when Jack says yes, you pay less!

When I am faced with an opportunity for local celebrity, I take it. That is why, when a friend who works for a cable company asked for volunteers for one of her clients' commercials, I was ready. She wouldn't tell us what it was for, so my roommate and I started brainstorming what kind of creepy outfit this could be. There's the obvious story: cameraman tells young, inexperienced women they have a future in modeling...but there are also more sinister options. What if it's an ad for the new Wal-Mart opening in Remington? Hmm...we decided if that were the case, we'd have to bail on the commercial.

It was going to be filmed at the inner harbor, so we set out to meet the crew by Phillip's, all dolled up for winter in our cozy coats and cute boots. Upon arriving, we looked for a bunch of older people in blue vests with smiley face stickers. Not seeing any, we decided it was probably safe and moved forward. We met the crew and found out the commercial was for none other than local car salesman Jack Antwerpen. For those of you unfamiliar with "Jack says yes!" here are some examples of his high-brow sales pitches:

pedicures
water

We signed our lives away, met Jack, and began filming, with minimal instructions. I was determined to overact, and during the first take, when I rushed with a crowd of people to surround Jack, I slipped and wiped out completely on the bricks, which by the way, are not an ideal surface for my cute boots. I put my hand out behind me to catch myself, but it didn't do much. When the laughter wore off, I realized it was really difficult to move my hand, but I played it cool to the crew and other actors. "I'm alright; the show must go on!"

We filmed several more scenes, which included more running. Jack told me to sit that one out, but I wouldn't. I will sacrifice my body for my art. That's just the price of being an ac-tor.

So, the rest of the shoot went well, and within an hour, I couldn't move my elbow more than 45 degrees. Watch for the commercial in January.