Dear Stephen,

 I wanted to write to you about an experience I had regarding my first encounter with The Tobolowsky Files. To say I am a struggling actor here in Los Angeles is an understatement. The last 12 years has been a harrowing existence in rejection and sacrifice that should have sent me packing long ago, however since I grew up here in LA, quitting was never really an option. Sometimes, when chasing my dream of being a working actor would start to lose its luster I would imagine my self stepping off a bus in some distant long forgotten small town like so many others before me, and walk to that imaginary home with my tail between my legs, and hear the bellow of “I told you so’s”, and “Finally came to your senses, huh?” from the fictitious friends and family, I had conjured up in my head. The irony being, my real family has been nothing but supportive in my acting pursuits.

 For the past two years I have gone agentless which, as you’re well aware, is nothing new for an actor. I have run the gambit of losing representation many times, and naturally you would think it would have to do with ones talent, but I assure you each time it’s has been out of my control. I’ve been through the ringer with incompetence, getting lost in the shuffle, not being informed that they were leaving town to change careers, to waking up one day and realizing the new agent that signed me had just got arrested for embezzlement! I know, shocking! Anyway I digress, along the way I’ve been lucky to have a few supporters, advocates in my corner who’ve thrown me a bone from time to time, one of them being a sweet little casting director who calls me once in a Plutonian cycle with an audition. So you can understand my enthusiasm when she called me about a month ago, She said I had a straight to director audition and told me the sides were in my inbox and that they were looking for a real funny guy, and I was perfect for it. After thanking her over and over again I kicked my girlfriend off the computer and with the fervor of a puma hunting its lunch I began downloading the sides. It was a small part, actually it was a mere morsel, three lines, and they were indecipherable! I began to panic, the one page I received revealed nothing about my character, only one small clue, the name they had given the character was THIEF.

 Included in the email was the name of the director. I couldn’t believe my luck. The guy is somewhat of a powerhouse right now in the industry and 5 years ago cast me in my first national commercial. My mind began to relive that night shoot. I would never forget it. It was the first time I felt I had finally made it. While I was on set filming my scene, I kept hearing the crew and the director laughing hysterically between takes. When I was wrapped he came up to me and asked if I was a comedian. I didn’t know what to say, except that I considered myself a character actor, who loves comedy. He gave me a pat on the back and said he couldn’t’ have been happier with my performance! Such lavish praise was foreign to me, especially coming from the real deal. I went home that morning and couldn’t sleep I was absolutely elated with joy. All my hard work was about to pay off!

Now 5 years later, the universe was aligned and after the driest of all dry spells, our paths were going to meet again, and he was certainly going to remember me let alone cast me as the roll of the THEIF. I immediately texted my agent and relayed the good news that I should be a for sure shoe in because of my previous history with him, she texted back, “That’s great!” My only hurdle now was trying to make sense of this part, I couldn’t find anything remotely funny about it and was starting to get concerned that maybe she emailed the wrong sides. No she had not.

 I decided to knock on my neighbor’s door, he too is a fellow actor, and I hoped he could help me make sense of the gibberish that was now beginning to haunt my every move in how I was going to prepare. I told him the situation and then handed him the sides, five seconds later he handed it back to me and laughed. I stood in his living room waiting for some of his sage advice to start to depart from his mouth when I heard a familiar voice coming from his speakers. I asked what he was listening to and he started to laugh some more. He said it was a podcast that a friend had recommended to him called the The Tobolowsky Files, again he laughed a little more. I started to feel like I had caught him at a bad time and told him I’d come back later when he was a little less high. He assured me he wasn’t, he was just a little taken back at the course of events that had just transpired in the last few minutes. He then jogged my memory as to how I would remember you and told me to sit down and relax, he was going to restart the episode for me to listen as well. I told him I didn’t think it was a good idea; I had too many things going on in my head to sit and focus on the ramblings of an actor who probably hasn’t had to worry about auditioning for anything for the past 10 years. He persuaded me to stay, and am forever grateful he did. My first Tobolowsky Files experience was episode 33 The X Factor!!! Wow! Serendipity at its finest.

 After listening to the episode I called my casting director friend back and insisted she get me a copy of the script! She told me that it wouldn’t be possible, that it was under lock and key. I told her how essential it was for me to have clarity about the scene and the only way I could deliver exactly what they wanted was going to be reading that script! I told her I would drive to her and read it front of her if it made her feel better, I guess I must have been pretty persistent, she sighed and told me she’d forward the script to me but if it got out, she’d hunt me down and murder me where I stood. I believed her.

 For the next hour I read the whole thing, I began to wonder why they felt the need to protect the contents of the script, nothing stood out as groundbreaking, or relevant for such precautions, it was amateur at best, in fact I was disappointed in the quality and lack of substance, but I wasn’t going to let that keep me from giving my best. I finally had clarity on the scene and was confident in the character I created to wow the director, again.

 I never got the part, in fact, he wasn’t there for my audition like I was told he would be, but I did get to impress my little casting director friend who told me she could tell I’d been improving more and more each time she’s seen me. It’s funny, when I learned that the part went to someone else, I didn’t mind, normally I would sulk for a minute or two, but this time I didn’t really care. If nothing else I gained a new friend. I hope you don’t think that too formal, but I’ve now listened to all your podcasts and can’t help but feel you were talking to me each time. Your stories have been a joy to listen to, and am deeply appreciative for your insightful trials and tribulations, they have been very cathartic to this struggling actor, and I eagerly await your third installment of the files.