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Journal CleverNickName's Journal: I have an audition for I, Robot. 53

Journal by CleverNickName

I have an audition to play a robot in the upcoming Fox picture I, Robot. I have read that the script isn't an actual adaptation of Asimov's book, nor is it the brilliant script Harlan Ellison wrote so long ago.

However, the sides that I have for my call on Thursday are straight out of I, Robot. In the scene, a detective questions a robot who was caught fleeing the scene of his master's death. Sound familiar?

Who knows. Hollywood has a way of trashing the greatest ideas, especially in big budget films. But I'm excited anyway. I get to pretend that I'm a robot, and nobody will call the cops.

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I have an audition for I, Robot. More

I have an audition for I, Robot.

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  • What are the chances that you will be casted?

    Not a put down, just wondering what your opinion is.

    Oh, yeah, almost forgot, fp.
    • What are the chances that you will be casted?

      I won't know until I get there. I've done this so long, I can tell a few things:

      • When I walk in, I know right away if they're even interested at all. Sometimes I'll go into a room, and know that they've already cast the part, so they're just finishing out the day. This sucks, but it's fairly common in Hollywood.
      • When I walk out, I'll know how well I did. I can monitor my own performance very accurately, and when I walk out I always know if I'm going to get called back, or if I pulled a Buckner.


        • Hrm. I thought there'd be more. Oh well. Go read it again, and replace "few" with "couple."
      • Um, what's a "Buckner"?

        And will I be labelled as dumb for not knowing this?
        • Bill Buckner, World Series, Red Sox?

          Or maybe a different Buckner.
        • Bill Buckner [everything2.com] played for the Boston Red Sox in the 1986 World Series. With the Red Sox on the verge of winning the World Series for the first time since 1918, Buckner let a ground ball slip through his legs. The New York Mets ended up winning the game, and the Mets won the next game to win the World Series. Buckner was reviled for years by Boston fans, who believed him to have cost the Red Sox the championship.
          • Gah! Buckner shouldn't be the scapegoat for that loss - it should never have gotten to the point where he booted that play. The real goat of that game was Calvin Schiraldi [pubdim.net] - I can still remember the look of complete and utter panic in his eyes s he took the mound in the 8th. You could tell he wanted to be anywhere else but on the mound in Shea Stadium at that moment.

            So, uh, yeah - Wil shoulda said "pulled a Schiraldi."

            But even less people would've understood the reference then.

            *sigh* I need to get over '86.

            In other news: hey, d'ya hear that Wheaton had an audition for "I, Robot"?

            *runs*
          • My english teacher came into school dressed up as Bill Buckner two years ago for Halloween. She had a Red Sox uniform, a fake mustache, and a baseball on a string that she could drop and easily get to roll between her legs. I think I was the only person who got the joke.
          • Boston's new Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge (pictures [bigdig.com]) just built over the Charles is being nicknamed by some as the Buckner Bridge. It's a cable-stayed bridge with inverted wishbones over the roadway.

            See, you drive through his legs... ;-)
          • A few corrections (I just finished reading "The Curse of the Bambino by Dan Shaughnessy for the umpteenth time):

            The Red Sox were tied when Buckner didn't bend all the way, they were not on the verge of winning. They were on the verge in the 8th...and earlier in the 10th...but when it happened, the score was tied and they'd need at least another half inning to bring it back.

            Buckner had knee problems. Going into that half inning he should have been out of the game for a defensive substitution, but the manager (McNamara) wanted his veteran on the field for the Series victory pile not his rookie defensive backup....IOW, he was a dumbass. He also sent Schiraldi to the mound when he should have put in...well, anybody else in the bullpen. Schiraldi never had the guts to play in the big moments of baseball and he never wanted to.

            Unfortunately, it's easier to blame a player for not bending down a bit further than to blame the manager who left him in (in almost every other game in the regular season, Buckner was out in the late innings), the pitcher who shouldn't have been in (because of the manager), or the manager...did I say McNamara yet?
      • hmm... can't wait to see the reworked version, after hearing so much about how great the original screenplay was, and how different it is now.

        Good luck, and all. Hopefully after the movie gets made someone can leak the original script, and I can cringe at what Fox did to it...
  • Is it demeaning to have to audition for a role? Is it like "Waiting for Guffman" where you're sitting out in the hall, waiting for your 5 minutes to do your thing for the director? Are you standing in the same line as some guy who pantomimes in the park during the day or some dork whose only claim to fame is playing "Fat Guy #2" in a cheese commerical?

