For two months after graduating from the Academy of Art University in 2009, local actor Mickey Casab commuted weekly about 760 miles round trip from Daly City to Los Angeles.
The 2001 Live Oak High School alumnus was bartending six days a week at Outback Steakhouse in the Bay Area while trying to land a similar job in Southern California, the perfect location to further his true passion of acting.
Sixty restaurant applications later, Casab—who was already splitting rent with friends for an apartment in Los Angeles—was hired at Morton’s Steakhouse in downtown L.A.
“It took a while but it finally paid off. I got a job and was able to move down south,” said Casab, now 33, who began auditioning for parts as soon as he touched down in the acting hotbed. “Your reputation is everything in this business. If you flake or it’s too hard to work with you, you just don’t work.”
Casab’s first major break came in 2012 when he was cast for “a large co-star role” in the two-episode, season finale of the popular CBS series, “Criminal Minds,” where he appeared in three scenes and was in the background of the rest.
“I learned a lot, and it was great,” Casab said. “The entire cast and crew, it was like a family. Everything ran very smoothly.”
That was where Casab picked up some valuable bits of advice from a guest star, who told him: 1) Never take an audition too seriously and always be yourself; 2) Everybody has a bad day; and 3) Every role is not right for everybody.
Continuing to pursue his Hollywood dreams, Casab has since founded a production company, Possum Fossil, which produced a comedic short film titled “The Proposed” that premiered at the 2016 Dances With Films film festival held June 9 at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood. Casab stars in the film and is the executive producer.
“It’s a very large film festival. It’s in its 19th year so it’s very well known in the industry,” Casab said. “It was a great theater to have everyone see your film. It’s just a great festival.”
“The Proposed” was also accepted and will screen at two additional festivals this summer: July 25 at the Lionshead Film Festival in Dallas, Texas; and at the Aug. 12-14 SoCal CIFF in Hollywood, according to Tammy Lynn of Spotlight PR Company, which represents Casab.
In the short film, all Peter (Casab’s character) wants to do is romantically propose to his girlfriend. When the “special spot” he selected for this memorable picnic gets overrun by strangers, this Prince Charming’s moment is anything but a fairy tale. The film also comes from writer/director Joe Gonzales and co-writer Bradford Smith, who Casab had previously worked with as a producer on the award-winning comedy short, “Death to Cupid.”
Making a name for himself
Casab has been building up his acting resume since landing in Los Angeles. His credits include roles in the feature films “Fist 2 Fist” and “California Tango,” as well as roles on CMT’s drama “Angels Among Us,” and the award-winning web series “Joe & MJ,” “Hollywood Girl” and “Tiffany and Erin Show.”
But the former LOHS football player took a roundabout path to eventually pursuing his acting career.
“When I moved to Morgan Hill, sports were always at the same time as theater, and I chose sports,” said the one-time Acorn wide receiver/running back and PONY League baseball player.
After graduating from high school, he earned his Bachelor’s in hospitality management with a minor in business from San Jose State University. While in college, Casab—whose parents still live in his childhood home in San Martin—performed and had an “undeclared minor in acting.”
While on an internship at a spa and resort in Maui, Casab decided to officially make the career change and graduated through Academy of Art University in San Francisco. It was there where he was selected as best actor at the 2008 Epidemic Film Festival.
“It was more about validating that my hard work can pay off, that I am good and, if I keep working with this, I can be great,” said Casab, who hasn’t stopped since. His dream role is starring in a comedic sitcom and comedy films.
“They are different beasts in the same realm, and I really enjoy doing both,” added Casab, who credited his father’s sarcastic nature for helping him see the humor in any situation.
Still working in the restaurant industry to help pay the bills, Casab continues to write, act and produce short films for as many different audiences as possible until he gets that next big break.
“You must flood yourself a little bit everywhere and give (the decision makers and casting directors) more to look at, more clips,” Casab suggested. “So they can see you acting, see what you do, what type of personality you bring to the screen.”
