WEBVTT - Adam Rodriguez: Reinvention, Representation, and Real Life 0:00:04.960 --> 0:00:05.840 Wilmer Badma. 0:00:05.920 --> 0:00:06.920 It's Freddie Rodriguez. 0:00:06.920 --> 0:00:08.440 Welcome to this podcast. 0:00:08.440 --> 0:00:11.360 This is part two, Part two conversation with Adam Road 0:00:11.360 --> 0:00:12.360 that it was too good. 0:00:12.360 --> 0:00:14.960 It had to be too You're still awake. 0:00:17.480 --> 0:00:20.120 But going back to uh so then that that gave 0:00:20.160 --> 0:00:22.160 you the confidence to go, I'm gonna pack my stuff 0:00:22.239 --> 0:00:23.680 up and move to La No. 0:00:23.800 --> 0:00:26.440 So I did. I did extra work. I was trying 0:00:26.440 --> 0:00:29.400 to you know, get an agent and hustle for auditions 0:00:29.440 --> 0:00:32.400 and crash auditions, mostly commercials. At the time, I was 0:00:32.440 --> 0:00:36.400 doing some theater work. I was, you know, still working 0:00:36.440 --> 0:00:39.960 as a bellman and uh and doing all these things. 0:00:40.280 --> 0:00:44.840 And there's a whole side story about you know, getting 0:00:44.880 --> 0:00:47.279 my stockbroker license and a bunch of other stuff as 0:00:47.320 --> 0:00:50.279 a whole you know, during that course of time. But 0:00:51.440 --> 0:00:55.360 I I did background, like I said, between New York 0:00:55.400 --> 0:00:58.840 Undercover and you know, more movies than I can remember, 0:00:59.160 --> 0:01:04.880 you know, during that period of time. I guess we 0:01:05.040 --> 0:01:07.320 call that like two two and a half three years 0:01:07.360 --> 0:01:10.399 whatever it was. Circle it back now to where I 0:01:10.440 --> 0:01:12.679 caught it and sort of like you know, digressed for 0:01:12.720 --> 0:01:15.200 a moment, and back to my pops. Right. So, my 0:01:15.280 --> 0:01:17.759 pops was in the army, with this guy named Bill Clark. 0:01:18.319 --> 0:01:22.160 And I'm walking into the house one night and my 0:01:22.240 --> 0:01:27.200 father is watching TV, which is the norm, and he's like, yeah, 0:01:27.360 --> 0:01:30.360 you remember this guy. And as I'm walking in the door, 0:01:30.360 --> 0:01:32.240 he's freaking out. He's like jumping up and I can't 0:01:32.240 --> 0:01:35.000 believe this. I can't believe it. You remember him? And 0:01:35.040 --> 0:01:38.399 I'm looking at the Emmy Awards on TV and he's 0:01:38.440 --> 0:01:41.800 pointing to this guy on stage and he's like, that's 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:44.280 Bill Clark. You don't remember him. And I'm like, I 0:01:44.280 --> 0:01:47.280 don't remember him. He goes the man, I haven't seen 0:01:47.360 --> 0:01:49.120 him in years. And my father knew this guy from 0:01:49.120 --> 0:01:51.880 the Army reserves and when he knew him, they were friends, 0:01:51.920 --> 0:01:56.440 and Bill was a New York detective. And my father 0:01:56.560 --> 0:01:59.720 cannot put together how in whatever it is ten years 0:01:59.720 --> 0:02:02.000 that he hadn't seen him, twelve years he hadn't seen him. 0:02:02.360 --> 0:02:05.160 This guy was now standing on stage at the Emmy 0:02:05.160 --> 0:02:10.000 Awards winning an Emmy, winning an Emmy with the people 0:02:10.000 --> 0:02:14.880 from New York from NYPD Blue and so the whole 0:02:14.880 --> 0:02:18.839 Botch Go crew there. Yeah, and my dad is bugging out, man, 0:02:18.880 --> 0:02:21.000 and I'm like, I don't remember. So my Dad's like, wow, 0:02:21.120 --> 0:02:24.280 this is crazy. Couldn't believe it. So every Sunday I 0:02:24.400 --> 0:02:27.720 mentioned Sonny Volpie to you guys, the teamster my dad 0:02:27.880 --> 0:02:31.160 used to have. They go to this little diner and 0:02:31.240 --> 0:02:34.519 my father this guy, Sonny, and another guy, the old timers. 