I love telling stories (and hearing them too). But, as with any good story, it takes some time to sit down and write it the way it should be told. Truth is, I prefer telling stories out loud. Through encouragement and some discipline, though, I write these blog entries (that was not meant to have sounded as dramatic as it did...). If you ever want to hear a story quicker, please feel free to give me a call (if you don't have my number, just send me a Facebook message or email and I'll give it to you- no problem [insert Indian head bobble here]). And on with the show...
As you probably already know, I was on the April Fool's episode of The Price Is Right modeling cars, tredmills and chia pets (among other things). How did I even get a shot at being on the show? Well, it happened like this: my agent Stephanie calls me (which is always exciting) on a February morning to ask me if I have any recent full-body photos of myself that show off my height and, if so, send them her way ASAP. She said the project had something to do with a skit on The Price Is Right. I said I'd check Facebook STASAP (sooner than as soon as possible) and ended up sending her a picture of Chantel Hanson and I who had visited me along with Megan a few weeks earlier (side note: I really appreciate those who have popped in when visiting LA: Chantel, Megan, Holly, Noel, Debbie, Dave, Jenna, Brother). The next day, I was called by Gina Edwards Nyman, one of the producers of The Price Is Right, who told me they wanted to have me on their show in a April Fool's Day skit. She also told me that Robin Gurney would be giving me a call shortly to discuss what options of clothing I should bring to the set. After a few more phone calls and emails between Gina and Robin, before I knew it, I was supposed to be at the CBS studios on Fairfax Ave at 8:30am on March 3rd (for those interested: there are multiple CBS studios. For instance, CBS studios on Radford Ave are where shows like Parks & Recreation and CSI: New York are shot. For clarification: production studios, regardless of network affiliation, are rented out to whomever is willing to pay for them). CBS Fairfax is where The Young And The Restless (of which I was both the night before being on TPIR), The Craig Furgeson Show and The Price Is Right is filmed.
Now, I'm usually late to everything, but I decided that March 3rd was the wrong day to be tardy so I left early (I guess I do have the potential to be on-time...)- even though I only live 10 minutes from the CBS Fairfax. When I drove up to the studio, I showed the security guard my ID (I definitely felt like a big shot) and he directed me to where I needed to park with a smile. When I came to the area I was to park in after going no more than 8 mph (which was the speed limit in the park lot) , I saw a white piece of paper on an orange traffic cone that read: "Michael Sielaff.” They left out the J. Unbelievable. I was going to have to find out who was responsible for this...I excitedly walked towards the main door with my hands full of wardrobe options. As I walked past the large group waiting in line to get into The Price Is Right, people looked at me like I was important- they may have been trying to think of where they've seen me before (I surprisingly get this a lot- of which I usually respond “Do you watch The Price Is Right?” Or “Are you from Fridley, Minnesota?”). Just four months ago, I was in this same line waiting to be an audience member for Craig Furgeson. Later, I heard that one family even camped out in front of the studio to get tickets. After going through an airport-esque security check I went inside CBS Studios, was cleared by another security guard and was directed to the infamous Studio 33. Walking down the main hallway with posters of “The Mentalist,” “CSI: Las Vegas,” and “Two and a Half Men” hanging on the walls, it finally sunk in: I'm going to be on network television! (More to come...aka I will add on to the story a little later this week...)
Other news...
I now have a website (michaeljsielaff.webs.com) which I will probably be updating more frequently than my blog- so check it out if you want to see what I'm up to acting-wise. I also received my first IMDb credit for a short film I was in (“Red Princess Blues”) as well as a credit for The Price Is Right and a student film called “Punch Line”- so feel free to check it out if you're bored (I gotta get my popularity up if I'm going to compete with Robert De Niro). I plan on being back in Minnesota on July 8th through the middle of August, so I hope to see a lot of you during that time! Thanks for reading!
"Perseverance is a great substitute for talent.”
(Steve Martin)
