Congrats on the audition, Wil! I'm just sad there's no picture of you with bright blue hair...

Oh, and firsties.

Regards,
Joseph

Indeed! Bring on the blue hair!

Oh, and I'll keep my fingers crossed for your audition.

Indeed, tendonitis is a bitch. It sucks that your book won't be ready before christmas, but soon enough hopefully. A lot of my friends and I are really looking forward to it. Good luck with your audition, you blue-haired punk rocker you.

I just realized after reading your site for so long, I'm sitting here writing you a post like I know you...that's really cool.

Much good audition mojo.

We *have* to see the hair, btw. Time to fix the gallery and put up a piccy. :)

OK, second post. But I should get some points for reading Wil's interview on FARK before the man himsself mentioned it.

Ooh yes! Want pictures of Wil with blue hair!! :)

Post!

Ask Bob and Tommy if they got a 'thing' for each other, while you're there.

The Polar Express, as in the Chris Van Allsburg book? That guy writes really cool kids books. My favorite is The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. If you've never seen it, you should. Not only will your kids like them, but so will you, I wager.

That is alot of Auditions for someone who quit acting ;)

Add me to the list of people who NEEDS to see the hair!

Good luck with the audition, and the arm-healing.

rae

(ohh, breaking of the wheaton comment cherry...)

> I have punk rock blue hair right now.

Pictures?

Good luck on the audition.

-Kahn

What, pray tell, prompts someone who is not, in fact, an 80 year old woman with 26 cats, to delve into the realm of blue hair? Methinks the smurfy locks are not good for audition karma.

Blue hair and Tom Hanks? That's gotta be a hella combination! hehe If Tom is the kind of person that I think he is, even if the audition doesn't go so well, I bet you'll have a blast of a time :}

Aye but I hope it does go well for you. Would like to see you on the big screen again.

You know it's kinda weird, last night I was watching ST:TNG on TNN, and the episode "Transfigurations" was on. And at one point, when "John" healed O'Brien's dislocated shoulder, Wes was right there, but when Beverly came out of her office, Wes (who was standing next to O'Brien) seemed to get pushed back behind everyone else. Normally I would not have paid attention to such things, but after spending lots of time reading the stuff you put up on this site, and reading the published interviews with you, I think it sucks that you and Wes always seemed to get pushed around on the set. I still think another ST movie needs to be made, where Wes comes back and saves Earth, the Federation, and possibly the whole galaxy from an evil Q-like being (Not John DeLancie's Q though, because he is too cool!)

I wonder, does that make me a geek to say such things? ;)

Good luck on the audition! The Polar Express is a fantastic story.

Unca Willie, blue hair happens. Just tell them that you dyed to it make your kids happy on Halloween and it's still fading out...

I have just GOT to see a picture of this. When you gonna post one?

sorry to hear about the tendonitis, but the lawn sounds like it looks amazing.

good luck with the audition. at least you know with the blue hair you'll definitely be unforgettable no matter what. :)

btw...i was watching entertainment tonight this weekend and it was all about TNG. they had interviews from the first day of shooting and a little interview with you about the time you were leaving the show.

happy holidays, w2

Would be great to see you in a Robert Zemeckis flick! I loved The Frighteners, Death Becomes her, and the Tales from the Crypt series.

My friend Stevil & I were just discussing how much the ST:TNG movies have sucked compared to the original series. I dunno why they've never brought back Q.

You know, I'm pretty sure I'm not going to have any auditions for the next...life and yet, no blue hair.

Clean up your act you...hippie!

Good luck with the audition!

Woohoo... movie mojo for Wil! :) knock 'em dead! :D

Tell your editor to hurry up so we can all read this book already! Perhaps the author picture could feature the blue hair...

And more good audition mojo headed your way.

good luck with the audition!

Blue hair... ROFL... um, doesn't that usually happen with OLD AGE???

I'll bet you look good with blue hair. Just as long as it's not slicked back like Wesley's third-season "pompadour"!

Uh ok get some hair dye quick..this could be a big deal for you with this movie..Ya think? I love Tom Hanks...good luck!

wash your hair several times a day with dish soap..blue is easy to get rid of...it's green, pink and orange thats a bitch. You can also find a dark hair color (i would not suggest it unless youre desperate though) but your hair will still have a blue tint in the sunlight.

frank, yes.

but we're all here, right?

...but I *like* the punk rock blue hair!