    Or maybe it's more like a job interview?
    • Is it demeaning to have to audition for a role?

      Well, it can be, depending on what the role is. I don't have a problem auditioning. I mean, you wouldn't buy a car without taking a test drive, right? It's sort of like that.

      From time to time, it can be like Guffman, but when it is, I get up, thank them for their interest, and leave. I've been doing this too long to be treated like shit by idiots. (see previous journal entry)
  • Hey, that's good news. I can very easily "see" you in the role, making it *work* for the audience, so I really hope you get the part. Best of luck!

  • Wow, that rules. Is this being done by the same people who did Bicentenial Man? I'm wondering if it'll feel like it goes along with that movie, or if it will be a completely seperate adaptation of Asimov's work.

    I haven't read any of the books in several years, but I loved them when I was in high school (the Robot, Empire and Foundation series, plus the robot short stories). Seeing the movie might get me interested in reading the books again, like seeing the LOTR movies got me interested in reading the books for the first time.

    Anyway, good luck, and I hope you get the part. :-)
    • Well, two things I guess.

      FIrst, I too need to finish reading the Robot books. I just hope that they don't trash a great story when they make it into a movie. Maybe if they get enough Geek actors they can counteract anything that the writers do...

      Second, I love the sig. I think that maybe the if some of the slashdot trolls wrote a movie script, it would be a lot better than some of the crap put out these days. We could have: Goatse guy starring in "Dude, Where's my asswhole??"

      or "SOVIET RUSSIA TAKES NATIONAL LAMPOONS ON A VACTION"

      OK, that's enough, I'm going back to work now...

  • It's been a while since I read 'I, Robot' but isn't it a collection of interrelated stories rather than a straight narrative (kind of like Bradbury's 'Martian Chronicles')? I wonder if the script will follow the book or (perhaps more likely) be 'inspired by' it. :)

    In any case, good luck Wil!
  • So, how's this for a weird coincidence?

    A simple Google Search for 'wesley crusher robot' [google.com] turns up a link to this page [216.239.57.100] which in turn links here. [rottentomatoes.com] Apparently, you're going to be the second Wil[l] in this film.

    So, anyway, good luck. Who knows, if you do really well, maybe they'll let you be the robot!
    • (forehead slap)

      Boy, am I a gimp. You'd think I could have absorbed all three lines of that without forgetting anything important.

      Well, good luck anyway. And, uh...may the force be with you?

  • I can't wait to see it.

    I really liked the last thing I saw you in by the way. It was, I think, an episode of "Outer Limits" where you played a midshipman who accidentily blows up the Earth. :-)

  • Wil, I have great respect for you, particularly your views on the issues that matter most to me. I happen to agree with you on most things, which is why I'm surprised that you would even consider working for Fox. They are they most right-wing, evil, conservative, anti-consumer, pro-corporate media organization in America (and that is really saying something, when you take into account the right-wing press that is NBC and CNN. You really ought to think twice before you sell yourself out like that.
    • Hey, the man's gotta eat. Does that make him a sellout? Not in my book, especially when there are others to worry about.
    • ...right-wing, evil, conservative...

      I KNOW! I can't belive how right-wing and conservative those Simpsons are! The are trying to make us all like that Ned Flanders guy! It's a conspiracy! I can't believe we don't burn down their headquarters for trying to force their religious biases on us.

      Dude. It's a job... you know, to pay the bills. Lighten up.

    • I once was offered a programming gig at a specific software company. One of that software company's customers was (more or less) the meat industry (a group of large meat companies). Since I'm a vegetarian, that put me in a quandary. It turned out, I didn't have to make the choice between "selling out", and eating (not meat ;-)), but if I had to, I'm sure I would have taken the job. If you look closely enough at nearly any company, you'll find some corruption, bad manners, or hooliganism.

      Anyways, since I've already talked too much, here's a question:

      ...the sides that I have for my call...

      What does that mean? Thanks!

      --gal [slashdot.org]

      • Re:FOX is evil. (Score:3, Informative)

        by extra88 ( 1003 )
        Anyways, since I've already talked too much, here's a question:

        ...the sides that I have for my call...

        What does that mean? Thanks!


        His "call" is simply his turn to audition. A "side" is just the piece of a script for one actor. They're not about to hand out full copies of the script to everyone who auditions (or even everyone cast) so they just give them the portion they need (naturally it includes the dialogue of the other characters in the scene).
    • Yeah, nothing says conservative and right-wing like Joe Millionaire, Temptation Island, and whatever other worthless "Reality TV" crap they produce.

