Actors' Guild

Big Screen:

Walk the Line was released on video today. Filmed in Memphis, the movie utilized a few of my Nashville friends in minor speaking roles. When it opened, I went to the cinema with my dinner theatre co-worker Carter Thrower to applaud when he (as the sheriff) told Joaquin Phoenix (as Johnny Cash) that what he used to kept his shirts so nice was “just starch.” I was keeping an eye out for another friend, Jim Wright (who apparently did not make it past the editing room), when Carter pointed out Michael “Monte” Montgomery on screen. Although I’m fairly certain that Monte had lines during his small turn at a gift/tackle shop, he is not credited on IMDB. Jim, on the other hand, is. Go figure.

Walk the Line is one of the too-few Oscar nominated films I saw last year -- one that garnered acting nominations for both its leads: Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon.

Small Screen:

Now, of course, I don’t know Reese Witherspoon. Never met the woman. However, I do work for the same talent agency that launched her career -- which is kind of like saying “I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night,” but hey, whatever gets you through the promotional gigs where you have to wear a basketball on your head. The agency sent me out on a Toyota commercial in January for a super-minor non-speaking body-in-a-crowd role. Come the Daytona 500 about a week ago, I had the DVR at the ready. I rewound several times trying to pick myself out of the panning crowd, but all I could see was the $3,000 Toyota wasted on unnecessary extras. It seems the ad is specifically designed to be played during NASCAR events, but if you happen to catch a retired Darryl Waltrip speeding a Toyota Tundra pace truck to Victory Lane after being insulted by a small time driver… well, that’s the one that froze my toes into the wee hours of the morning.

Stage:

Boy Gets Girl opens next Friday and I do not feel nearly as prepared for it as I should at this point. However, I try to remind myself that, if this were the dinner theatre and we were opening nine days from today, we would have only been handed scripts five days ago and we would still have them in hand. However, as this is not the dinner theatre and we do not have the luxury of 6-hour rehearsals in the days we have remaining, the comparison falls a little short of comforting.

Maybe we should call in Reese Witherspoon.