0:02:34.639 --> 0:02:35.840 You know, they were older than my dad. But he 0:02:35.919 --> 0:02:37.720 used to hang out with these guys and they sit 0:02:37.800 --> 0:02:40.880 and bullshit, read the paper, talk smack about whatever, and 0:02:41.000 --> 0:02:43.000 you know, spend a couple hours on a Sunday morning. 0:02:43.480 --> 0:02:46.000 So he's reading the paper and there's an article about 0:02:46.000 --> 0:02:48.000 Bill Clark and my father says to Sonny, He's like, 0:02:48.440 --> 0:02:50.560 you know this guy. You ever come across him, you know, 0:02:50.840 --> 0:02:53.440 driving or whatever. And son He's like, yeah, no, I 0:02:53.520 --> 0:02:56.480 know Bill. Yeah, a nice guy, you know. So my 0:02:56.520 --> 0:02:58.200 father said, can you can you get me in touch 0:02:58.200 --> 0:03:00.360 with him? I want to reach out to him, you know, 0:03:00.360 --> 0:03:02.720 it's been so long. So Sonny gets HI the number 0:03:02.720 --> 0:03:05.880 of the production office. My father calls, gets a hold 0:03:05.880 --> 0:03:08.760 of Bill. Bill can't believe it, but ray, oh man, Ray, 0:03:08.760 --> 0:03:11.280 it's good to hear from me. They're talking, they catch up. 0:03:11.600 --> 0:03:13.720 Bill's asking about his family, how you know, how the 0:03:13.800 --> 0:03:16.000 kids or whatever. My father says, yeah, you know, Adam, 0:03:16.120 --> 0:03:18.560 Adam has been acting the last few years. He's doing that, 0:03:18.680 --> 0:03:21.920 and you know what my sister's doing, and you know, 0:03:22.120 --> 0:03:25.240 so they catch up on life, right. Bill says to 0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:29.160 my father, Look, I'm leaving tomorrow. I'll be back to 0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:30.560 New York in a couple of months. We've got to 0:03:30.600 --> 0:03:32.640 come back to Shoot. I'll call you. We'll get dinner 0:03:32.639 --> 0:03:35.400 when I get back. And if, for whatever reason, you 0:03:35.560 --> 0:03:39.280 get to LA between now and then, you call me, 0:03:39.320 --> 0:03:41.960 here's my numbers, let me know. And it turned out 0:03:41.960 --> 0:03:48.760 that year, this is ninety six. That year we were 0:03:48.760 --> 0:03:51.920 supposed to come out here to visit my parents' best friends. 0:03:52.680 --> 0:03:55.440 Their sons were living in LA and so we were 0:03:55.440 --> 0:03:58.360 coming out to visit them for Thanksgiving. The two families 0:03:58.360 --> 0:04:00.760 we're going to get together. So we come out to 0:04:00.760 --> 0:04:04.440 see Ralph and Xavier, and you know ral you know 0:04:04.480 --> 0:04:10.560 my boy Ralph. So come out to see Ralph and 0:04:10.600 --> 0:04:13.400 we have Thanksgiving. My father calls Bill and he says, hey, man, 0:04:13.440 --> 0:04:17.200 I'm in town for Thanksgiving and you know, would love 0:04:17.200 --> 0:04:19.359 to see you. We're here until whenever, and Bill says, 0:04:19.440 --> 0:04:21.760 tomorrow tomorrow, we'll get together. Day after Thanksgiving. We'll go 0:04:21.800 --> 0:04:24.080 to dinner. And my father says, great, So the day 0:04:24.120 --> 0:04:28.000 after Thanksgiving nineteen ninety six is really the day like 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:32.560 my life changed because we go out to dinner and 0:04:32.680 --> 0:04:37.720 we go to Giorgio Baldi's on Intrada. It's real fancy 0:04:37.960 --> 0:04:43.120 Italian restaurant that was very Hollywood. It still is, you know. 