Thats great! If they asked you then maybe they are trying to find someone with an actor to fit the look of the movie...that and intelligent, funny, and well, you get the picture.

Oooh! Add this monkey to the list that wants to see your punk blue hair!

"Nowhere Fast"
Great CD you should all own by the band Soulcracker.

smoochies.

Blue hair? Cool! Good luck with the audition!

To those of you telling the editor to get off his sorry ass and get the edit done . . . the edit is done. The marked up manuscript should get overnighted to Wil later today.

Although I'm tempted to hold it hostage until he posts a pic of the hair . . .

Anyway, I apologize to everyone who wanted this book for Christmas; I got swamped at the Day Job and just flat didn't get it done in time. Totally my fault.

Blue hair for "Polar Express"? Sounds like fate to me.

Much Movie Audition-Job Getting Mojo to you, Unca Willie.

So Unca Willie decides to "stop acting", and auditions pour his way. Would that Mojo work for me if I stopped dating? hee hee

I hear that the Polar Express is supposed to be the next big thing for Robert Zemeckis. I read here (http://www.bttf.com/news/02120201.shtml) that the budget is supposed to be $150 million.
Lot's more good info abt this movie here too.

****AUDITION MOJO****

Oh, and I, too, would love to see HMIC's blue coif.

Am I the only want to that really wants to see a picture of this punk rock blue hair? ;)

Oh, yes, must see the blue hair!
I'm sending out audition luck vibes! I'd love to see you on the big screen again.

Wil can't mention this right now but rumor has it he's auditioning for the part of Milhouse in the soon-to-be-filmed live action version of the Simpsons.

Add me to the list of those that want to see you with blue hair.

Good luck with the audition!

L.

Robert Zemeckis, the man behind Contact and the Back to the Future trilogy is always pushing the boundaries of FX in films which you wouldn't think need many (i.e. Castaway, What Lies Beneath). Now, The Los Angeles Times reports that his adaptation of The Polar Express, which stars Tom Hanks as a train conductor who takes a young boy on a ride to the North Pole, will utilize a technique rarely seen before. Seems that every scene in the film will be shot with digital cameras in front of a blank screen with the various actors using motion-capture sensors to capture every nuance of their performance for the computer animators to create later. In effect this is a digitally animated movie but unlike say Final Fantasy, here the characters will be designed to look like their voice counterparts to the point where a flashback of Hanks's character as a young boy will be a virtual model using Hanks' current facial and muscle structure combined with photos from his younger days to create the visual look. The announcement of these details have raised eyebrows in not only labor union official circles who fear regular film crews will be cut out but also by economists who suspect the budget, currently estimated to be $150 million, will blow out

good luck on the audition. who knows maybe they're looking for someone with "punk rock blue hair" though probably not. . . . so when are you getting some 8x10s of that huh? oh hell i think we'll all settle for some 3x5s of the blueness :)

have fun being a writer that gets lots of auditions for acting ;)

There's always a wig...

of course its always sucky to do auditions in pain. . . . . .

Hey Wil,

I'm taking classes to become a certified massage therapist. One of the things we learned to self treat tendonitis (as you can imagine, a stress injury many therapists suffer from) is called contrast bathing.

You soak your arm in a cold bath for 5 minutes, then warm compress for 5 and back to a cold bath for 5, repeat the process, i.e. 5c, 5w, 5c, 5w, 5c. Always, always, always end with cold. The premise being, the cold causes vasoconstriction, the warm causes vasodilation. You create a "pump" in the tissues to flush out inflammatory chemicals and pump in fresh blood, which speeds healing.

By the way, by "bath" I don't mean getting in a tub, you can soak your arm in a basin or bowl, what ever you deem convenient.

And if you choose to just ice your arm, make sure you don't do it for more than 20 minutes at a time so you don't become more sore.

Hope this helps, and best wishes on your audition.

"Yeah, I'm thinking the same thing you are, "Tom Hanks and Robert Zemeckis? Why the hell are they asking to see me?!""

IIRC, I think Rob Reiner was originally pegged for director for this flick, and I'm sure He and Hanks had a few pow wows about possible casting before Zemeckis came on board...

Oh, the FX thing...I get it. See, Wil already has a buncha experience reacting and emoting to stuff that, for the time being, looks like a big blue screen.

But do the actors get paid for being computer-regenerated? Read the fine print on this one, Unca, or you'll be in the fix the Beatles were after Yellow Submarine.

