>HR: Alright, Seth.

Seth Gilliam: I, uh, I had originally auditioned for the role of Stringer Bell. I’d known a…

(Seth grins)

* laughter *

SG: Yeah… I had known Alexa from having worked on Oz before (* some applause *), and I’d thought of Stringer Bell, I guess um… (to audience) yeah, Oz, Oz in the house?

* applause *

SG: And um, I’d gone in to read for Stringer Bell, I guess she wanted to just break up the monotony of, you know, the audition process. So I went in there…

* laughter *

SG: … gave them a good laugh…

* laughter *

SG: “Try this one…”

* laughter *

SG: So, um, so then I read for, uh, Carver. And I remember being intimidated because the description of the character was that he was this really short guy who’s built like a fire hydrant, you know, and he was supposed to be this very physically imposing and intimidating, but, you know, small kind of mad dog type of thing is what I had gotten. And I was like, “Well, I don’t really see anybody being scared of me. I guess I’ll… GET LOUD.”

* laughter *

SG: And it worked, so I was like, “YEAH, MAN!” (mimes “What the fuck?”)

* laughter *

SG: Got the job, so…

* laughter *

SG: … it worked.

HR: Okay. Deirdre, did you also audition for Stringer Bell, or…

* laughter *

Deirdre Lovejoy: I auditioned for Bunk.

HR: For Bunk.

* laughter *

DL: Um…

WP: Hey, watch it, now…

DL: I still think that they meant to cast Deirdre O’Connell. And then I walked in, and the were like, “Oh, we got the wrong Deirdre.” Um, I, um, I don’t… Alexa has been responsible for all of the best jobs I’ve ever gotten… um…

* applause *

DL: I… I… it’s true. Um, so, I remember getting a call from my agent saying there’s this new HBO series and there are two women that are regulars on it. And I was like, (* mimes phone skepticism *) “Yeah, two women, on a…” oh, and one of them’s, uh, black or of color, they’re not sure, but probably not a white girl. “Oh, I’m going to be the only white girl on a new HBO show. I’m sure, fine.” So, I walked into the, um, waiting area, and saw, uh, you know, all of the people that Alexa had called in, which were, you know, Tony Award winners and famous people and the girl that was in the well in Silence of the Lambs, whatever her name is…

* laughter *

DL: … and I was like, “I don’t have a shot in hell at this, so I’m just going to visit with my friend Wendy McKenna.” So I sat there and just, I really thought there was no chance at all, so I think the result is I ran in it so relaxed, and I just did the audition, and had one callback, uh, which was for Robert Colesberry and David and Clark Johnson, and I remember it was the one… I was, I was on the patch… for… the, to stop (smoking), you know, the patch…

* laughter *

DL: … and they went to put the mic on me and it started to rub on the patch, and I was like, “DON’T TAKE OFF MY PATCH!”

* laughter *

DL: And I think it was just a moment of all the stars collide, you know, lining up, for some reason. If I… that’s her… it was total luck. It really, really was.
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