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:46.480 It's It was at the bottom of the Pacific Palisades, 0:04:46.560 --> 0:04:50.680 right where the pch meets in Trada and we walk in, 0:04:51.520 --> 0:04:55.160 you know, and and right away I'm like, oh shit, man, 0:04:55.240 --> 0:04:57.720 this is Hollywood, like for real, Like Kurt Russell and 0:04:57.760 --> 0:05:03.600 Goldie Hawn are sitting there having dinner. Was it. I'm 0:05:03.600 --> 0:05:05.440 getting confused now because the only murders in the building, 0:05:05.440 --> 0:05:07.360 I can't remember it was Steve Martin or Martin Short 0:05:07.560 --> 0:05:10.400 was sitting there in the rest one of those guys. 0:05:10.520 --> 0:05:13.520 Was there somebody else? But you walked in and you 0:05:13.600 --> 0:05:16.039 knew it's a small restaurant, so you walked in and 0:05:16.080 --> 0:05:18.240 you were like, oh shit, like wow, this is like 0:05:18.960 --> 0:05:21.080 this is the real deal, man, you know. And it was. 0:05:21.160 --> 0:05:22.839 It was a trip. I'm in there with my family 0:05:22.920 --> 0:05:25.800 with Bill and his wife at the time, and h 0:05:25.880 --> 0:05:27.680 and we meet his best friend was meeting us for 0:05:27.720 --> 0:05:29.720 dinner there. Bill's best friend So Bill's best friend is 0:05:29.760 --> 0:05:32.400 there with his wife and three kids, and we all 0:05:32.400 --> 0:05:34.160 sit down at this big table, got the biggest table 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:38.080 in the place, and we're all sitting there and uh, 0:05:38.240 --> 0:05:41.240 his best friend comes and sits next to me and 0:05:41.279 --> 0:05:44.880 we start talking. And two and a half three hours 0:05:44.920 --> 0:05:47.520 goes by for dinner and me and this guy been 0:05:47.520 --> 0:05:50.400 talking the whole time, and his name's David. And at 0:05:50.400 --> 0:05:52.080 the end of the dinner, I'm just like, you know, 0:05:52.160 --> 0:05:54.240 he's asked me about my life and we're talking. I'm 0:05:54.279 --> 0:05:56.640 sharing stuff with him, and we just really hit it off. 0:05:57.160 --> 0:05:59.560 And at the end of the dinner, I'm like, yes, 0:05:59.760 --> 0:06:01.279 you know, David, I know you work on the show, 0:06:01.320 --> 0:06:03.840 but what do you do at NYPD Blue. And it 0:06:03.880 --> 0:06:08.080 turns out it's David Milch, who is, you know, just 0:06:08.440 --> 0:06:14.440 a legendary writer in television and tremendous talent, and so 0:06:14.480 --> 0:06:16.320 he says, yeah, you know, I helped create the show 0:06:16.400 --> 0:06:17.839 and this is what I did. And he's like, look, 0:06:17.839 --> 0:06:20.080 I'm writing a pilot for something that Bill and I 0:06:20.120 --> 0:06:22.600 are doing, and there's a character in the show that 0:06:22.640 --> 0:06:26.039 I think you would be right for if you wanted 0:06:26.120 --> 0:06:27.800 to come out in audition. Have you ever thought about 0:06:27.839 --> 0:06:30.480 moving to LA And I had been thinking about it 0:06:30.520 --> 0:06:33.440 for almost a year at that point, as Ralphie had 0:06:33.480 --> 0:06:36.800 moved out here and I was already thinking about I 0:06:36.880 --> 0:06:38.280 just knew, like that's where you had to go at 0:06:38.279 --> 0:06:40.800 the time you're going to pursue it. La was where 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:42.440 you had to go do it. You know, New York 0:06:42.560 --> 0:06:44.880 was one thing, and you could stay and go that 0:06:44.960 --> 0:06:47.919 track in New York. But you know, for some reason, 0:06:47.960 --> 0:06:50.920 even as a kid, man La just kind of called me. Yeah, 0:06:51.120 --> 0:06:53.719 you know, I was on the sun, the palm trees, 0:06:53.839 --> 0:06:56.240 whatever it was. I was like, I know, one day 0:06:56.240 --> 0:06:58.200 I gotta go. I gotta go that way, you know, 0:06:58.320 --> 0:07:01.760 whatever it was. And so uh he said, man, David 0:07:01.800 --> 0:07:02.880 was so kind and generous. 0:07:02.880 --> 0:07:05.039 Man, so let you audition for it. 0:07:05.120 --> 0:07:08.400 So not only that, he says, look, you have a 0:07:08.440 --> 0:07:10.000 place to stay. And I'm like, look, hey, I have 0:07:10.040 --> 0:07:11.400 a place to stay because I know I could stay 0:07:11.440 --> 0:07:13.680 with Ralph and his brother. He's like, oh, okay, I 0:07:13.720 --> 0:07:16.240 would have offered you my guest house. You could stay there. 