March 2010 Archives
Will & Grace & Will
I would love to take credit for this next blog, but I can’t. It was written by my Facebook friend Will Radford who is a working actor in Los Angeles. I was so touched by his story that I asked if I could post it here on my website, and being the gentleman that he is, he agreed. This story encompasses two things I am very passionate about…..television and spirituality. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Will Radford: Sometimes, it’s the little things…
In late September of 1998, a pilot episode for a new four camera sitcom aired on NBC. I was fortunate to have been cast in that pilot. Fairly recently out of school, and still new to the idea of acting as a job, and having already done a few things, this was seemingly just the next step along the way. I’d already done a couple network sitcoms (one of which was a pilot for CBS which didn’t air) so I was a bit familiar with the format, and definitely grateful to be working.
I don’t remember exactly how many days we worked on this pilot—I think it was maybe eight or nine. I do remember that every day, in addition to table reads, rehearsing, rewrites, and photo sessions for the four series regulars (one of whom I’d previously worked with on that CBS pilot) that members of the “guest cast” (of which I was one) were changing every day. As scenes were added or cut, so were the actors appearing in those scenes. I was just in one scene—the very last one—but fortunately it was with two of the leads. Still, none of us knew from day to day which of us would get voted off the island, so we just all showed up each day and did what was asked of us.
But there was definitely something different about this pilot. One thing I noticed was how nice the accommodations were—little dressing rooms instead of trailers. And the craft service seemed especially upscale. But mostly what I noticed was the incredible camaraderie between the bunch of us—the regulars and even us little guys who were just there for the episode. We all ate together, hung out together, laughed together—after all, it wasn’t really a “show” yet, just a pilot, and we all knew it might never air. But there sure seemed to be a lot of “buzz” about it. We had a very well-known director, and for the last four or five nights after rehearsing, taping, rewriting, etc., the head of the network would personally take all of us in the cast out to Mexicali. Yup, even me—and I was just in the last scene, and who even knew for how long. And he even knew my name!
One day I was standing at the craft service table, and the actor who did those “Joe Isuzu” commercials came up to me and asked me how “your show” was going. Wow. At that point I felt like if Joe Isuzu is coming up to me, I must really be a part of this whole thing. Even if it was just a small part.
Since I had a lot of down time on the set, I found things to keep myself busy. I helped one of the regulars run his lines; after all, they were changing for him on a moment by moment basis as the show was being fine tuned. I hung out with the other regulars and guest cast. And I stood behind the director when he conducted the tech rehearsal with the level of precision smoothness and flawless execution that only comes with having done this kind of thing for many, many years.
Finally, it was show night—like opening night of a play—with a packed house and everyone wishing each other well. And believe it or not, I was still in the show! Of course they shot the show chronologically, so after several hours of stop and go, retakes, etc., I got to do my one little scene at the end with two of the leads. And it all just went great. We all got called out individually for our sitcom rush-out-and-bow curtain call to the receptive audience’s thunderous applause. I even had several people from the audience come up to me afterwards to say hello and congratulations.
Afterwards, I got hugs from everybody, and introduced my girlfriend (she sat there all four hours to get to see me do about a minute worth of work) to the four leads and a few of the others. We all wished each other luck. Then the two of us walked one of the other actresses to her car, got in my car, and left.
After dropping my girlfriend off at her place, I headed home. I already missed everyone. It was one of those good gigs you never forget. It was one of those times when you really felt you were part of the team.
Well, not only did the pilot get picked by NBC for it’s Thursday night lineup, but it continued to be a blessing to me. Yes, I was there when it aired, in the last scene. A week before it aired, I got a call from someone I knew congratulating me for being in the show. ”How did you know I did that show?” I asked. “Because there’s a big color picture of you and two of the leads on the cover of the Sunday New York Times Arts & Entertainment section as one of the new hot shows.”
I went down to the local newsstand. Damn!! She was right. I bought like eight copies…
That tiny scene I did opened a lot of doors for me—and right near the beginning of me thinking of myself as a possible “working actor.” It led to other work, a new agency, stuff like that. I still had a day job at the time, and over my desk, taped to the wall, was the NY Times photo—just in case anyone wondered why I’d have to leave work from time to time in the middle of the day. I guess it was kind of like my “license to leave for auditions.”
The show went on to be a well-known series. And for some reason, this pilot episode got a lot of play. Of the things I’ve done so far, it’s had the most reruns. It even had a lot of those great primetime network reruns we all love so much. For several years, NBC would run it in the summertime as like a “where it all started” special. A documentary about the series was eventually made by Lifetime, and (can you believe it) my scene was in that too—and I even got paid for it!!
