Confessions of a Teen Idol - Episode Seven
Monologues, Casting Directors, and Acting Classes
Feb 15, 2009
On last week’s episode of VH1’s Confessions of a Teen Idol, tempers ran high as Jeremy Jackson (Baywatch) had trouble listening to critique. This week, Jeremy is throwing his energy into working out to burn off the aggression. Billy Hufsey (Fame) and Jamie Walters (Beverly Hills, 90210) jam together on a song that Billy is writing. While Adrian Zmed (T.J. Hooker) takes a few days off for work on a cruise ship, Christopher Atkins (The Blue Lagoon) gets a meeting with a Hollywood Gatekeeper. This leaves just five former teen idols for the first call of the day.
Monologues and Casting Directors
A call sheet comes through the fax machine, telling the guys that they will have a mock audition with two casting directors. They only have an hour or two to work with the monologue, which troubles David Chokachi (Baywatch). When they arrive in the theater, Valorie Massalas and Ron Digman are waiting for them. Most of the actors get mixed feedback on their performances, but the experience was generally positive. Billy decided to write his own monologue instead of performing the one given, and got a good reaction to his emotional performance.
That night, Billy heads to the recording studio to work on the song that he has been writing. He brings Jamie and Eric Nies (The Real World) with him, and the performance brings Eric to tears. That kind of feedback was powerful for Billy, and the three were in high spirits. Being in a studio further motivates Jamie to pursue his passion.
Therapy with Cooper Lawrence
After their session with the casting directors, the teen idols meet with celebrity therapist Cooper Lawrence to discuss the experience and their memories of auditions. They begin to talk about the roles that they lost out on. Many of the stars had major movie roles that they were considered for. Eric told a story about meeting with Joel Schumacher to play Robin alongside Val Kilmer’s Batman.
Cooper also gives the stars a chance to blow off some aggression that they might have about the audition process. She allows the actors to use her as a substitute for a person they want to yell at. David takes advantage of the opportunity and releases some anger he had at a casting director who was writing an email during his audition.
Acting Class with Howard Fine
The next call sheet told the actors that they would be working with acting teacher Howard Fine, who has trained some of the top actor’s on Hollywood. He took the actors through a series of exercises using the monologue they had read for the casting directors. They ranged from deeply emotional, bringing Billy to tears, to flat out silly, as Jamie randomly changed tone of voice throughout the monologue. Though most of the stars were open-minded about Howard’s techniques, David was frustrated and resistant.
Second Chance at Monologues
Unbeknownst to the actors, Valorie and Ron are going to watch the performances for a second time. David goes first, but his obvious anger at the acting class shows through his performance. His first attempt at the monologue drew from much stronger emotions. Jeremy brings his personal history with his father to the reading and finds a more powerful performance this time.
Unwinding at the Beach
With only one episode left, the process is almost over for these seven teen idols. Though they have all had emotional moments, they have bonded as a group. They head to the beach to surf, swim, and relax. As the sun stars to set, they reflect on what they have learned from each other and from their participation on Confessions of a Teen Idol.
Stay tuned for next week’s season finale of Confessions of a Teen Idol, as the teen idols move forward with their careers. New episodes air Sundays on VH1. Visit the Confessions of a Teen Idol Page for cast profiles, episode summaries, and more.
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