0:07:16.320 --> 0:07:21.640 And right then he says, stay in town a little 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:25.520 longer if you can. This is Thanksgiving. Let me find 0:07:25.600 --> 0:07:27.320 I want to just get you on camera. I want 0:07:27.360 --> 0:07:30.120 to see if we find something on blue on NYPD 0:07:30.200 --> 0:07:33.400 Blue and just see you on camera. So I hang 0:07:33.440 --> 0:07:35.800 out for about two weeks and waiting around. I'm just 0:07:35.880 --> 0:07:39.960 enjoying LA and finally get a call, Hey, we've got 0:07:39.960 --> 0:07:42.320 something on an episode. I come in and it's a 0:07:42.400 --> 0:07:46.600 character that like has one line three words and it's 0:07:46.640 --> 0:07:49.080 a It's in an episode of NYPD Blue called Upstairs. 0:07:49.080 --> 0:07:51.880 Downstairs with the detectives and the uniform cops are beefing 0:07:51.920 --> 0:07:54.560 with each other, and I'm a uniform cop that comes 0:07:54.640 --> 0:07:57.160 up and I'm carrying some boxes and shit and I 0:07:57.200 --> 0:08:01.000 and I all I say is uh is there's like 0:08:01.080 --> 0:08:03.760 the sergeant and two detectives Jimmy Smith's and it might 0:08:03.760 --> 0:08:06.520 have been Dennis Fans talking to the sergeant and there's 0:08:06.560 --> 0:08:08.240 like a heated exchange. And I come up with these 0:08:08.280 --> 0:08:10.840 boxes and I'm just like in the corner and then 0:08:10.880 --> 0:08:12.520 and then one of them says, yeah, in the corner 0:08:12.600 --> 0:08:14.840 or whatever, and I go, you know, delivery boy again, right, 0:08:15.960 --> 0:08:18.320 But then I have a stare down with Jimmy Smith's, 0:08:18.360 --> 0:08:21.160 Like we have a stare down right, Yeah, that's it, 0:08:21.240 --> 0:08:23.200 in and out right done, Like you know, by the 0:08:23.240 --> 0:08:26.320 time you recognize me, when you saw it, it was over. Yeah, 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:28.280 but I got my minute and I never forget. Man. 0:08:28.280 --> 0:08:30.840 I'm sitting in the trailer. I'm writing in this little journal, 0:08:30.920 --> 0:08:34.000 like I got a line and I'm here on the 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:39.760 thing and it's like like this is like really happening, man, 0:08:40.000 --> 0:08:43.480 you know. And so I do this thing. Great, it's done. 0:08:43.559 --> 0:08:45.360 I pack my ship. I go back to New York 0:08:45.480 --> 0:08:47.199 and I'm like, I'm moving to LA. I know I'm 0:08:47.200 --> 0:08:49.040 moving now, like now, I got to go out because 0:08:49.280 --> 0:08:52.480 this is the possibility of this audition for this show 0:08:52.720 --> 0:08:55.160 is going to happen. And I'm like, that's that's all 0:08:55.200 --> 0:08:57.120 I needed. Like that's enough for me. I'm packing up. 0:08:57.120 --> 0:09:01.400 I'm moving out. So pack up, I move out. I 0:09:01.480 --> 0:09:04.880 moved to LA end of January. I get out here 0:09:05.160 --> 0:09:09.000 and I have a place to stay for a little while. 0:09:09.080 --> 0:09:12.400 That doesn't work out, things get complicated. I'm trying to 0:09:12.720 --> 0:09:15.480 and at the lowest point, man, I get a call 0:09:16.240 --> 0:09:18.679 that the show that that character is not going to 0:09:18.720 --> 0:09:19.280 be in the pilot. 0:09:19.520 --> 0:09:19.679 Ah. 0:09:20.440 --> 0:09:24.240 So I'm like, shit, man, I'm out here. I'm freaking 0:09:24.440 --> 0:09:29.960 figuring out exists but not yet but not yet. So 0:09:30.040 --> 0:09:31.880 and I don't have an agent. I don't. I'm trying 0:09:31.920 --> 0:09:33.280 to get all of this right. So I come out 0:09:33.280 --> 0:09:35.840 here with that same hustle, and instead of mailing envelopes out, 0:09:36.040 --> 0:09:40.120 I'm literally driving around in my car handing out headshots 0:09:40.200 --> 0:09:44.679 at agencies with a Thomas Guide straight up Thomas. Okay, 0:09:44.679 --> 0:09:47.079 