But the funniest part of the whole thing to me is that, back when I was originally called in to read for it, I think they told me the title of the new show, but for some reason I either didn’t hear it or it just didn’t register. The CD had cast me in that CBS pilot before, and so I just showed up at the producer session, picked up the sides there, and just went in and did it. Although it wasn’t a funny part, I think I got a chuckle or two from the two writer/producers and the CD. Then I was off.
On the drive home I stopped at a payphone to check my voicemail messages. I’d just left the CD’s office fifteen minutes before, but now I had a message to call them back, which I did. For some reason that day, I’d really been thinking a lot about the word “grace”—one of my favorite words. When the associate came on the phone she said, “Congratulations, Will!! You booked the pilot—the role of Henry, the bar patron.” She said she’d be calling my agent, and to expect a call from wardrobe in a few days.
“That’s great!!” I shouted. “Thanks for having me in again!!” then, just as I was about to hang up, I asked her, “By the way—what’s the name of the show?”
“It’s called Will and Grace,” she said.
And who says God doesn’t have a sense of humor??
That pilot episode is airing for the umpteenth time this coming Monday morning on Lifetime. Depending on where you live and what kind of TV service you have, it airs between 8:00AM and noon (check local listings or TIVO, etc. for “Pilot”). It’s definitely not worth watching or recording it on my account. But if you’re a fan of the show who never got to see the pilot, here’s your chance. And if you do, and happen to watch it all the way to the end, and don’t blink, you’ll probably see me toasting the happy couple.
Years ago, a gentleman I know who’d been an agent at ICM was advising me—”Will, it’s better to do a small part on a big show, than to do a big part on a small show. ” I’ve done both, and stuff in between, and it’s all good. But this definitely fits what he was saying. I guess it’s all about loving what you do, and hopefully getting to do what you love. It’s really all about grace…
WR
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest
This week I have been engulfed in fighting a battle not so much for myself, but on behalf of others who may be impacted more than I but are not in a position to be able to speak up for themselves.
I truly believe in peace and harmony, but sometimes you have to ruffle a few feathers and overturn the applecart to get things moving in the right direction. Controversy doesn’t always have to be negative. Sometimes it can bring about change. With courage and a passionate purpose, people like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Harvey Milk have changed the world in which we live.
My daughter who is 14, attends a performing arts school. In the two years she has been attending this school I have been fairly active in the monthly parent-teacher meetings. Last year, and again this year, discussions took place in those rooms with regard to the selection of plays that would be performed during the school year. Heated arguments took place because some parents appear to have a problem with their children “swearing” on stage.
Seriously? With all of the problems surrounding our youth today (i.e. teen pregnancy, drugs, alcohol, pedophiles, and dropping out of school), we’re going to focus our energy on teen swearing? I thought we came to a compromise last year which resulted in a new process. If a show was going to be produced that had what some parents considered “inappropriate” or “adult” content, then the parents would be asked to sign a waiver allowing their children to be part of the production. That seemed to work for everyone involved at the time.
Fast forward to the new school year and a change in the administration. The theater chair, who was previously a Broadway actor in New York, decided to return to performing and a new director relocated from Massachusetts to accept the open position. With him he brought a lot of ambition, vision, and drive which was a perfect fit for this fairly young performing arts school. There was only one problem. From the day this man began his journey at the school, it became obvious to me that a witch hunt ensued because he’s, oh dear shall I say it here? He is a homosexual. I have sat back, watched, and said little for seven months, but as an advocate for gay rights, I knew that I could no longer keep quiet.
The first show of the season was Everyman and the middle school students who performed the show did a fantastic job. The second show of the season was The Wiz and for obvious reasons everybody was thrilled with the production. The most recent show performed last weekend, with high school students only, was One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. Although my daughter was not in the show, we attended in support of the school and this new theater director.
If you have never seen it, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest is a provocative piece of work, but it is also viewed as a modern literary classic. It is read and studied in schools throughout the U.S. and has continually been in print since its publication in 1962. As a play, which premiered in 1964, it has had two revivals; off-Broadway in 1971 and a Broadway production in 2001. When adapted to a film in 1975 starring Jack Nicholson, it won 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture. Overall, it is a pretty impressive literary pedigree.
I thought in spite of its adult theme and its “offensive” language the students pulled off the production brilliantly. Once again this phenomenal theater teacher deserved accolades. Unfortunately, on Wednesday of this week one of the parents sent an email blast out to the entire school community discrediting everything that had been accomplished. Here is just a small part of that email.
