RIP Conoco Commercial

Well...bad news.

My commercial agents called today to tell me that I got cut out of the Conoco Phillips commercial, so I'm not getting paid the buy-out lump sum. So...that sucks. A lot. The money would have been really helpful, as money always tends to be, but I also would have loved to have had the footage and had it be running, if only for my family to see. I need to call the production company and see if there's any chance they have my footage, just for my reel.

It's an unfortunate situation, and a new experience for me. I'm bummed. But, I'm trying to look at it from this perspective:

~I had another experience on set, which is always great.
~I booked the commercial to begin with, so my agents know that I can book.
~I no longer have a conflict for gas stations.
~Since I never had the $3K from the buy out, it wasn't mine to begin with, so I'm not technically out the money (although it sure feels that way!).
~If this were a union commercial that I'd been cut out of, I'd be out WAY more money. So, this isn't so bad.

Actors get cut from things all of the time. I've known people it's happened to, and it always sucks, but it's not so uncommon. I'm trying to not take it personally, because I honestly have no actual information about why I wasn't in the final cut. My agents told me that they just received a form letter saying I hadn't made it into the final edit, with no reasons given, and that's just how it happens. I do know that I was at the end of a 30 second version of a spot that also had a 15 second version. When I was on set, I noticed that what they shot at the start of the day did not match up with my portion, and I thought it was weird at the time, but who knows...and, granted, I didn't feel great about what I did on set, but who really knows? Actors are always their own worst critics, and I am notoriously hard on myself. The urge is totally there to blame it all on myself, but the truth is, I really don't know the actual reason. So...just gotta accept it, mourn the project (and the payment), and move on.

I am grateful to have booked it and had the experience, and maybe it's good I'm learning how to deal with being cut from something at this stage in my career. :)