Last year, the New York Times ran a piece in the Style section about the most common feather in New York actors' caps - a stint on "Law & Order" or one of its two spinoffs, the only prime time dramas filmed in New York. Well, add Joseph Halsey, right, of Robbinsville to the roster.
Halsey split his high school years between St. Anthony's Catholic school in Trenton (where his mother worked, and still works, in the complaints department at Sears), and Palm Bay High in Melbourne, Florida, (where his father owned a deli). It was at Palm Bay High that Halsey got bit by the drama bug: his first role was Guy Masterson in "Guys and Dolls." Halsey will appear in the Wednesday, April 21 episode of "Law and Order," which airs on NBC at 10 p.m.
"I first auditioned for an Italian mafia guy, but they wanted someone beefier," says Halsey, who admits that the typical reason an actor doesn't get a role is that, "after the talent portion, it all comes down to looks." Two weeks later, he was called in for the role of Bill, "a blue collar guy who's hanging out in a scruffy bar with his buddies when another guy gets whacked on the head."
Halsey, who holds an associates degree in drama from the Florida School of the Arts and graduated from a two-year program at the Acting Studio in New York in the early 1990s, has certainly paid his acting dues, with stints on the Cosby Show, America's Most Wanted, and One Life to Live.
His path to Law & Order was paved by Breakthrough Studios in New York, which hosts weekly sessions - part class/part audition with different casting directors. At one session, Halsey auditioned for Claire Trager, casting associate for Law & Order, who then brought him in to see her boss, Suzanne Ryan, casting director for the show. After more auditions with the producers; Lynn Cressel, who oversees casting for every Law & Order show; and David Platt, the episode's director, he was in.
It took a 10-hour day to film Halsey's five-minute scene on location at the Village Idiot, a "very scary" bar on 14th Street. Two PAs (that's film talk for production assistant) were assigned to "babysit" Halsey and the four other "day players."
First, the tech people lit and set up the scene. Then the director blocked the scene with the actors, who then went into makeup and costume. Since Law and Order is filmed with a hand-held camera, the actors must do the scene dozens of times, so the cameraman can capture it from various angles.
As for the opportunity to rub elbows with Jesse L. Martin, who plays Detective Green, the character who interviews Halsey in the bar, or Jerry Orbach (Detective Brisco), that was a no go. "They go right into their trailers between takes," says Halsey. "The script is constantly being rewritten and they have lots of lines to learn."
In the world of acting, a bit part on Law & Order is no mean feat. Edie Falco, who plays Carmela on the Sopranos, got her first bit part on Law & Order, and S. Epatha Merkerson, who plays Lieutenant Anita van Buren, first appeared on the show in a bit part - a mother whose son was murdered. "A lot of people get brought back in," says Halsey, who says some other shows bar actors from repeat appearances.
A carpenter by day for the Belle Mead-based construction company Tomlinson & Girt, Halsey is also the bassist and vocalist for Bigger Than Plastic (www.biggerthanplastic.com), a popular local band that has enjoyed its own share of fame - from the Howard Stern show to airtime on New York's K-Rock and Philly's WMMR and WYSP. They appear at Finnegan's in East Windsor on Saturday, April 10.
Halsey, whose dream role is "to star in Sam Shepard's next play," takes frequent acting classes in New York and has this advice to other actors. "Believe in yourself and don't stop studying to become better at what you do. There's a fine line between persistence and pain in the ass. Find that line and walk it."
Inside scoop Halsey picked up on the set: There may be a fourth iteration of Law & Order coming soon - this time from the jury's perspective.