My agents called to check my availability for a few days in November.  Shouldn’t they know?  Yes, I was available.  Apparently, a director I had once worked for, Walter Topel, was shooting a Hallmark commercial in Chicago.  That’s where he lived and worked.  No auditions necessary.  He knew he wanted me.

First call I made was to my friend Paul who was in college at Northwestern.  This will be fun, I thought — Paul and I can hang out in Chicago.   He said he wasn’t going to be in town but that I should call his roommates.  He said he knew we would all like each other.

As soon as I got to the hotel, I called Paul’s friends.  They invited me over.  But once I was there, I got the sense that they were judging me and decided they wanted nothing to do with me.  They had already written the story.  To them, I was a spoiled rich Beverly Hills brat who now had a commercial acting career.  They thought they were better.  But they were truly wicked.  Fucking with me.  I left there bewildered.  I had never been treated like that because I’m so friendly, I can disarm anyone.  I’m a really regular person.  I was never some spoiled kid from Beverly Hills.   Didn’t they know I lived south of Wilshire, the wrong side of the tracks? (more…)