered me cheese crackers and talked to me about the importance of psychofusion funatics…or something…but it turned out to be a bust.  I had to sit in a closet wrapped in wet toilet paper for 86 minutes to “get into character,”  and then they ended up cutting my part down to like, 3 seconds of on screen time.  And I wasn’t even featured, just in the background behind an arguement between Alice in Wonderland and her pet manitee.  I would have killed to play that manitee.

The things actors do for their art…*sigh*  It’s a rough life, but I wouldn’t have it otherwise.  I’d like to send out a special thank you in this entry to my friends and family for your incredible support.  And mom - thanks for the care package, I really enjoyed the cookies. See you upstairs at dinner time.

“Some people look at the past and say, ‘why?’”  I look at the future
and say, “why not?”  -Martin Luther King, Jr.  I think. I might be wrong on who said that.  I’ll google it and get back to you.

Over and out.

To Thomas from North Circleton, LA

I wanted to go ahead and follow up with the other possible topics I offered a few days ago for discussion on my blog.  You voted that you wanted to hear about my experience auditioning for Lost - can’t blame you. HOWEVER, one sir Thomas* from North Circleton, LA* sent a very persuasive email requesting, nay BEGGING that I talk about the most famous person that I have ever been on a date with.  So here you go Thomas.   Her name was/is Halle Berry.  Now now, before you go hee hawing about how I was never on a date with Halle (as they call her here in the entertainment business), you’re right.  However, I WAS on a date with a very lovely lady named Susan in the VERY SAME RESTAURANT where Halle dined.  The plot thickens…

Basically, Susan and I sat down for a nice meal at Wong’s Tasty House**, opened our menus and began to peruse the appetizers. I wasn’t thirty seconds into the Warm Duck Salad and Spiced Curry Bites before I noticed a strikingly beautiful woman sitting at the bar with a man friend. It was definitely Halle.  I had just watched Monster’s Ball a week earlier (talk about serendipity) so her face was fresh in my mind.

It was hard to focus on Susan after that. I mean, no offense Susan, but the thing is - you’re no Halle Berry.  No Storm in X Men, No Catwoman in Catwoman, no Cappy in Robots.  But I wanted to show Susan a good time, so I thought I’d let her in on a little of the ol small world of show business thing.  And maybe make a nice connection with Halle in the process.  We actors know how to talk to each other, and Susan, being a librarian, found that very impressive.  I sat through dinner, waiting for just the right moment to pounce, and as I crossed to the bathroom, I stopped, placed a gentle but firm hand on Halle’s shoulder and said, “Excuse me, could you tell me where the bathroom is?”  Halle looks me square in the eye and says, “I think it’s back there,” pointing behind her.  You should have seen the stink eye that Halle’s date gave me.  Boy oh boy.

When I sat down with Susan again, she was just bubbling with questions.  “What did you say to her?”, “is she pretty up close?” “where’s the check?” etcetera.  I’d call the night a major success.  I haven’t seen Halle since then, but I have a feeling that the time will come when I can remind her of our brief encounter someday.  And at the very least, it makes for a nice little name drop at parties.  “Oh yeah, Halle and I eating panasian cuisine together on a Sunday. Pretty crazy.”  But seriously folks.  Halle is an excellent actress and I really respect her career and integrity. I am honored to call her an acquaintance, and I hope that we get to work together someday.  If her agent is reading this, I can be reached at bringbackjerometolost@gmail.com.

Oh and hey everybody - LET’S BRING BACK JEROME TO LOST!  Sign and spread that petition, people - every little signature counts.

Over and out.

***JEROME***

p.s. Let me know if you have an thoughts about my signature.  I’m playing with some symbols, got some asterisks at work above.  Trying to find a nice simple design that really captures “me,” and says to the reader “talk to you later.”  Any ideas are welcome.

*Name and location have been changed to protect the identity of John from Colorado.

**Restaurant name has been changed to protect Halle.

Auditioning for ABC's Lost

I just want to start today by thanking everyone for the support and for the inbox activity. In a few days we could be a pretty mobile operation, my friends.  Hehe, let’s not get ahead of ourselves but seriously though I’m feeling the love everyone. Sorry for taking a couple days to post again, its tough making this a regular habit.

So yeah, you all voted and clearly want to hear more about my experiences auditioning for Lost. Well here goes. A wise person once said, acting is in the choices.  Or something close to that, I’m not really sure about the wording. When I went in to audition, my choice was to memorize all four of my lines, and to wear glasses.  I walked into that waiting room and though I’m pretty sure that lots of those guys were off book, I didn’t see a single pair of glasses.  It’s hard to say what the auditors saw in me, hard to say why birds fly, why the sky is blue, why some chips have ridges and some don’t, but I’m pretty sure my glasses made a good impression. Let’s just say I got the part. 

I felt pretty solid on most of my stuff, hit the dramatic pause I’d planned, stumbled a bit when I said “over there” - but get this, when I stumbled, I did the ol pensive glasses readjust, and smoothed over the bump. Helped fill out the humanity of my character, just a nice little trick my Acting the Mystery coach bestowed upon me.

Unfortunately, the tactic hasn’t been quite as effective lately. After landing Lost, I made glasses my “thing.” Sort of like a the daytime Jack Nicholson was what I envisioned. I started wearing them to every audition.  Bought a few different pairs. I don’t actually need to wear glasses, I have 20/20 vision, so I get headaches occasionally, but I figure it’s worth it cause no pain no gain, right?   I get asked to take them off a lot, but I consider that an icebreaker to more conversation, and a hidden window to success.

So for next time, what do you think? Horn rimmed or wire frame for the role of “crackhead #2”? All ideas are welcome. No actor is an island.

You Choose the Topic for Tomorrow

Ok, if you spend enough time at a coffee shop reading magazines, you start to get an understanding of what the people want, and what the people want is choice!

So, for tomorrow’s post, I’ll let you pick from three semi-scandalous topics for me to cover. To vote, shoot me an email at bringbackjerometolost@gmail.com with the topic as the subject line.

Your topics to choose from are:

A) The most famous celebrity I’ve ever gone on a date with

B) What it was like auditioning for Lost

C) The worst role I’ve ever been offered

Start sending me your votes now!

Sign my petition to the writers of the ABC show Lost

It’s only been up for 12 or so hours and I’ve gotten 10 signatures, that’s ok, right? I mean, I’m not exactly reaching out to my network that consists of the same people I’m hoping to get new work out of. It would look pretty bad if I was like, “I’d love the part of Joey’s other obsessive compulsive roommate in the new Matt LeBlanc sitcom, AND could you sign this petition to get me back on Lost?”

See my perdicament? My plan to spread this thing pretty much consists of sitting in this Starbucks with my laptop open, turned out, hoping someone says, “what’s that?” or even offers a two-second glance, something for me to jump on and say, “oh, yeah, this thing? I’m an actor….” (shudder)

Ok, 10 is not ok. I could really use your help. By ‘your help’, yeah, I mean spam your friends with this. But they’re your friends, so they’ll get over it. Or they were never really friends in the first place. So… use my petition to prove your friends are really loyal, trustworthy, and genuinely good human beings.

Sign it and spread it, please?