'Apprentice' tryout draws all kinds
By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Staff Writer
The only thing that could've stopped Albert Birmingham from auditioning for "The Apprentice" yesterday was the pumping south shore swell.
Miller
But he left the 8-foot waves in Waikiki, where he had been surfing since 6:30 a.m., and headed to the Hawai'i Prince Hotel in time to make the casting call — half an hour late.
"I knew it started at 10 a.m.," said Birmingham, owner of Mold Hawai'i, who interviewed in a T-shirt, baseball hat and red board shorts, "but it's 8 feet out there."
It didn't matter that he was late. Most of the more than 150 people who signed up for a spot in one of NBC's highest-rated reality TV shows arrived after 10 a.m., the scheduled start of auditions.
In fact, there were fewer than 50 people in line outside the hotel by the time producers allowed them into the third-floor ballroom. By noon, the crowd congregated in the waiting area, with lines snaking down the stairs.
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"I thought there would be a ton of people," said Holly Scott, 28, a district manager in sales for ADP Employer Services, who arrived at 6:15 a.m.
Tom Sebas of Ala Moana and Debbie Hallof of Kaimuki waited on the stairs of the Hawai'i Prince Hotel for their group interview.
But she wasn't the first in line.
Jay Miller, a home mortgage consultant originally from Seattle, got to the hotel at 5:30 a.m. He hopes his MBA from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University will give him an edge.
"I have a helluva broad range of experience," said the 31-year-old Army captain, wearing what he called his best dress shirt tucked into pressed black pants. "I can only go so far in mortgages. I want to go further in the corporate world."
They all hope "The Apprentice" will be just that vehicle.
Producers were in town to cast for the show's third season, which won't start shooting until later this year. (The second season, which wrapped up taping, hasn't aired yet.) Honolulu is one of 16 cities involved in tryouts. Finalists will be selected in September.
This is the fifth reality TV show that has auditioned in Hawai'i. "Survivor," "Amazing Race," "Real World" and "American Idol" have all held tryouts in the Islands. "American Idol" drew the most applicants last September, with more than 1,500 contestants showing up at Aloha Stadium.
"The Apprentice" pits 18 finalists against each other for a yearlong stint working for real estate mogul Donald Trump. The job pays $250,000 a year.
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Last year the show featured a Harvard graduate, a copy machine salesman, a mortgage lender, a restaurant owner and a doctor. Bill Rancic, owner of a cigar company in Chicago, won the job with The Trump Organization. More than 250,000 people auditioned to be part of the cast that season.
"The Apprentice" hopefuls tried to shine in group interviews with casting director Rob Laplante at the Hawai'i Prince Hotel.
Yesterday's auditions illustrated the show's diverse reach.
They came from all over — Georgia, Hong Kong, Guam, even Botswana — and from all walks of life. Flight attendant, emergency room nurse, champion kickboxer, general manager, university professor, triathlete, stay-at-home mom, Longs Drug cashier, Olympian. There was even a guy named George Bush — a personal trainer.
They all shared the same goal: to be the next apprentice.
"When I first saw the show, I thought it seemed like the most amazing opportunity to meet people in powerful positions and to gain a lot of experience professionally," said Lisa Cripe, public relations account executive at Sharon Serene Creative. "I don't even want to win the apprenticeship as much as I want to be able to test myself in really innovative situations and learn from very successful, influential businesspeople."
Cripe's boss taped the show every week, and had her employees watch it. That got Cripe hooked.
"I just loved it," she said. "I like the fact that it's the most intense job interview you could ever have. You have to prove your skills, not just talk about them."
Scott, who earned degrees in marketing and theater from The College of William and Mary, only saw the last half of the show's first season. She auditioned because her friends thought she would be perfect.
"How awesome would it be to work with someone like (Trump)?" she said. "The opportunity is unreal. You could learn so much from someone that successful."
Yesterday's audition was the first round of interviewing. Eight applicants were brought into a meeting room, crowded around a small table facing casting director Rob Laplante. After short introductions, Laplante opened with a question and let the applicants discuss it. "We're here to get to know you," he said.
Rob Laplante
Laplante asked the first group to talk about the differences of doing business in Hawai'i. They had about 10 minutes.
Liquor saleswoman Philana Bouvier pointed to the state's cultural differences. Jay Miller brought up the Hawai'i's more laid-back business atmosphere. Ann Chung, executive director of the Hawai'i Technology Trade Association, called the Islands a "small fishbowl where everybody knows everybody."
• Airs on NBC • Produced by Mark Burnett ("Survivor") and Donald Trump • Winner gets a six-figure job with Trump for one year • Bill Rancic, a cigar company owner, was the show's first winner • In its first season, "The Apprentice" was the top new show of the season, among both total viewers and adults ages 18-49 • An average of 20.7 million people watched each week; 40.1 million tuned in for the final episode Source: NBC
The point was to get them talking. Some argued with each other, most agreed. Others grabbed any opportunity to sell themselves to the casting director.
All about 'The Apprentice'
"It was easier than I thought," said Stephanie Sachs, an artist from Maui who hopped on a 6:30 flight that morning to make the casting call. "The interaction was the best part about it."
Sachs auditioned for the adventure: "It just sounded like fun."
Producers are hoping to cast someone from Hawai'i, which offers a unique diversity of people and cultures.
"We would love to find a lot of people from Hawai'i," Laplante said. "One reason we came out here was to find something different than what we would find on the Mainland. And Hawai'i certainly offers that."
But many of the applicants yesterday weren't born and raised in the Islands — which surprised Laplante.
"But it has been a very diverse group," he said after a few interview rounds. "You've got an Olympian, a Longs Drug cashier. ... We're very pleased. There's a decent chance someone from Hawai'i will get picked."
Daniel Anthony hopes it will be him.
The 26-year-old high school dropout from Wai'anae said he quit his lucrative job working for a natural-stone importer and would dedicate himself to landing a shot at running one of Trump's companies.
"I was en route to making $250,000 in two years, but it wasn't worth it because I wasn't happy," said Anthony, dressed in an aloha shirt and pants. "I'm trying to find what it means to be balanced."
He thinks competing on "The Apprentice" will help him find that answer. If not, at least it would be fun.
"I've got no bills, no wife, no kids, no obligations," he said. "If can, can. If no can, no can. We'll just see how far it goes."
Reach Catherine E. Toth at 535-8103 or ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.
