Apple 8 | Commercial

I got a call for a super-secret commercial (don’t worry, now that the commercial is released I can talk about it), so I showed up to Cupertino with absolutely no idea of anything. They wouldn't tell us the product or even the client name. Before I was let on set I had to tape over my phone camera and turn it in to security. The secretness was exciting! There were hints here and there so I had an idea of what to look for, but until I saw the released commercial I didn't know exactly what the product was.

This day was the most fun I've had in a long time, and it was so enjoyable because the cast and crew were phenomenal. The director took the time to learn the talents' names (there were about ten of us) and the talent were funny, friendly folk.

The director 'auditioned' a few of us when we arrived, and chose me to be the principal actor in the first scene. I got to carry two cups of coffee across the room — over 200 times. I'm not exaggerating. We counted.

The director made a comment, apologizing for the excessive number of takes, and asked if we were dying of boredom. Bored? Are you crazy! How could I possibly be bored? I was getting paid to carry coffee back and forth in front of a camera...I was having a great time.

Why did I enjoy carrying coffee cups around a room 200 times? Who knows? It's just how my brain works. Like the time where I sat in the stands for Moneyball, doing what felt like nothing, for hours. Or the time I was out in freezing mist for headshots. Logically, I should have been miserable, or a tad bored. But what's life without defying a bit of logic? 

For the second scene, I was one of the featured actors. We were told to laugh and look happy. That wasn't a problem! Since the commercial wasn't recording audio we got to talk the entire time. We chatted about past shoots, funny on-set experiences, politics...most takes we ended up trying to hold in tear-inducing laughter.

All in all, this day was incredible. We wrapped early, I met some great people, and I got bumped up to principal for one of the shots. I still haven't found the scene where I'm principal, but I did locate the scene where I'm hiding behind the “A'“ in “Augmented reality!” Woohoo! 😜