Almost Famous - But Not Quite

I heard about a casting call for "Real moms" aged 30-35 and their 3-5 year old kids for a Kellogg's commercial through my MOMs club. I decided to send a few snapshots including this one to the casting director, and she told us to come to their office on Tuesday afternoon.

So, yesterday (Tuesday) both boys woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Jackson had more time-outs than time-ins. Mikey was on a hunger strike, and we had no clean clothes to wear. Courtney was going to come over at 3 to watch Charlotte while we went to the audition. At 2:55 our clothes were finally dry in the dryer. At 3:00 we were getting dressed. At 3:02 I found Mikey in the bathroom covered with poop smudges next to a huge pile of poop next to the toilet. Then Courtney arrived. Mikey had a second shower. I had to scrub the floor and get him re-dressed. By the time we left it was 3:40, and I had lost the time I was going to use to get a quick manicure.

We arrived at the casting building at 4. They had 2 studios dedicated to this casting call. There were over a hundred people in the waiting room, and more arriving all the time. I went over to fill out some forms and realized that everyone else who was filling them out had head shots for their kids. The forms also asked if I had work permits for the kids (no). So - even though they were looking for moms that weren't necessarily actors, they sure let a lot of agencies who represent kids know about the audition! I also had to list all of our vital statistics. Jeff's mom had just asked for how tall and heavy each kid was, so that was at the top of mind, but it was quite embarassing putting down my weight and measurements. Charlotte turned 9 months yesterday and I still have 9 lbs to go - mostly in my tummy!!

The interesting thing is, that as I looked around the room, and listened in on some of the conversations, and looked at some of the sign-in sheets, there were a whole lot of people there that didn't fit the "profile." They were looking for "Cool, attractive, in good shape, natural, real moms and their kids. Doesn't need to be an actress. Kids should be from 3-5, moms should look around 30-35 yrs old." The woman that signed in before me was 41 (and looked it) and had her adopted Asian daughter with her. Not that she isn't a "Real Mom," but adoption doesn't necessarily come across in a 30 second commercial. There were quite a few other older looking and adoptive moms, as well as some moms that were out of shape (way more than my baby bulge) and quite a few moms trying to pass their 2 year olds off for 3, and even one mom trying to pass her 8 year old off for 5. There were also quite a few model/actress types there that looked like they had some "work done", which I didn't think fit the bill necessarily either.

They took polaroids of all of us. Jackson wouldn't look at the camera, and Mikey smiled so big he squinted. Then we waited for an hour before getting called in for a camera test. They had us line up and state our name and age. When they got to Jackson, they said: "Jackson, tell us your name." He said: "J-A-C-K-S-O-N!" They said: "No, just say your name, don't spell it." Then he said: Jack-SON! And I'm 5." Then they said: "Michael, say your name and how old you are." Mikey, while wiggling and sticking his arm down the front of his shirt said: "I'm Mikey, I'm Fee." Then they asked if the boys go to school. Jackson immediately looked dejected and said: "I live in Ms. Susie's class." Then Mikey said: "Um, um, um, um, when I was a little boy and went to school I cried and cried."

They then sat us at a table that had circles of different colors of play-dough laid out. They said: "Pretend you are making Halloween cookies, and make different shapes and talk about them." Jackson said "I just like chocolate chip. I'm going to make chocolate chip." and picked up a pink circle and poked dots in it. They said: "What we really want is to get the kids to make shapes and talk about them." Mikey meanwhile picked up a yellow and a green circle and was busy trying to blend them together. The camera guy went nuts. "You can't mix them, just make shapes! Keep him from mixing them, we have a ton of kids that need to use these!" So after struggling with Mikey to pull the colors apart, I asked Jackson to make a Jack-o-lantern and Mikey to make a ghost. Jackson converted his pink chocolate chip cookie into a very nice jack-o-lantern with a stem, and Mikey flattened out his green smudged yellow blob into a ghost. Jackson very proudly showed his jack-o-lantern to the camera. Then I asked Mikey to show his and asked him what a ghost says and they both yelled out "Boo!" and laughed.

So - if they want independent spirited kids without work permits or head shots, I have the perfect 2 kids for the job! I guess we will hear in a few days (0r not) what they are interested in!