there's an agency here as part of the valley learning 0:09:47.080 --> 0:09:51.280 my way around LA. And I go to this agency 0:09:51.679 --> 0:09:54.640 and I think they were no more for repping dancers 0:09:54.679 --> 0:09:58.160 at the time, but KM something I can't remember what 0:09:58.160 --> 0:10:01.160 it was, man, but I give my this woman she 0:10:01.200 --> 0:10:02.880 says she wants to rep me. She asked me for 0:10:02.920 --> 0:10:04.880 my address, so they like, look, I don't have an 0:10:04.880 --> 0:10:07.440 address right now. The only address I could give you 0:10:07.520 --> 0:10:12.400 is where I was selling real estate for first time 0:10:12.440 --> 0:10:14.680 home buyers out in Riverside, right And I'm like, I 0:10:14.679 --> 0:10:16.000 can give you that. She's like, oh, you don't have 0:10:16.000 --> 0:10:17.280 an address. I'm like, no, let me give you this 0:10:17.280 --> 0:10:19.559 beeper number in this and she was like, okay, you're 0:10:19.600 --> 0:10:21.200 looking for a place to live. I'm like yeah, and 0:10:21.280 --> 0:10:24.280 so she's like, okay, call this number later tonight. I 0:10:24.360 --> 0:10:26.720 call the number. She picks up. Her name was Jennifer. 0:10:27.040 --> 0:10:28.840 She's like, look, me and my roommate are looking for 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:31.040 a third roommate because we're we just want to save 0:10:31.080 --> 0:10:33.120 some money before we move on to our next place. 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:36.320 So I ended up living sleeping on the floor in 0:10:36.360 --> 0:10:39.040 the living room of this apartment in Burbank for like 0:10:39.520 --> 0:10:40.280 months and a half. 0:10:40.400 --> 0:10:41.120 What's an agent? 0:10:41.720 --> 0:10:45.560 And she became my agent for a while, right wow. 0:10:45.760 --> 0:10:48.320 And then as I as I'm thinking like damn, when 0:10:48.360 --> 0:10:51.120 is this pilot gonna happen whatever, Bill calls me and 0:10:51.120 --> 0:10:55.240 he's like, Hey, the characters back in the pilot and 0:10:55.320 --> 0:10:57.200 they're gonna they're gonna bring you in for an audition. 0:10:57.559 --> 0:11:00.040 And my saving grace and I'm going back to this 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:02.240 this moment was an acting class that I was in. 0:11:02.880 --> 0:11:05.160 That Milch again was like an angel and was like, 0:11:05.400 --> 0:11:07.520 go see this woman. She has an acting class. And 0:11:07.520 --> 0:11:09.760 I go and I show up and it turns out 0:11:09.760 --> 0:11:12.200 there's like four or five people in the class that 0:11:12.280 --> 0:11:16.720 he's paying for Oh wow, to go study. And he 0:11:17.320 --> 0:11:19.760 paid for me to go study with this woman, you know, 0:11:20.480 --> 0:11:22.640 And it was what was so great about it in 0:11:22.640 --> 0:11:24.520 that moment was that it was somewhere to be like 0:11:24.600 --> 0:11:26.200 and you know, I was lonely as hell out here. 0:11:26.200 --> 0:11:27.800 I really Ralph was my boy, and that was the 0:11:27.840 --> 0:11:29.920 only person I knew out there. My boy Ralph was 0:11:29.920 --> 0:11:33.319 grinding trying to make his career happen, and so all 0:11:33.360 --> 0:11:35.319 of a sudden it was like, oh, there was community, 0:11:35.480 --> 0:11:37.920 you know, and and somewhere to be every week and 0:11:38.000 --> 0:11:41.320 doing something and you know, and it was cool man. 0:11:41.720 --> 0:11:44.559 And but now but now you're in the pilot and 0:11:44.679 --> 0:11:46.800 now well, first of all, you're still so you go 0:11:46.880 --> 0:11:50.120 to not in the pilot yet, so practice is the audition, right. 