He can check that off of his to-do list!
Bahamian model and actor Brandon Huyler is one to watch after landing a modeling gig with luxury department store chain Neiman Marcus. And he wasn’t just some extra either, his was the face to watch. Through retweets and quote tweets, we watched Brandon prep for his the audition, but once he’d booked the gig and the fancy video was released we had to send congrats and get the scoop on how it all happened!
The 2012 BTC Starmaker winner is based in Florida and already has some pretty dope credits to his name. He’s an extra in Kodak Black’s “Basement on Fire” music video, has done photoshoots for Red Stripe, the popular Jamaican beer brand, clothing and luxury brands such as The Opulent Men’s Club, and Louissaint A Roma, he’s been an extra on Love & Hip Hop Miami, appeared in various music videos and even has some screen time in soon-to-be-released TV shows.
We caught up with Brandon recently, though, to get the scoop on what he calls, to date, “my biggest gig as a rising actor/model” and how he nailed this role.
LitFluential (LF): So you’re starring in a video commercial for Neiman Marcus, that’s major! Talk us through landing this gig, how did you find out about it, where were you when you found out you were chosen, what was your reaction? Tell us everything!
Brandon Huyler (BH): So I’m non-exclusively signed to an agency in Florida. They send out emails just about everyday to let you know what you can submit to/for etc. One day the Neiman Marcus submission comes through and I got a little excited. I had fit the description as to what they were looking for, the pay, how many days we were shooting etc, I was really hoping to get it. About a week later I was informed that I was selected to show up for an in person audition. So, I don’t get too excited when it comes to this part of the job because you’re up against so many people, there are so many factors and if you get caught up in the expectation of being selected, more times than not, you’ll be disappointed, so I kept it cool and calm. Audition day arrives and I’m feeling good. I get ready, I make sure I have everything I need and I head out. In situations like this, you never know what it is you have to do until you actually arrive to the audition. Once I got there I was a little taken aback because the amount of people that were at the audition was more than I expected to see.
I kind of make peace with the thought of not being selected. I’m sitting in a large room amongst…tall white guys, with blonde hair…but not many Black individuals.
LF: So we get to see the end results, but walk us through the audition process and what that’s like.
BH: You stand in line until you get to the front and someone checks you in and then you’re seated to wait until it’s your turn to audition. As one person enters the audition room and comes out, you move up a chair. As I’m sitting waiting, I’m looking around the room and I kind of make peace with the thought of not being selected. I’m sitting in a large room amongst the typical models you’d expect to see living in South Florida; tall white guys, with blonde hair, blue eyes; average to tall white women, mostly blonde hair blue eyes, Latinas and Latinos, but not many Black individuals. Considering the brand we were auditioning for, I didn’t think this was my ticket.
We were to state our names and agencies, show our profiles, do a catwalk, show three different facial expressions and then dance for 15 seconds to…The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights.” In my mind everything was easy, except of course, dancing to this song by The Weeknd. I played and played in my mind as to how I’m gonna do this because for me hip hop, dancehall, soca, those were genres where “dancing” actually happened. As I get into the audition room I do everything with a breeze, now comes time for the dancing lol. So I recalled this popular video of Scarlett Johansson dancing amongst this crowd and her hands are up in the air and she’s spinning and moving her hands sporadically and just having a good time, so let’s just say I channeled my inner Scarlett lol.
Let’s just say I channeled my inner Scarlett Johansson!
Brandon says leaving the audition he had already made peace with the idea of not being selected. But to his surprise, by the time as he got home his agency had already emailed him that he’d made it to the next round. And about a week and a half later, it was confirmed; Brandon was cast at the leading man in a Neiman Marcus ad.
So he got to work heading out to fittings, studying the storyboard and meeting with the directors.
BH: On the first day I’m up early and putting all of my things together and I’m feeling great. This is my first big gig as a lead and I was going to do what I needed to do to make sure everything went smoothly. This wasn’t the case, I was late due to traffic, lol, by maybe 20 minutes. Luckily because I was the lead, I wasn’t needed for my 8 a.m. call time. The treatment was much different than I was use to, having mostly done background, extra and feature gigs. My wardrobe was taken care of, anything I needed I had someone personally take care of, it was made sure that I was good and had everything I would possibly need. From the different wardrobe changes, to changes in location, the next two days would be working days, but it was a dream being lived.
And living the dream, he is! Let’s watch the ad!
Brandon was kind enough to drop some advice for anyone in the industry who’s also pounding the pavement at audition after audition, looking to book the next gig.
BH: Once I hit submit on an audition, I forget about it. There are so many things happening, so many gigs, so many people and if you sit around waiting on one particular submission to be selected, I don’t think you’d make it far. In this industry, there are going to be a lot of no’s, and by that I mean many times you will not hear back from an audition because it’s not as if they tell you that you weren’t chosen, you simply don’t receive any further details. Submitting and forgetting keeps me pushing, searching for the next gig that’ll take me higher and in the event I get chosen for something I submitted for then I’m definitely happy, if I’m not, I keep it moving.
LF: What’s your dream acting role and dream brand to model for, if you haven’t lived this already. If you have, tell us all about these experiences.
BH: My dream acting role would be that of Johnny Depp, Danielle Radcilffe, Robert Downey Jr., Tom Holland etc. What I mean by that is that these individuals are known for specific key roles for the rest of time. Danielle Radcliffe IS Harry Potter, Johnny Depp IS Captain Jack Sparrow and that’s something I want to accomplish. I want to have a successful role that is recurring that people love and enjoy and it brings them great memories. Once you think of the characters they played, their names instantly come to mind. I don’t have a particular brand that I’m dreaming to work with, I think they would all be awesome to work with, however, I am dreaming of one day walking in New York Fashion Week or any of the popular fashion weeks be it LA, Paris etc. I can’t say that I’ve actively tried as I’m not even sure how to go about really getting my foot into that door, but once I can figure out that part, I’m definitely going all in on making it happen.
And we’ll be right here watching!