The Boys make their ACTING Debut!

Like any new mom I firmly believe that my boys are the cutest, so what better way to prove that than by getting them on TV?! Now don't get me wrong, I'm not looking to be a stage mom, nor am I looking to give them some sort of complex by overworking them. Brad and I agreed back around May to look into casting agencies to see what was available just for the fun of it (with the idea being any monies earned would go towards the boys college fund!). Within a day of finding an agency we were comfortable with we were contacted about a commercial shoot that was casting the very next day in Oklahoma City. Usually we wouldn't have been interested in driving that far for something like this but since we were already going to the OKC Thunder's playoff game so it seemed like a win win.

When we got to the agency for the casting call we were surprised to find the audition room virtually empty. Just a few adults auditioning for a different commercial and spot. Shortly after signing in the secretary told us that we were the last audition of the day and told us that THE ENTIRE FAMILY HAD TO AUDITION. This came as a shock to both Brad and I as nothing about this had been mentioned in the original email. I could tell Brad really didn't want to audition, but he knew it meant alot to me and he agreed to play along.

The audition itself took about five minutes. They asked us a few questions, recorded us interacting with the babies and playing out a few scenario that could be part of the potential commercial. When we went to leave the head shots we had taken of the boys (just family photos we had taken earlier that week) fell out of the boys diaper bag. We weren't going to give them to the casting director since the front secretary had told us that they weren't taking head shots from potential clients because they would be taking our pictures and videoing us during the audition. When the casting director saw the head shots he said "Do you mind if I hold on to these". We knew this was a good sign.

When we got the boys all buckled into their car seats I asked Brad, "How do you think that went?" He looked at me, giggled and said, "I think we booked that stupid thing." He wasn't trying to be cocky or arogant, he just knew what I knew, that it had gone really well and that it would be kind of funny to book something on the boys very first try on a whim that only worked out because we were already headed to the city for a basketball game.

Only a few days later we received a call from the same casting director letting us know that the entire family had booked the commercial. He let us know what kind of clothes to wear and what would be expected of us and the kids. The whole shoot was expected to be anywhere from 8 to 10 hours long, food would be provided, but expect to spend the majority of our day there.

The boys were absolutely perfect on the day of the shoot, which I can only attribute to the grace of God. Both were in super friendly moods, smiling and giggling for everyone while we waited for the scenes to be ready to go. During the crib shoot Nolan wouldn't stop rolling so he was replaced with Linden who loved lying on his back and looking up at the camera. Don't feel bad though, Nolan got his time to shine later. In the scene where both Brad and I were supposed to look exhausted from working with boys all day Nolan started to scream and cry which was EXACTLY what the director wanted him to do. As soon as the scene was over Nolan's crying fit was done too, almost like he knew it was what he needed to do.

The boys were so good that the shoot only took 5 and a half hours, everyone who worked on the commercial said they'd never seen a commercial with kids go that fast and that the boys were so good to work with. All and all it was a wonderful experience and a memory captured on camera that I know I will cherish now and when the boys are all grown up.