Lucas in New WB Pilot || 26 Feb 2005
Will Lucas Grabeel become the next teen hit on the WB?
The 2003 Kickapoo High School grad was selected last week to play a character in a new series produced by David E. Kelley. The WB pilot for "Halley’s Comet" shoots in a few weeks.
"He is walking on Cloud Nine," says his mother Jean Grabeel, who fielded calls to Springfield from her son throughout the final day of auditions.
"He was awfully excited," says the young actor’s friend and music mentor Barth Fraker, who also got a call. "It’s a great role and it’s a milestone in this process that he’s on."
"Halley’s Comet" is about a young woman who is a cancer survivor and attends medical school. Grabeel, who auditioned for Kelley via satellite, will play her 16-year-old brother -- a sort of "scrubby" kid who wears baggy jeans, a chain wallet and concert T-shirts, says Grabeel from Los Angeles, where he moved to pursue acting.
The series could begin airing next fall with Grabeel in at least seven of 13 episodes. That is, if the pilot is picked up, the actor notes realistically.
"There’s millions of pilots coming out all the time," he says. "It’s a wonder any stuff gets made."
But Kelley is known for producing hits, including "Ally McBeal" and "Boston Legal."
"It definitely makes it much more promising with David E. Kelley," Grabeel says. "When you’re a big hitter like that, and everything you touch does well, you’ve got a really good chance."
Grabeel has been recognized a number of times -- once in the Minneapolis airport while flying back to L.A. from Springfield -- for his role in last fall’s Disney TV movie, "Halloweentown High." He’s even been asked to sign autographs and has gotten fan mail.
He had a role in an independent film shot last fall, started a band and has been writing music. He’s also working on a script with some friends.
But the WB role couldn’t have come at a better time. Audition opportunities have been slim since summer. Even "stretching his pennies" as far as he could, he’s gone through his Disney money. And working at Blockbuster doesn’t quite cover bills. Not too long ago, he was down to $3, he says, and with his next Blockbuster paycheck several days away, he was living on ramen noodles.
He knew moving to L.A. wouldn’t be easy, Grabeel says. But it’s tougher than he ever imagined. It’s been hard to meet new people and, compared to Springfield, it’s like a different country. The last six months have been particularly rough.
"The town will eat you up," he says. Still, "I’ve never been worried or wondered, ’Is this the right decision?’ I know that there’s tons of people out here that are just as talented as I am, but the thing that I believe sets me apart is that I don’t have a plan B. This is my life. This is what I am going to do."
Even if the pilot doesn’t get picked up, being selected for a role on a WB series can open new doors. It all happened so fast, Grabeel says, but "I had a good feeling about it from the beginning."
It was only a few days after he auditioned for the casting director and two producers that he was called back.
On the morning of Feb. 18, he met with more producers for a work session to discuss the character.
"Then I met David Kelley by satellite," Grabeel recalls. "It was really weird. I walked in and there’s his face on the television screen and a microphone on the table."
After he auditioned for Kelley, Grabeel and another finalist went to a ranch where they each performed for about 20 network executives. He was finished by 3 p.m. Two hours later he heard from his manager: he’d gotten the part.
Producers said he "’blew them out of the water,’" Fraker recalls Grabeel saying that night. "That there was no question that he was right for this role."
Given the recognition that came with "Halloweentown," Jean Grabeel has already talked to her son about staying grounded -- just in case he gets famous. But Lucas isn’t worried: "I haven’t changed, except I think I’ve grown up some," he says.
And he doesn’t feel any different because he booked this role.
"I’m just going to be happier."