0:11:50.559 --> 0:11:53.440 So the audition comes up finally, like the characters back 0:11:53.440 --> 0:11:55.599 in the pilot, audition for it is coming up. So 0:11:55.640 --> 0:11:57.839 I'm like, okay, this is my moment. I go, I prep, 0:11:58.320 --> 0:12:01.600 go do my audition, and I walk out, you know, 0:12:01.679 --> 0:12:04.120 feeling good. But it's really only the second time that 0:12:04.200 --> 0:12:06.880 I had, like an audition for television. I had audition 0:12:07.000 --> 0:12:09.760 for something on New York Undercover and get it. And 0:12:09.960 --> 0:12:14.680 this was really my first audition for something big. And 0:12:15.120 --> 0:12:16.800 I walk out and I'm an agent, so I don't 0:12:16.800 --> 0:12:19.319 get feedback. I don't want to bother Bill because just 0:12:19.360 --> 0:12:22.240 getting to know him at the time. So like ten 0:12:22.320 --> 0:12:25.240 days goes by and I don't hear anything, and I think, like, 0:12:25.320 --> 0:12:27.600 I mean each day that I didn't hear anything, I 0:12:27.640 --> 0:12:33.280 was silence. Was like I was crushed, and at that 0:12:33.360 --> 0:12:36.400 time my life like to be crushed. The feeling I 0:12:36.440 --> 0:12:39.040 felt was anger, so like I would express it as 0:12:39.080 --> 0:12:40.760 I mean, I would literally like bust out in a 0:12:40.920 --> 0:12:47.080 rage at a red light, just because like you so 0:12:47.480 --> 0:12:49.840 missed at myself, man, And. 0:12:50.000 --> 0:12:52.640 Because all the all the boxes were checked. 0:12:53.080 --> 0:12:57.480 The dude, you know, you take a shot in the class, 0:12:57.520 --> 0:13:00.760 the whole thing. And I'm like, oh man, you know, 0:13:00.800 --> 0:13:02.520 because I didn't think I was bad in the audition, 0:13:02.559 --> 0:13:04.840 but I didn't know, like I didn't have enough you know, 0:13:04.840 --> 0:13:08.400 I haven't had enough experience, no barometer yet, you know. 0:13:08.880 --> 0:13:10.680 And I had no agent to call and go like, 0:13:10.679 --> 0:13:12.280 well what they say, what's the feedback? Like, you know, 0:13:12.400 --> 0:13:14.640 tell me something so and like I said, I didn't 0:13:14.640 --> 0:13:16.520 want to bother Bill because I'm like, man, the dude 0:13:16.520 --> 0:13:18.360 did more than I could ever ask somebody to do 0:13:18.480 --> 0:13:22.679 for me. And you know, anyway, those ten days goes by, 0:13:24.400 --> 0:13:28.319 and at that time I had They used to be 0:13:28.360 --> 0:13:31.400 a restaurant on Melrose called Georgia's. Oh yeah yeah, and 0:13:31.480 --> 0:13:34.040 it was a beautiful spot man, and it was owned 0:13:34.080 --> 0:13:39.040 by Denzel and Wesley Snipes and Norm Nixon and the 0:13:39.080 --> 0:13:43.040 owner operator partner was a guy named Brad Johnson. Uh, 0:13:45.120 --> 0:13:47.400 and I love Brad. Brad was really good to me. 0:13:48.040 --> 0:13:49.800 An ex girlfriend of mine at the time was still 0:13:49.800 --> 0:13:51.840 a dear friend of mine. Her dad was friends with 0:13:51.920 --> 0:13:54.280 Brad and he reached out to Brad before I came 0:13:54.320 --> 0:13:56.199 to LA and was like, Hey, look, this kid's good kid. 0:13:56.240 --> 0:13:59.040 He's gonna come by, you know, just look out for him. 0:13:59.320 --> 0:14:02.520 And so I would go to this spot and it 0:14:02.600 --> 0:14:05.160 was the spot man like it was. It was dope spots, 0:14:05.240 --> 0:14:07.080 so like you had to get dressed up. So I 0:14:07.120 --> 0:14:10.319 put on you know, uh, sports coat and slacks and 0:14:11.559 --> 0:14:15.720 no leather pants. I couldn't afford the leather pants at 0:14:15.720 --> 0:14:21.640 that time. Man pants. I wish I had some leather pants. 