The Fabulous Bill Dance

This morning I worked on a new show called The Mindy Project. Call time was 7:00am and I was cut at 11:30am. They never used me. That left enough time for me to get to North Hollywood by 12:00pm in time to register for background acting with Bill Dance Casting.

I first heard about Bill while working on the set of Suburgatory. One of the other actors was working on some new movie through him called Saving Mr. Banks.

After finding out more about what this movie actually is, I knew that I wanted to be in whatever database could get me working on projects like that.

Academy Award Watch! Consider this the post I can refer back to in a couple years when Saving Mr. Banks is nominated for multiple Academy Awards. I called it. Don't you forget it.

Registration was fast and easy.

And Bill Dance might be the most fabulous person I've met in Hollywood yet.

He casts 'background artists' and 'background actors' but you would think he was casting principal roles for Spielberg the way he talks about his work.

He doesn't cast 'extras'. We aren't "extra icing for a cake that gets thrown into the garbage can like we aren't important". Background artists are an "integral part of art imitating life".

He's right.

The whole reason 'background artists' exist are to make a scene look natural and real. We are an integral part of the process in which art attempts to imitate life.

I love it.

He even got teary eyed a couple times when talking about the projects he has worked on. Passionate is the right word here.

Then he took all of our photos himself and shook our hands on the way out.

I hope he casts me.

Because he's fabulous.

And he cares.

People don't care about much out here.