February 4, 1999
When I heard the part described, I knew I could get the job. In a way, I just did the job on Fantasy Island -- the perfect boyfriend. Nice guy, smart, attractive in a wholesome way, but yet too wholesome, too smart, too "nice." But there have been many jobs that I knew I could get that I ended up watching from my couch months later. So what was going to make them want me over the other five or six guys that showed up for this?
There was a moment in the sides that I felt would make or break the audition. One little joke. One gesture, in fact, that if they laughed I would get it, and if they didn't, I wouldn't. There is a point late in the third scene where my character corrects his girlfriend. She suggests one thing and I say another. It's a little stupid Ducey thing of starting to nod my head 'yes' and then basically saying 'no' by correcting her. I felt that it would either be lost on them or greatly please them.
The room was crowded but friendly. Everyone seemed in a good mood and willing to laugh. And laugh they did at all of the expected places. But then, in the middle of the second scene, my character corrects his girlfriend about something else. I did it very gently because I didn't want to give away the joke for later, but they chuckled a bit! Shit. No. Not yet. The last thing I wanted to do was screw up my big moment, my job-getting moment in the third scene. We went on... scene three... a line here, a line there... and then... finally... the big goofy Ducey moment -- the set-up... the nod... the line...
The laugh.