0:14:22.080 --> 0:14:24.320 But I would go there jazzed up and once a 0:14:24.320 --> 0:14:27.000 week I would go and sit down and Brad would 0:14:27.000 --> 0:14:29.120 hook me up with a meal and you know, a 0:14:29.200 --> 0:14:31.040 drink or two. But what was the best thing about 0:14:31.080 --> 0:14:32.720 it was like it was a place to post up 0:14:32.720 --> 0:14:34.200 and I would meet people, you know. So I met 0:14:34.200 --> 0:14:36.920 some girls and went on my first hikes that I 0:14:36.920 --> 0:14:38.960 ever went on with That's go on a hike you know, 0:14:39.200 --> 0:14:43.040 California ship like the hike. I'm like, yeah, all right, uh, 0:14:43.080 --> 0:14:45.200 And I met some guys that I'm still you know. 0:14:45.440 --> 0:14:46.920 I mean, I haven't seen it in a while, but like, 0:14:47.440 --> 0:14:49.400 you know, it was friends with for years, and you know, 0:14:49.440 --> 0:14:52.040 it was a place again to like feel like okay, 0:14:52.120 --> 0:14:56.560 like I'm belonging, belonging, right. So one night Bad calls me, like, hey, 0:14:56.600 --> 0:14:58.320 come back for dinner tonight in the middle of the week. 0:14:58.320 --> 0:15:00.720 It was like a Wednesday, and and I had not 0:15:00.760 --> 0:15:03.160 told anybody about this audition, right. I was like, I'm 0:15:03.160 --> 0:15:05.080 not gonna say anything about this audition till I know 0:15:05.160 --> 0:15:07.280 what the end result is. And I hadn't gotten the end. 0:15:07.280 --> 0:15:08.920 And that's the rule of thumb, by the way, just 0:15:09.000 --> 0:15:10.600 to yourself. 0:15:10.840 --> 0:15:13.960 And like, so I get a call come in for dinner. 0:15:13.960 --> 0:15:18.320 So I sit down with Brad and I'm there at 0:15:18.320 --> 0:15:20.240 a big table with him in about I don't know 0:15:20.280 --> 0:15:23.280 eight other people and they're all adults, successful people, you know. 0:15:23.360 --> 0:15:24.920 I mean, this was like one of the hottest restaurants 0:15:24.960 --> 0:15:27.920 in town. And Brad's friends were all doing it or 0:15:28.080 --> 0:15:30.000 they're all you know, they were probably in their forties 0:15:30.000 --> 0:15:33.160 at the time, and they were like experienced and you know, 0:15:33.800 --> 0:15:36.320 but I'm being invited to the table. We're having conversation 0:15:36.760 --> 0:15:40.480 and they're talking about their careers, business things, things that 0:15:40.520 --> 0:15:42.840 are going on for them. And it comes to my turn. 0:15:42.880 --> 0:15:44.720 Somebody turns like at them, so, you know, what's up? 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:46.640 What's going on? You know, what are you up to? 0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:49.000 And I'm like, shit, man, I didn't have shit else 0:15:49.040 --> 0:15:50.840 to talk about. I'm like, we talk about this this 0:15:50.920 --> 0:15:53.880 house that I showed somebody in Riverside, like earlier that day. 0:15:53.920 --> 0:15:57.560 I'm like, uh, I said, well, I'm like, I'm gonna 0:15:57.600 --> 0:16:00.240 let the cat out the bag. Fuck it, right, I'm like, yeah, 0:16:00.240 --> 0:16:03.000 I had this audition for a Stephen Boschko pilot about 0:16:03.000 --> 0:16:05.760 ten days ago, and you know, I was like, I 0:16:06.640 --> 0:16:08.000 went in there, I did my best. I was like, 0:16:08.000 --> 0:16:09.760 but I think I blew it. And I have no 0:16:10.040 --> 0:16:11.760 point of reference to get any feed. But I'm just 0:16:11.760 --> 0:16:13.720 telling them what's on my mind. Right. They're like, oh, man, 0:16:13.720 --> 0:16:15.160 well you got to stick with it. It's you know, 0:16:15.200 --> 0:16:19.120 it's all good for the process. About five minutes after 0:16:19.200 --> 0:16:21.560 I talk about this, man, my pager goes off. This 0:16:21.640 --> 0:16:25.400 is how old. There's a long cage. My pager goes off, 0:16:25.440 --> 0:16:28.600 and I look at the number, and I thought I 0:16:28.640 --> 0:16:30.280 was fly because I had an eight hundred number for 0:16:30.360 --> 0:16:33.120 my pager, right, so anybody could die that page, right, 0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:38.480 and they didn't need any quarters up for your call, right balling. 