Does This Make Me Legit?

Last week, after perceived ages of silence, I got an email from the director of the short film I auditioned for. He was wondering if I would be available for a callback the following night. To my chagrin, no I was not. I hate having to say no in these fragile early phases...because of the chance that the one time I have to say "no" is the one time they need me to say "yes". But it was tech week for the play I am in right now, and so I was immovably committed elsewhere. Of course, there is the possibility that being busy with another artsy fartsy endeavour makes one appear as quite a hot commodity. At any rate, I said I wasn't available and gave some alternative times that I would be. The next day, I got an email asking if I would be available that Saturday morning. I was.

I woke up with AMPLE time to get properly dolled. I decided to wear the same thing I had worn to the first audition, and I intended to wear my hair the same way as well. However, my hair had other ideas. I found myself neurotically thinking, What if it was my hair that made an impression the first time around? But alas, my hair wasn't having it, so I moved on to plan B.

Of course, the callback was being held in a destination entirely foreign to me. I might as well have been navigating the back roads of Paris (does Paris have back roads?). Eventually, I pulled over and called the coffee shop where I was supposed to be in 10 minutes. A nice young man guided me in using his glorious iPhone. When I got there (with minutes to spare), I thanked him profusely and affirmed that his iPhone had been a worthy investment.

While I was digging out dollars for coffee, the director of the film came up and gave me some money. Yes, I am still naive and foolish enough to have found that to be utterly fantastic. Oooohhh...free coffee!! Be still my heart, I feel like a movie star. We sat down and waited for one other to arrive; there were supposed to be three of use, but one had to cancel. Apparently I was the only one of the three who was there for a "callback"...the others had already been cast. So we chatted a bit. I noted that there was no camera present...nice, but I really felt (still feel) that the director might want to take a second look before making any rash decisions. I asked the him what he was making the film for. He mentioned that he has always wanted to go to Sundance...and that this was his chance. Yes folks, you heard it here. My imagination has taken me to Sundance and to the late night talk show circuit in one fell swoop. I have also found myself a bit distressed by his "this is my chance" comment...he's not old...he has a whole life ahead of him...so...is there something tragic lurking in the shadows? I hope that line of thought, too, can be credited to an overactive imagination.

The other person arrived, and we read a few scenes together. It was very mellow. After the 3rd or 4th little scene, the director said, "I think you're in for Kristin." To which I said, "Really?" To which he said, "Yeah." To which I said, "Can I take that to the bank?" To which he said, "Yes, you can take that to the bank." Hurrah!