Booking “The Assassins Code” was the biggest pleasant surprise I received, especially the way I found out I was considered for the role. I remember doing my audition and feeling like I booked the part of David Paris.
There was a lot of preparation that went into this part and I studied like my life depended on it. I lived in the moment. I allowed myself to surrender to the circumstances and environment around me.
I left the audition room and I remember getting a call from a friend later that night and he mentioned how he'd seen my tape by accident and that there was no doubt I was getting the part. Of course, that was music to my ears and I was excited to hear that. But... the old saying my mentor would remind me of, "Stay ready so you don't have to get ready," would play a huge part in this weekend.
I went back to studying, all weekend long. Monday through Wednesday passed and I never got a callback. I sat on my couch the day of, played WWE, and put my ringer on LOUD, just in case. To my surprise, by 4:00 in the afternoon, I got a call from casting and was told that some miscommunication happened throughout the week and I was never sent the material for a callback.
I was asked if I could make it into the room and I jumped off of the couch, book bag ready with clothes and I drove to that callback even more prepared than I'd been in the past.
I walked into my callback and took two minutes to mentally prepare. When I walked into the room and met writer Valerie Grant and director David Armstrong. I could feel them see me. I was David Paris and I wouldn't have responded to my actual name if they called me by it.
We went into the scene and I felt the energy in the room shift. It's magic, when you're not acting but living, and it all becomes real for a moment. Then it's over and you have no clue what just happened. That was the first time I felt myself unlock a new level.
By the end of that week, I received an email from David Armstrong, sending a welcome to the cast for the role of David Paris. Filming that movie brought a lot of highlights to my career, including how it became a must to join SAG-AFTRA.