0:16:38.920 --> 0:16:42.200 So I look at the number and it's and I 0:16:42.240 --> 0:16:43.760 was waiting to see this number. It was three one 0:16:43.800 --> 0:16:47.000 oh uh you know, uh six six there was the 0:16:47.240 --> 0:16:50.560 Fox exchange right, and I'm like, oh, this was the number. 0:16:50.600 --> 0:16:52.280 I was three six nine three one oh three six 0:16:52.440 --> 0:16:55.120 nine something some something. And I was like, I knew 0:16:55.120 --> 0:16:57.440 it was from Boshko's office. So I get on there. 0:16:57.480 --> 0:16:59.680 I'm like, oh shit. I get up from the table. 0:16:59.680 --> 0:17:02.720 I go to the payphone. I call casting as system 0:17:02.760 --> 0:17:05.480 picks up. His name was Scott Jenkinsjer and he's like, Adam, 0:17:05.880 --> 0:17:08.720 are you available to come in to read for Steven tomorrow? 0:17:09.640 --> 0:17:12.720 And I'm like, yeah, of course I'll be there. 0:17:13.280 --> 0:17:15.680 Now, you have a fax machine because we're going to 0:17:15.720 --> 0:17:17.320 send your Yeah, yeah, no. 0:17:17.440 --> 0:17:19.119 I had the scenes. It was the same It was 0:17:19.119 --> 0:17:22.840 the same scenes, same scene right. Luckily because for the 0:17:22.920 --> 0:17:25.840 ten days, bro I was going over that scene every 0:17:25.880 --> 0:17:28.760 single day, one hundred times a day. I was reliving 0:17:29.280 --> 0:17:31.320 my chance, you know what I mean. It was like 0:17:32.240 --> 0:17:34.040 I was reliving it because I thought I blew it. 0:17:34.080 --> 0:17:36.600 So I was like, man, I would have done this anyway. 0:17:37.520 --> 0:17:42.560 Your chance is actually now coming tomorrow. So I got 0:17:42.640 --> 0:17:46.280 to go the next day, man, And it was the 0:17:46.880 --> 0:17:48.480 first time I auditioned. There were a lot of people 0:17:48.480 --> 0:17:50.199 at this time there were less and maybe like it 0:17:50.280 --> 0:17:53.080 was down to like fifteen twenty people. Maybe when I 0:17:53.119 --> 0:17:53.680 got there. 0:17:53.560 --> 0:17:55.240 You recognize anyone that was in the room. 0:17:55.560 --> 0:17:58.360 I feel like nobody that I knew well at the time, 0:17:58.400 --> 0:18:02.920 but I feel like Yancey Arias was there. Yancey is 0:18:02.920 --> 0:18:04.520 the one that comes to mind when I think if 0:18:04.560 --> 0:18:07.240 there were any familiar faces, but Yancey and I would 0:18:07.280 --> 0:18:09.320 run into each other. I'd see him a commercial auditions 0:18:09.359 --> 0:18:13.720 and stuff in New York. Yeah, yeah, I don't. Yancey 0:18:13.760 --> 0:18:16.160 comes up. Yancey comes to mind. I don't remember who 0:18:16.160 --> 0:18:21.560 else maybe, but I go in. It's my turn, and 0:18:21.600 --> 0:18:25.439 I just felt so prepared, like I already felt like 0:18:25.480 --> 0:18:29.040 I had lost. So I was like, fuck it, man, 0:18:29.240 --> 0:18:30.440 like I just let go and. 0:18:31.080 --> 0:18:34.000 You quite literally lost it once. So this is just 0:18:34.080 --> 0:18:36.240 like gravy yep. 0:18:46.240 --> 0:18:49.280 Scene, And I mean I got applause at the end. 0:18:50.040 --> 0:18:52.119 People in the room were like, wow, that was great, 0:18:52.560 --> 0:18:55.640 and I just felt I was beaming inside because all 0:18:55.680 --> 0:18:59.119 I wanted to do was make a good impression, you 0:18:59.160 --> 0:19:01.480 know what I mean? So I walked out. What was 0:19:01.480 --> 0:19:01.879 the scene? 0:19:01.920 --> 0:19:03.320 Like, what was the scene that you had to perform? 0:19:03.440 --> 0:19:06.520 Oh? Man, I don't even remember, now, okay for the cop. 0:19:06.560 --> 0:19:08.280 You were playing a cop? I was playing a cop. 0:19:08.440 --> 0:19:12.560 There was an exchange with somebody, you know it. I 0:19:12.640 --> 0:19:15.359 don't remember. I don't. I wish I could. Actually, I 0:19:15.359 --> 0:19:17.480 would have walked out feeling like I walked out on 0:19:17.520 --> 0:19:17.840 a high. 0:19:18.040 --> 0:19:20.080