      I mean, all the Bible-belt churches were solid in their support of "Who wants to marry a millionaire," right? ;)
    • They are they most right-wing, evil, conservative, anti-consumer, pro-corporate media organization in America

      When was FOX purchased by AOL Time Warner?
  • I assume it's the same for recorded performances as it is for stage work, so I'll just say "Break a leg". And a pox upon those who wished you the 'l' word. :)

    • It was driving me nuts, reading all those posts. Not all actors are superstitious about it but hey, it's tradition.

      I thought everyone knew that but my parter's at school and when she was in the dining hall before a performance last month, all her "friends" were wishing her good luck. They didn't have a clue. She almost threw food at them but they were coming in waves.
      • Heh - I was doing a light design project for a class (in lighting design). I was designing a scene from Mac..."That Scotish Play". While I was presenting the project, a transformer exploded blacking out the entire Carnegie Mellon Campus and some of the surrounding area. Gave me a new found respect for the superstitions :)
  • I can see you pulling that role off pretty damn well. That'd be pretty cool. I always liked the way you brought roles to the screen. Good luck.
  • It may not follow the book, but I'll settle for close enough. Dune worked for me as well. I guess I won't see your face, however, if you are on the robot side of the fence...

    Still, very cool.
    • They might use his face, it depends on how "human" they want the robots to be. There may be just some makeup to give the skin an artifical look and maybe some unnatural angles in the face. Think of all the variety of Mecha in the movie A.I. I didn't see Bicentennial Man but didn't they have a progression of looks to Robin Williams's face? I think even at its most artificial, it was modelled after his face, right?

  • Cops (Score:2)

    by turg ( 19864 )

    In the scene, a detective questions a robot who was caught fleeing the scene of his master's death.

    [snip]

    I get to pretend that I'm a robot, and nobody will call the cops.

    That's because the detective is already there.

    Break a leg.

  • If you get a part it would so please many of us to imagine that you would become a mole for Ain't It Cool or Countingdown.com and let us know if the Asimov faithful will be disappointed. Just... hypothetically. *cough*

    Still hoping you'll come to Australi and play golf,
    BiOFH/TankGrrl
  • wooden acting, your acting will be metallic? What a career move, hope you are up to it! /jk
    Work is good. Some of the best actors in Hollywood took pretty much everything that came their way.
    Hope you get it. Maybe the "Adaptation" won't suck as much with "one of us" in it.
    Then of course you could be opening yourself up to even more ridicule by mentioning it.
    • The best part... Wil can be out there on the sound stage in full makeup (assuming they're going to do anything like Bicentennial Man makeup) and any time someone gives him shit, he can say "Bite my shiny metal ass!"

  • I, robot (Score:2)

    by glh ( 14273 )
    However, the sides that I have for my call on Thursday are straight out of I, Robot. In the scene, a detective questions a robot who was caught fleeing the scene of his master's death. Sound familiar?

    So this isn't a movie about 80's break dancing?? Doh.. now THAT would be a cool role to see you in :) Maybe you could throw some in at the audition (just kidding- don't take my advice!)

  • I have read that the script isn't an actual adaptation of Asimov's book, nor is it the brilliant script Harlan Ellison wrote so long ago.

    On the one hand, I have a bad feeling. On the other, I noted in an earlier thread that the script has an interesting parentage [slashdot.org]....
  • May you suffer a temporary structural failure of an instance of your lower motricity appendages.
  • Hi Wil,

    I wonder how you prepare for this (or any) audition? Is it just one of many where you just go to and see what happens, or do you try to find as much information as possible about the film?

    For instance:

    • Do you look into the biography or interviews of the producers and/or director to see what kind of type they are, what they like, don't, etc.?
    • Do you do some 'google' searches to find information on the script?
    • Are you the whole week practicing around the house being a "robot"?

    Oh, just before I forget: If they contract you, don't you have to sign some agreement that you may not speak out on the movie in anyway or is this only so with star trek movies?

    Thanks for your blog & journal, I like it a lot!

  • Given what you've said, I don't have high hopes for the script. Hollywood so often trashes SF. It seems that a lot of directors and producers just don't get it.

    If you get the part, I'll probably go watch it because I know you're in it.

    Good luck on your audition. :-)

  • I wrote [wilwheaton.net] about the audition at WWDN.
  • You aren't meant for the part....

    Brent Spiner plays the robot, you play the boy genious remember....

    now maybe if you play the guy who built the robot, or programmed the robot... maybe then. ;-)

    jk - Goodluck

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