I will always have a place in my heart for Robert Zemeckis. Just, mmm, beautiful job on Contact--the movie managed to capture all the most important themes of the book. I did not feel the limitations of film watching a 500 page book turned into a two and half hour movie. Good luck with that audition, I hope you kick its ass and we get to see you in the theaters!!

Much mojo sent to you for gl on the audition.

I saw an article about The Polar Express just a couple of days ago, and I must say that I was minorly geeking out about how much fun it would be to try to render actual actors. (Yes, I am a CS major...) Since it *is* all computer, maybe it won't matter if you have blue hair? ;) Major mojo for the audition!

And I think it's safe to say that we'll all be waiting (impatiently) in line for the book, as everyone else has said.

Does POLAR EXPRESS have a bad guy? Maybe they want you to voice the character who kidnaps Santa, or whatever. Nah, they'll probably get Walken to do that.

"The Polar Express"? Like the book? That's so cool! I love that book! I HAVE that book! And how exciting to be working with Tom Hanks and Zemeckis. That's really neat!

Just wish we could see a picture of the blue hair.

Your friend,
Tracey

Wil, keep you're hair blue, unless you get the part and they tell you to change it, but then, dye it back! (though, if it's CGI, don't see how it would matter what color hair you have.)
I'm jealous, I’d dye my hair that powder blue color (not to be confused with that old-lady grey-blue) and I'd do it for no other reason then the fact that I can, if I didn't have a stupid dress code at work. (I'd actually like to dye it dark pink, but that would just make me "trendy".)
For all those who "live inside the box": Dare to be different, people...who cares what the rest of the world thinks, they're all idiots, anyway! :-)
You only get one life, be unique!!! my $.02, anyway...
btw, 1st time poster, long time lurker...
also sending "good luck on the audition" mojo...

*big audition mojo*

Post a pic, post a pic! :)

I have blue hair too! Now me and Wil can be hair-buddies. Woot. Blue hair rules the school. Dont let anyone tell you different.

Oh, well, maybe the blue hair won't matter if they're filming you in front of a blue screen.

But... wait... does that mean when they go to CG you, part of your head will disappear??

There'll be just Wil's eyes and eyebrows and smile, and the computer geeks working up the motion-capture will laugh their asses off...

THIS I gotta see!

Yay, congrats! And your local colorist should be able to clear that blue hair right up in time for the audition.

I can sort of visualize what you would look like with the blue hair, but I'll admit it, I want to see it. I want pictures! Yeah, I'll fess up, I want pictures of you in anything, I dont care if you dye your whole face purple, I want to see it! Now that I have upped my status to raving, flaming, frothing, crazed fan, as opposed to the casual fan I was before I started reading this site, I want to see you in something! Movies, TV, in a book on a hook I dont care. (sorry, I just went all Suess there for a second)

That reminds me, any news about when the tv flick will air on PAX? I'm looking forward to seeing it.

I wanna see the punk rock blue hair, man!!!!!

Good luck with the interview!

Just wanted to wish you luck on the audition!!!

I wanna see a picture of the punk rock blue hair, right now!

Question - If Wil is filming in front of blue screen with a head of blue hair, won't he look bald?

Tom Hanks + Wil with blue hair is a "good thing!"

AUDITION MOJO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just think it's awesome that you're a 30-year-old stepfather with blue hair. What does Anne think of the 'azul tresses'?

:)

Oh yes, and you absolutely must show us picture of your Smurfness. You can't tantalize your monkeys with "I have blue hair" and then refuse to let us see it!

Good luck today, Wil.

Okay, so if it's digital imaging in front of a blank screen (aka Blue Screen) won't Wil's hair disappear?

I saw Zemeckis speak a while back at USC, and it looks like he's got BIG plans for this movie... I REALLY hope Zemeckis and his partners are able to handle the copious amounts of talent and hair dye you're about to unleash on them.

BTW, I'd like to thank you again for the autographed photograph. I can't tell you what this means to me. If I ever become a presence to be reckoned with in the Hollywood scene (and I'm already taking steps to make this happen ASAP), I hope you'll consider considering to consider considering to consider being a part of it.

