Brainerd Daily Dispatch Article

TV season on the brink

This could be the breakout year for Brainerd's Tom Schmid. In a short period of time, he has landed roles on 'Bones' and a pair of 'CSIs.'

By JOHN HANSEN
Entertainment Editor

August 11, 2005

Actors on the verge of making it often find themselves working in spurts: They'll go through a drought and then they'll be flooded with jobs. This is a good week for Tom Schmid, because he currently finds himself in the latter category.

The 1981 Brainerd High School graduate, who moved to the Los Angeles area three years ago to pursue a career in screen acting, recently landed guest roles on three forensics TV shows: sizzling "CSI" and "CSI: Miami" and buzzworthy "Bones." Earlier this year, he wrapped a role in the HBO movie "Walkout," directed by Edward James Olmos. And just to stay sharp, he also has a leading role in a musical.

Even when the work isn't pouring in, Schmid stays busy with the full-time job of getting his name and face out there.

"Most of my work comes from hustling and networking," he said in a phone interview from his Toluca Lake, Calif., apartment. "I'll do casting director workshops where you'll pay $30 for a two-hour workshop. Otherwise, they wouldn't see your work. In 'CSI,' for the role of Drunk Guy, probably 1,000 resumes were submitted. When they're flipping through 1,000 pictures, they're probably getting one second on each picture. They'll say, 'Oh, Tom. I know him.'"

The actor's resume reads like a TV critic's best-of list: He has guested on "Angel," "Gilmore Girls," "Arrested Development," "The Inside," "The Shield" and "Judging Amy" (see sidebar). For Schmid, it has been a long trip to the brink of big-time success, with a couple detours.

After graduating from the University of Minnesota with a degree in rhetoric, Schmid took a job as a law clerk in Brainerd and later became a legal publisher in St. Paul. He served one jury trial as a defense attorney.

"I got an acquittal and thought that was a good time to stop," he said. "I retired one and oh."

However, he couldn't shake the acting bug he first caught at BHS -- he still remembers theater director Andre Lamourea's "intensity and passion." So he moved to New York, where he earned positive reviews for his double-barreled title turn in "Jekyll & Hyde." That inspired him to switch coasts and aim for the big and small screens (without giving up the stage entirely).

"I find that doing stage work helps my TV and film work and TV and film work helps my stage work," he said. "It helps me bring more focus and subtlety to the stage."

Tom Schmid

TV and film actor

Favorite TV shows: The Discovery and History channels

Favorite movie: "The Natural"

Favorite play: "The Music Man"

Favorite actor: Tom Hanks

Favorite actress: Renee Zellweger

Favorite books: Michael DiMercurio's submarine novels and John Sandford's "Prey" novels

What do you do in your spare time? Geocaching (worldwide scavenger hunts officiated at www.geocaching.com) and golfing.

Today, the truncated law career is a distant memory. Except when Schmid plays lawyers on TV, as he did on the daytime soap "General Hospital." Or when he flips out his attorney's license to show his co-stars, as he did between takes on "Bones" last week ("Hey, I paid a lot for that license," Schmid said with a laugh).

"Judging Amy" -- Schmid, who played a Senate committee leader who is questioning the title character, spoke the last dialogue on the series before Amy's fade-out speech. Schmid was on hand for the maybe-goodbyes at the final script reading for the show, which was canceled by CBS soon after Schmid's episode aired.

"The Inside" -- His "Inside" episode, on the other hand, never saw the light of day; the show was axed by Fox last month just before Schmid's episode was scheduled to air. But it's a blink-and-you'll miss it appearance anyway, he said.

"I was a reporter with a gaggle of 30 extras shouting out two lines. ... The show did have a great feel."

"Arrested Development" -- Again, Schmid played a TV reporter.

"'Arrested Development' was probably one of my fastest shoots. I showed up, filled out the paperwork, wore my own clothing and left within an hour-and-a-half."

"Gilmore Girls" -- It's no secret in Hollywood that scripts for this show run about 15 pages longer than average due to the rapid-fire dialogue. Adding to the challenge, Schmid played a calculus teacher.

"That was one of the more difficult jobs I've had," he said. "I had a 6:30 call, there was all the calculus I had to recite. (The joke is that) the student says 'He's talking so fast I can't understand him.' I did several takes. It's a word-for-word show. If you miss one word, they'll tell you."

For more of Schmid's credits and upcoming appearances, check out www.tomschmid.com.

-- By John Hansen

"Bones" is a new fall series about a cynical FBI agent played by former "Angel" star David Boreanaz, whom Schmid had met briefly during his one-scene stint as a comically bad singer on the vampire drama ("I said 'hi' to him in the makeup trailer. I shot during the day and of course all his stuff was outside at night," Schmid said.) In the second episode of "Bones," Schmid plays a juvenile delinquent's father. The role is a classic example of how pounding the pavement is a more effective strategy than sitting by the phone.

"I heard about the 'Bones' audition, and about five miles away (from my apartment) is the casting office and I know the casting director," he said. "I just put my headshot and resume in a bucket outside the office, and got called in. Ironically, I had worked with the director before on 'The O.C.'"

After a 15-hour day on the set -- which wasn't all bad: he enjoyed a bit of Twins versus Yankees banter with former east-coaster Boreanaz at the food service table -- Schmid was happy to rest his bones and chat about his other roles. In the fall premiere of "CSI," he'll have one "short but memorable" scene as a drunk. And in "Walkout," set to air later this year, he plays a reporter hounding the lead character, played by rising star Michael Pena.

Schmid laughingly suspects the final edit will feature mostly Pena.

"The difficult thing about TV and film is you have no idea how it's going to turn out," Schmid said. "A talented editor can actually take sound from a different take and you can look at it and go 'Whoa.' When I was on 'The Shield' with Anthony Anderson, who is a very hot actor, I probably had five or six lines, but you see me quickly twice. I'm interrogating him, but it's all Anthony Anderson. But hey, if there's an ego thing, you let it go."

It doesn't seem likely Schmid will develop a big ego anytime soon. He's more interested in developing his screenplays -- one is in the vein of "Spy Kids," another tells the tale of Paul Bunyan. Schmid will always be a small-town guy at heart. He's quick to denounce celebrity culture (and he's equally quick to not name names; after all, you never know who you'll be working with down the road).

"One problem with this business is celebrity can mess with you," he said. "If you put your value in that, when that goes away -- which it will -- you have no value. In this career, even as I achieve more, the most important thing is truly going to be having a beer with my friend George Burton at (Brainerd's) Last Turn Saloon."

If the floodgates don't snap shut, it appears Schmid will pick up more acting credits to discuss over a brew with his old friends. But the actor isn't making any assumptions.

"Ultimately, my goal is to be financially secure. I act because I'm hungry to do the work, but I also do it to make sure the rent is covered for October," he said with a chuckle. "Hopefully, I can take it to the next level."

JOHN HANSEN can be reached at john.hansen@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5863.