name. If you'd like to see the entire list, please feel free to visit my IMDb page, but I warn you, it's long and listy. My wife even noticed once that I actually had more credits than Julia Roberts (unfortunately for me, Julia kept working, while I... didn't). While I did my best to collect video tapes (remember those?) of all of my work, this was mostly for the sake of posterity. Over time, though, the need to make a reel from those became more apparent. For most of my career it was pretty much unnecessary. I was a cute kid who could act, so I gained a reputation quickly, and got cast frequently. As I got older, the cuteness wore off, and I had to fall back more and more on the acting skills, which are harder to prove via a headshot.So, my manager helped me put together a reel which was then sent out to various people. If memory serves me, the reel was wildly successful, spawning dozens of major film roles, multiple sequel reels, and became one of the very first viral Internet memes. But it was fun to put together, and during the editing process we actually managed to take a scene from a show I won't name (I loved the job, so don't wish to put anyone's work down) and drastically improve the editing of one of my scenes. Pretty cool stuff.
Anyway, during an email conversation the other day, I was asked if I had a reel. I had to laugh at the above memory, as while sure enough, I've got one, it's basically useless, what with it now being over ten years old (am I even ALLOWED to feel old at the age of 27?). I've changed drastically since then, and television has to some degree, too. Of course I also haven't worked in the last four years, so I suppose it couldn't be THAT bad. Still, it struck me that I should probably track down what I could that's most recent, and edit together some clips.Of course now, in this age of web 2.0, interactivity, YouTube, and the like, there's no reason for me to put excessive time into editing together a single, classic-style reel. I can just as easily clip out my scenes from various jobs, put them in individual videos, and upload them. Then the viewer can pick and choose what they want to watch, and I can even make notes. So that's what I did. Right here. See? I did have a point to this rambling.
Now I must preface this by stating that to call this a "work in progress" would be an insult to the word "work," a slap in the face to the word "progress," and actually a slight compliment to "in." As of now this is made up primarily of a combination of my most recent work, and the low-hanging fruit of what I was able to piece together from easy-to-access resources. Over time I hope to delve into my older work (I DEFINITELY need to clip out my work from Freaks and Geeks), and put up additional posts, and maybe even an entire page dedicated to my digital reel. But laziness and impatience have won out at the moment, so I'm starting here. The following clips are in chronological order, which just happens to place some real fan favorites at the beginning and end. Lucky how that worked out, isn't it?
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
This job was a real treat on multiple levels. I had recently become a HUGE fan of the show, so getting to actually cement myself as part of it couldn't have made me happier. Also seeing the sets and various cast members was a rare chance to geek out over something I was normally quite jaded over. As for my scene, as you saw, it was a one-on-one with Sarah Michelle Gellar. Now, when I met her, I can honestly say I wasn't half as excited as I was by everything else that day. The show, to me, has always been more about the supporting cast, so I was left feeling like I was SUPPOSED to be excited to meet her, but was easily twice as excited just to see Alyson Hannigan drive up in her Jaugar XK8. Still, I have to say she (SMG) was one of the most professional actors I've ever worked with. She made a lot of her own staging decisions, lighting, camera angles, and simply did her job flawlessly. I had a reputation for being especially professional, as well, so we knocked the scene out in two hours, which is pretty quick. And for what my daily rate at the time was, it was one of the best-paying two hours of my life. At first I got the vague impression that she was kind of rude, but as I worked with her I began to realize she was simply comfortable. She had no need to put on airs, and put most of her focus on the work. She cracked occasional jokes to crew members who seemed at ease with her, and everything ran smoothly. Overall, great experience.
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Gilmore Girls
This was another relatively easy one-day shoot. I'd never seen the show before (still haven't, beyond my scene), so I had no preconceived notions. I was sick, though, so dosed myself up on daytime medication and tried not to sound extremely nasal. The cast seemed nice, but the day was short enough that I really didn't get any time to "hang out" with them. Watching it now reminds me, though, how awkward the overall staging of the scene felt both then, filming it, and now, watching it. Not sure what went wrong there, or if I'm simply over-critical, but it feels very forced, and paint-by-the-numbers in set-up. I'm not really saying I could have done a better job staging the scene, but I'm honestly not sure I could have done any worse. It just seems unimaginative.
Grounded for Life
I can honestly say, this episode alone, is possibly one of the worst examples of my acting, simply because I was given so little to work with, and so much was edited out of the aired episode. Actually, this episode didn't even air initially, getting pre-empted and then pushed off until the repeat season. The only plus side was that it gave my later and better episodes the chance to establish my character, instead. What I will say about this one, though, was that they liked me and my cohort enough to bring us back three (nearly four) more times before the show's eventual cancellation. And this touched off what was, for me, one of the most enjoyable overall experiences I've had. See, sometimes you get the chance to work on something truly special. Whether it's a highly-acclaimed TV series, or a movie from a brilliant director, or a really crappy TV show that happens to have the best crew you've ever worked with, certain jobs stand out. In this case it was a pretty decent sitcom (I enjoy it more in re-runs now than I did at the time), with a very, very good cast, and an awesome crew, all of whom made me feel like a member of the family by halfway through day one. I couldn't have asked for more (well, except for dialog or screen-time).