Major Audition Mojo from "the far off hamlet of Burbank." =)

Adam

Dude, The Polar Express!!! That is THE Christmas Eve read (nothing against "The Night Before Christmas") Tell Tom and Bob I said hey...

tim

Man, you got to post a pic of your blue hair. I gotta see this. HA! I for one think you should leave your hair blue today because it shows that you are willing to do different things and you are bold. Good stuff. And Good luck and much mojo to ya!

Major mojo from PA for the audition! I've read all the comments, and while I personally would keep the blue hair for the audition, I think I would, to be more conservative, dye it.....all except for one lock! That would give you something to discuss at the audition. Hope all goes well! Karen

Wil,
You can always put the blue back in the hair. Good luck. I never read the book but most of the time when Tom Hanks is involved, it is a great script.

FG

I really have to see a pic of you with blue hair, that's one for the gallery. I agree with everyone else though that you should keep it that way then die it if you get the part. If they REALLY want you then they'll have to take you as you come not as they want you to be *wink*

God bless

Don't listen to 'em, Wil! Blue hair rocks...mine was blue up until a week ago, now it's black and red. :) Kick ass on the audition!

~caroline

Dude, I totally have to see the blue hair. PIC!! PIC!! As well, how did you get comment thingys to work?

The Polar Express makes me cry every time I read it.

Something great happens when you least expect it.
Well, Congrats on your audition.

By the way, you should post a pic of yourself with blue hair.

Well, that oughta teach you to do silly things like manual labor.

That sucks about the audition. Mebbe there will be some Weirdass Cosmic Turn Of Fate(TM) for you, though.

Stranger shit happens; Kelly Osbourne, for example.

I wanna see the blue hair!

You never know, they might give you a second chance.

Sending Audition MoJo!

MoJo!MoJo!MoJo!MoJo!MoJo!MoJo!MoJo!MoJo!MoJo!MoJo!

I'm sorry Wil.

Guess what I just saw on tv? You on Double Dare...it has to be the best episode. It made me laugh quite a bit.

Sorry to hear it man. But you never know, maybe the blue hair and giant arm hypnotized them, and even if you don't get a part in this movie, they'll think of you and your giant arm when they do the next Popeye remake.

wow Polar express, that's like nostalgia city for me. In second grade the teacher had it in the back of the room and you could go and listen to it on tape while reading the book. I can't wait to see the movie! I really wish you coulda been a part of that movie.

Geez Louise! The Polar Express? When I was 12 (I'm 19 now), I volunteered at the public library and I used to clean the covers of the books in the children's section. I remember the librarians would always scold me when they found me in the corner with several Chris Van Allsburg books. He is an incredibly underrated children's author and even if you don't get the audition, you're still extremely lucky to have a shot. Good luck!

So is this a definite no, or just your impression? You never know and they might want you anyway. If nothing else the blue hair must have made an impression and given you some good small-talk fodder.

Hippie!

Chin up, Wil. You went in and did your best despite all obstacles. You rock the party.

P.S. Blue hair rules.

Sorry, Wil. That sucks that you don't feel good about the audition. I wish you'd put off the lawn until next weekend!

Uncle Willie,

Love to see a hair shot.

Um, I hope you explained or called to let RZ and TH know that you were not exactly at your best, and why. Get yourself another crack at auditioning when you are up to snuff. I hope these guys realize that life happens, and can roll a bit.

Good luck,
Chuck

Look on the bright side....with an optimistic smile....at least they wanted you to audition, and there will be more to come....

Have hope Wil. They did ask for you in the first plasce. Maybe they will be understanding.

*MoJo*

Just so you know, blue hair rocks. I have blue hair also. Keep it. Just remember to be loyal to it, and rebleach and redye when it begins to fade.

Especially during finals.

Gosh, Wil, I am soooo sorry about the jerks that exist in your neck of the woods! What else can I say? Seems unreasonable to me, is all! Chin up, buddy! Karen

Awww much sadness on the audition.

I did a gig with the flu the other night and died in the most spectacular way.

To clarify i was not performing with the flu, i had been infected by it.

Bright blue hair!

Must....resist...temptation...to ....imitate......arrrrrrgggghhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

chris van allsburg's book.. the illustrations were amazing.... good thoughts going out to you.

Wil - I've just started reading your journal, and I'm entirely taken by you. Your last paragraph of this entry is exactly why you *didn't* mess up the audition. As long as you can treat this work as making art instead of just another paycheck, that will show. Have faith, friend. The right parts will find you, and this might even be one of them.

mutter sohn free
http://mutter-sohn.inc-diary.com/