✩Heather Ashley Chase✩

In February of 2024’ I was up for a role in a documentary. After two call backs and faking my way of playing guitar, in March of 24’ I was selected and hired as one of the main characters for a rock and roll role of a lifetime.

Filming began in late March and went on for 5 1/2 months with possible pick-up’s (being on hold) and to be available for re-shoot’s that were continuing through August 24’.

Through this sit-and-wait time,I was invited into another audition for a production and show that, after receiving more information about (after I was sent three episodes not in numerical order, I knew I wanted to be a part of this cast of characters).

I wanted to be involved with this, so badly, that I set off on a physically difficult transformation that even my own friend/trainer thought was going to be nearly impossible for me to achieve by the first week of December 24′

My goal was to use his very own personal success of an intense program, consisting of first, bulking and then shredding, but I was to do all of this in roughly 17 weeks..

The goal: Gain 30lbs within a short period of time, (6 weeks) to then shred it into shoulders,arms, legs and glutes of some beautiful muscle mass.

I started the bulking on August 5th and when I tell you I knew what I could eat to gain the most amount of weight possible,that would stick to me, I wasn’t kidding. For my body type, I knew in addition to my existing diet, That it was going to have to be a lot of white bread and cheese, and I mean a whole lot of it. I focused on pizza, different cheese’s and crackers, along with steak and baked potatoes. It worked perfectly. while still working out, I gained 32.2lbs by October 1st. and now came the hardest part. The shredding of the gains, without losing the muscle mass.

The building of the muscle, while shredding the outer layer of cushion, meant heavy weights and lifting to the point my arms, forearms and shoulders would ache so much, that It was painful to lift my arms in any capacity for those first few days. I did eventually, work through that pain with a lot of moaning and groaning, swearing, complaining to anyone who would listen, but in the end…through this intense heavy weight training program,schedule and diet, by Dec 1st, I was ready to Rock and Roll.

That journey was not easy. As soon as I started lifting, I was screaming at myself in my head for even coming up with this idea, as the inability to move my arms on simple daily tasks was comical. Brushing my hair even became a painful endeavor. AT that point (and I’m not kidding) I was willing and ready, to pay someone to just wash and brush my hair.

Something else happened in October that I didn’t plan for,but the turn out of that,was such a disappointing moment,that I compartmentalized it,and pushed onward,knowing I only had until the second week of November to send in the video audition to start the ball rolling. If they liked me, I would receive an invite to attend that callback in person and for this particular show I wanted ARMS and shoulders, along with muscular legs that were solid and looked like I could take on serious bad guys.

I wanted them to pop during the callback, and be a serious contender for this role.

I took the disappointment,shoved it away and focused like Rocky in Rocky 3.

November 24’. The day had arrived much too soon and I still didn’t “feel” like I was “big enough” for this role, that I had worked so hard for, but someone over there DID. I got a phone call to come back into this production meeting (a non formal call back) and I was nervous. I had lost 20lbs of the bulk and only gained 10lbs worth of solid muscle.

Well, somehow I must have impressed someone sitting there with my transformation and dedication in comparison to the first time they all saw my reel, because I was invited to a final callback where it would get more serious and down to the wire for me. I can’t even explain how excited I was when I got the call for the final final final (yes, it’s tedious like that) callback to producers.

I wanted to call someone so badly, to tell them the good news, but decided it was just best to remain quiet, and focus, (like my old way), until it all panned out.

The rub was…. Final final super final callbacks weren’t going to be done until a hot minute after the holidays.

I had to somehow maintain this new physique until the first week of February?!?! Shooting would start after Valentine’s Day or so (at least we were given that much information, lol) So I put my head down, dragged through December holidays and New Years with a lot of aches, not only in my heart, but in my poor sore body.

I pressed on anyway. I wanted this role. I’d worked so hard physically, as it was already, but more so, I wanted to play this fierce character to be reckoned with, which was going to be more badass than Jessica Parker ever looked and was, in my opinion.

During this time, while waiting for days to be marked off on the calendar around the beginning of January, I had another audition for a show that I hadn’t heard of. I went to look it up and find it,and because so fascinated with the concept of season one and two,I couldn’t wait to explore more of the show. I was told that season three and four would be shot in one year and that the show was based on books. So of course I RAN to find these books,because the sides that were provided for the audition didn’t give any clues as to the role or atmosphere whatsoever. So I dug into researching that show,while trying to maintain “my gains” for another shows final final final callback with producers.

I asked a dear friend if she had heard of the show and they got so excited they started telling me about how much they loved the concept, and their excitement leaped onto me and then I because obsessed about landing that role as well, because, yeah, if I landed that role, they could see me on it too.

After New Years, I purchased my audition “outfit” and shared it with her through video. She gave me some advice about the boots and I’ll never be able to thank her enough. Something I didn’t really think of, was commented on, positively, by two different people during that first audition. One was another person waiting to go in,while memorizing their sides, the other was the casting director as soon as I stepped into the audition room, before we slated. If you’re reading this,friend, THANK YOU!…. you’ll never know how much you helped me get that second call back for that new show due to your description of how and why you loved that show so much. It was in my mind while researching for this little character the I will probably be a blip on the screen,but it helped me get into the mindset of the character,during the audition process. which exudes outwards,from me.

To be cont.