“It was a great performance with offensively shocking language and subject matter. It is unfortunate that their talents had to be used on projects that are not as widely view as good or universally appropriate materiel. It was very discouraging that much of the language in Cuckoo’s Nest was inappropriate for small children and even offensive to some adults. The show would not have lost any effect by changing the language. The use of the F-bomb was completely unnecessary as much of the other profanity. It makes no sense to me that the students would be placed in a situation where they were forced to perform inappropriate material for their age group. Outside of the show they would have been suspended for using these words. I do understand that the subject matter of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” is adult in theme, so I would hope that since we entrust our children to your care, you would carefully consider which plays our children will be performing. As a concern, evolved and loving parent I am pushing the envelope back to say these things are not acceptable. Hopefully the Administration will rethink how it chooses what our kids perform and are exposed to.”
Forced to perform? To my knowledge no one is every forced to audition or perform at this arts school. In addition, I felt this kind of communication should have been sent to the school’s director, not posted in such a public manner for all eyes to see. I was the first one to write a retort. The bottom line of my argument back was that not everyone should be subjected to this one person’s value system when choosing or performing a play at the school and posting his remarks discrediting the work of the teacher in such a public manner was something I found to be even more inappropriate.
Other parents joined in, some in support of my viewpoint and some in support of his. One parent captured her sentiments perfectly in one sentence. “As a writer, it worries me when we suggest changing an author’s literary work to make it more acceptable to suit our beliefs. That’s called censorship.”
To add fuel to the fire, the moderator of the parent-teacher email distribution list emailed me privately to tell me that I should have emailed the offended parent privately and not use the group’s list to respond. It became very clear to me that not only were there parents who wanted to censor the literary work performed at the school, they also wanted to censor me. My only choice was to make it clear that no one was going to censor my input or feedback and since the original sender posted his viewpoint in a public manner then my responding in the same manner should be perfectly acceptable.
In spite of the retorts this man was not backing down. I’m not sure why I didn’t think of this sooner, but I then Googled this parent to find out exactly who he was and why he thought he should have full control over what was occurring at the school (because it is not a private school in which he contributes money). The results of my search clarified everything for me. This parent was the pastor of a newly formed Christian Baptist church in northern California. That is when I knew I had to approach this from a different angle. There was a spiritual agenda at work here, one that I am all too familiar with, and one that I personally have a problem with.
I have nothing against organized religion if it is what helps an individual to find their spiritual core and their connection to God. Where I begin to have a problem is when one group of spiritual seekers feel they have the right to infringe their belief systems on those outside of their congregation or religious sect. It has always been my personal feeling that if people took the time and energy it takes to really learn the history of organized religion along with the how and why of its formation, they would not put as much value in it as they do. But that’s an entirely separate blog.
My point is that I am also an ordained minister, and I have my spiritual beliefs which are solid as a rock, just like the pastor in my story here. Is there art that I find offensive? Yes there is. I do not listen to or enjoy rap music or hip hop music because I find the word “nigger” and “ho” to be pretty offensive along with many of the lyrics that are written today in this art form. However, the one thing I would never do is push my spiritual agenda on anyone else that didn’t come to me for spiritual guidance or advice. Everyone is entitled to their own choices and their own path and frankly I am tired of this particular religious group, with their condescending judgments of others and their narrow-minded spiritual ignorance, thinking it is perfectly acceptable to infiltrate our schools and our political system in an attempt to make us who they want us to be.
So for that reason I kept pushing until the truth of the matter was finally revealed. This parent was the father of one of the Cuckoo’s Nest leads, and he also had a younger daughter who worked backstage on the production. He knew up front about the content and language (because he had gone to the school administrator about it weeks prior to the performance), but in spite of this knowledge he let his daughter perform in the production anyway. He felt to pull her three weeks into rehearsals would have been unfair to the rest of the actors and the teachers. Seriously? He felt strongly enough about the “content” to create this whirlwind of emails and controversy as he tears down the teacher and administration involved in producing the show, but he let his daughter go through with the performance anyway. In addition, he allowed his younger daughter to work backstage. If you had felt as strongly as he did, would you have let your child perform? I have to honestly say I wouldn’t have. The bottom line from where I sit is having his daughter in the performance spotlight took precedence over his concern about inappropriate content. If that’s not spiritual hypocrisy I do not know what is.
I wish this pastor the best of luck in his new church endeavor and I hope he is met with great success there. But if he or any other parent tries to resurrect their spiritual agenda at this school again, or elsewhere in the community where it effects my child or my life experience, I will be standing strong to fight them on behalf of ALL creative artists as well as the gay community.
Standing strong and tall…………….Peace Out!
