Going into the audition I had a feeling that this commercial was for the new behemoth Nissan Pathfinder Armada SUVs I see cruising around town. I was right.
The commercial features two “urban” males - one Asian, one African American (that’s how they were casting it today, but it could change). The two guys, decked out in “urban” wear (think Timberlands, baggy designer jeans and jacket) are lost in the woods and the African American guy is on his cell. A female voice asks, “Where are you guys?” The guy responds “We’ll be there in a couple minutes. Who all is there?” The girl responds, “Me and six of my girlfriends.” The Asian guy, listening closely to the conversation asks, “How many?” The other guy responds, “Six”. The Asian guy now determined, starts walking and the other guy follows. The camera follows their journey as they stumble over rocks, get snagged on tree branches, step in mud puddles, etc, etc. They are about to give up when all of a sudden, they walk right into a SUV. They back up and look and it’s the Nissan Pathfinder Armada. Above the SUV is a sign that reads “In Case of Emergency, Break Glass”. There’s a mallot nearby. The two guys look at each other and then the Asian guy takes the mallot and smashes the window.
Next scene is of the two guys now driving in the car. The Asian guy is on the cell and the guy driving says, “Tell them we will be there in 15min and we can all roll.”
This is all paraphrased of course, but you get the general idea. It looks like it will be a pretty funny piece. I feel I did pretty good in the audition. The first time we did it I went a little big with the comedy and my acting. The casting director told me to pull it back and be more cool and collected instead of panicked. The second time we went through it I played the “cool guy” and it felt better but I don’t think my partner had a lot of improv experience. His performance seemed subdued. But none of this matters all that much. A lot of it really depends on the “look” that they are going for. The performance almost comes second. So anyway… I hope I get a callback.
Sorry you didn’t get the part. The casting specs changed from Asian to Caucasian. You were great though. The spot is airing now…It stayed as true to concept as I could keep it. By the way…I am the creative director that created the commercial. Keep up the good work you really stood out to me as someone who really got into the role of the character. Fate and change, just didn’t work in your favor on this one.
…And performance is everything. The “look” is ALMOST everything.
You just made my day! Thank you soo much for your positive feedback!
Honestly it doesn’t surprise me that they axed the asian character… [deleted rant]
ANYWAY… I am excited to see the commercial. It’s a great concept and the initial script/storyboard I saw at the audition was great!
Please keep me in mind for your next project.
THANKS!