Just call him Mark

A couple of weeks ago one of our agents asked that I bring all 3 kids in for a fitting. When we got there they had 3 different things going on. Along with the fitting (for Kaleb & Gavin) there were auditions for 2 different commercials. They asked Kaleb & Noe to audition for the first, and Noe and Gavin to audition for the second. Since we were already there, I thought what the heck, they probably won't get it anyway. Wrong! They wanted Kaleb for the lead role for the commercial for Allianz Global Investors (from Germany). I told them no thank you, because our schedule is already full and I didn't think it was something we could do. They called back 3 times begging for him, until I finally gave in.



There were 16 actors for this commercial, 1 teacher and her 15 students. The teacher had 2 lines, and a little girl had 2 lines too, but they both used their real names. Kaleb had 10 lines!!! We received his script the night before the shooting, so I practiced with him a few times before he had to go to bed. Kaleb is just learning how to read, so I made up "picture" cue cards for him (great tricks you learn from Primary Choristers). However, when we arrived the next day they had changed all of his lines slightly. I was panicked, but Kaleb did great. I practiced with him a little bit before they began filming and he remembered the changes better than I did.



This was a fun experience, but after 16 hours! in the production house we were both exhausted! At the end, I joined the production crew and was calling him by his character name, Mark (just to tease though- tee hee). I am really proud of Kaleb though, he was a super trooper. He has never acted before and was nervous at first, but then he relaxed and he just blew the socks off of me! I kept thinking "all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good." I wonder what the future holds for this little boy, but I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up with a career as a public speaker. I hope he will keep his confidence with him.

*Have I mentioned though that I am NOT a showbiz mom? I don't ever want to do that again! However, they wanted Noe too for a background role, but in the interim of me changing my mind from no to yes she committed to a catalog shoot, so when they asked to have her for a Nissan commercial I said yes. This way they can each have their own commercial, plus I was promised that one will only last 5 hours. It would be fun for Gavin to be in one too, but I don't plan on ever letting my kids audition again. I used to think acting was an easy job, but now I think they definitely work hard for their money!