06. Journal - Workable Beefcake: On Location with Milos Forman & Carol Kane

I open up my archival journals from my time temping at UCLA, which triggers an extensive flashback to 1998. This was long before I had any institutional A-list entrée or industry traction. I was just a young, bold dayplayer on-location at a mausoleum set of Milos Forman's Andy Kaufman biopic, Man on the Moon. Back then, I quickly learned my own definition of "Workable Beefcake," which is Hollywood's tendency to view young men as malleable raw material. After passing my hair and makeup test for Universal, I ended up willingly giving my trailer to the legendary Carol Kane to show her proper props as a star (Simka on 'Taxi,' 'When A Stranger Calls'). The rest of the shoot was a masterclass in studio ego logistics and navigating different personalities. I look back on a frosty start with Jeff Conaway, Marilu Henner, and Danny DeVito. On the flip side, I had a great experience with Courtney Love, Christopher Lloyd, the famous wrestler Jerry Lawler, and the wonderful woman dayplayer who played my wife and stayed in character with me all day. I also share the true story of accidentally halting a multi-million-dollar production when my self-styled hair sent Jeff Conaway into a wig-induced panic (he had hair; he was recreating his look from 'Taxi').. I also get into a memory that still hurts to think about. I desperately needed my SAG voucher on that set, but production gave it to another dayplayer who showed up disheveled, hungover, and three hours late. Missing out on that voucher altered my path, because by 2002 I was working at THR and no longer pursuing acting roles. Ultimately, this episode is a love letter to the grace of director Milos Forman, who bypassed the rigid hierarchies of a studio lot to invite a young dayplayer to sit down and share a lunch with him.

Where are the visionaries? Sometimes you have to get out of your head to find them. Sometimes you have to turn down workable beefcake. Thank you, Christopher Lloyd.

Written and read by Karl Gibson.

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