My daughter and I are longtime fans of the NBC TV reality show, The Biggest Loser. When we learned that they were casting for a second episode of “couples”, we were excited. When we found out that they would be holding a casting call within driving distance of our home, we were downright stoked! Even though it was more than a month away, we marked it on the calendar and counted the days until our chance to try out for The Biggest Loser.
According to NBC’s casting website (click here to view all current NBC casting calls), casting for The Biggest Loser would start at 10 a.m. on a Saturday morning. It specified that hopefuls should arrive no more than three hours prior to that time, and also that we should bring photos of each person, from head to toe, that we did not need returned. We mapped our trip and determined that we would need to leave by 4:30 that morning in order to arrive at the mall named by 7 a.m. We posed in our kitchen, taking those dreaded full-body photos that might be our ticket to the show. Then we waited for the date of the casting call to arrive.
As so often seems to be the case, the unexpected occurred. Two weeks prior to our Biggest Loser date with destiny, my husband had an accident at work. A truck driver, he was unloading appliances from his trailer down a ramp. He slipped and landed on his back with two washing machines atop him. Although it could have been much worse, he ended up in the hospital having a titanium rod inserted from knee to ankle. Since my husband couldn’t even get to the bathroom alone, we thought our casting call was history.
Determined not to be hampered, I found a “babysitter” – my husband’s uncle – to spend the day with him. We were on the road before daybreak.
Upon arriving at the mall where the casting call was being held – not a minute before 7:00, thanks to a Mapquest glitch – we were thrilled to see only about a dozen people lined up outside the mall’s double doors. However, once we got to the back of that line, our spirits were dampened. The casting call line did not begin at the mall’s exterior doors, but rather snaked around inside like a bank teller’s nightmare. Apparently these folks did not heed the instructions to not arrive early. They were “punished” by being allowed in the mall. Needless to say, those of us who had followed direction were slightly miffed.
However, the camaraderie we began building with the other Biggest Loser hopefuls near us helped us quickly forget our indignation toward the early birds. We were all directed to use a certain public restroom halfway across the mall, that just so happened to be smack-dab in the middle of the food court. The same food court that was open at 7 a.m. that morning! We later learned that there was a restroom two doors away from the casting call room that was nowhere near a food vendor of any sort. Perhaps they were hoping to cash in on us?
At around 10 a.m. a couple of NBC staffers came out to give us each a numbered wristband. My daughter and I were numbers 312 and 313; they would see about 1,000 Biggest Loser wannabes that day, at that location anyway (they were also holding casting calls the same day in L.A. and Las Vegas).
We finally made it to the front of the line at a little after 1 p.m. The casting call room was an empty store in the mall with a large plastic NBC Now Casting banner hung above it. They counted us in groups of ten, and two groups entered the Biggest Loser casting call room at a time. We were directed to sit at a conference table, all facing the NBC staffer who would interview us.
She asked us to hand her our applications and photos, then go around the table and state our names, where we were from, and if we were there with someone what our relationship was. I felt very hopeful at this point, as she commented on what a cute mother and daughter we were. She then asked us a general, conversation-provoking question. We answered and chatted for just a brief period, when another NBC staffer announced “Wrap it up!”
Our interviewer finished by advising that we all send in a short home video. She stated, “My producer might ask me, did you see any cute mother/daughter teams…” which made me even more hopeful! She let us know that if we were called back we’d need to come back within the next four days, and that the phone call would come by 10 p.m. that night.
We made the long drive home, exhausted yet excited, hoping against hope that our phone would ring with a call from The Biggest Loser casting folks. Sadly, the call never came. But we will never give up! TV show or no TV show, we are bound and determined to be big losers!