As usual, much of my work ended up being edited out of this one, unfortunately. Still, a better episode overall than the first. The funny thing was in watching the episode in order to edit it together for this, I noticed a very familiar face: Autumn Reeser. At the time, as far as I was concerned, she was just a very nice girl I worked with on the show. Since then she became much better known as Taylor in The O.C. Small, forgetful world. We worked hard on a funny sequence at the end where, after I see Jimmy's blood-streaked face, I pass out cold against Autumn's body. It took many different attempts to get just the right comedic fall, but the final result was hilarious. Trust me, it was. Seriously. And you'll have to take my word for it since they edited it out, leaving only an awkward glance down from her off to the side while we hear a thunk. Sigh.
For the artistic integrity of the scenes, and my mere presence in them, I didn't chop this one up as much as I probably should have. Still, I have the most dialog in this one out of all the episodes of the show I did, and there's some relatively funny stuff in it. The "drunken" kiss at the end was funny, as Lynsey had to warn me that she had been feeling under the weather, so had eaten a lot of garlic. I laughed and told her I loved garlic. I sure hope she didn't think that was some sort of pickup line. Point of interest about Lynsey: on the Internet she gets a surprising amount of flack from pathetic, anonymous, asstards who have nothing better to do than point out when actresses are "fat." Lynsey's the perfect example of the camera adding at LEAST ten pounds, as in person she was in extremely good shape, and almost TOO thin from some angles. Whatever the case, all that matters is much like the rest of the cast she was wonderful to work with.
This was a pretty funny episode that gave me a touch more range than most of the previous ones. Funniest thing, though, was while editing it I noticed yet another familiar face; this one familiar only to me, though: my brother-in-law, Patrick. See, he had just moved in with us from Oklahoma when I filmed this episode, and came along to the set that day. They needed various background performers for the "Sciencenauts," and since he was hanging around the set anyway, asked him to join in. He had fun, made a little money, and got to show all his friends that he was on TV. This episode was also unique for another reason: In order to pick up one last season (well, they hoped it wouldn't be the last), the network cut the show's budget. Besides cutting craft services way back (they used to have a freezer full of ice cream just available to anyone), and various other small changes, they made two pretty big ones: cut the studio audience, and cut the youngest son, Henry. So filming was handled completely differently, with no live audience to perform to, and the youngest son was treated like he never existed. It wasn't until the series finale (by this point they knew it was one) that they finally made mention of him, as though we just hadn't noticed him around, but that was it. Kind of sad for the actor, and a rather strange way to handle things. Jake Burbage, the boy who played Henry, was a blast to work with, and even put together a weekly newsletter for the cast and crew, including puzzles, facts, and show-related news. Very cool.
Entourage
And now for the final stop on the tour of my career's dwindling days. This is another example of a show I had never seen (don't get HBO), but heard nothing but great things about. Plus I'm a huge fan of Jeremy Piven, so I was psyched at the idea of hopefully working with him. Sadly, he was NOT in my scene, but the other actors who were were fantastic to work with, and very funny. I also rode on a transpo van with Mandy Moore, which I've been assured by fans of her was very exciting me. She seemed nice, but as I had only a vague awareness of her, I wasn't really able to evaluate how she stood up to any reputation she may or may not have had. I chatted with the rest of the cast, though, and they were great. We filmed at an actual Blockbuster, and I wore the actual manager's nametag. This was one role I didn't expect to get, either, as when I showed up at the interview it turned out to be what we refer to as a "cattle call," meaning a ridiculous number of people were called in for the same role. Waiting took forever, and one of the actors was dressed as an ACTUAL Blockbuster employee. Apparently I made a more convincing Blockbuster employee than the real thing. Go me?
That's that for now. I've definitely got a lot more I need to edit and upload, but that will take time, and much of it is either on VHS, or not even available. If anyone has digital copies available of the various work on my IMDb page and would like to help me out with my collection, I'd be greatly appreciative. Drop me a comment, and if it's something I don't have access to, I'll hit you up for more details.
I haven't delved far enough into this game yet to give a truly professional review, plus I've rarely spent time reviewing games in the past. But since it's E3 week, so far the game seems to have been passed over in the review process. In fact, due to the lack of reviews, I almost didn't buy it. But as I have great trust in the team over at