Next Action Star, Episode 5: Fear and Loving in Los Angeles

Since you're all such loyal readers, I decided to ask NBC to air a sexy brand new episode Wednesday night as my way of saying thank you. It took some persuading, but I eventually managed to convince them. OK, enough dreaming. Unfortunately, the only pull I have in Hollywood is the kind you exert on a door handle!

The screen test this week is called "Leap of Faith" and by the looks of Tuesday night's preview (you did read Tuesday night's recap, didn't you?), it looks like it's going to get hot in here (although the contestants were allowed to keep their lingerie and boxers on).

The screen test this week has a cop and a witness in the Witness Protection Program getting horizontal when the witness claims she hears someone. Since nobody is supposed to know they're there, the only way out is through the window, onto a narrow ledge, and taking a 4-story drop into the garbage below.

With three days to prepare for the screen test, the first order of business is to learn how to fall correctly, so off the finalists go to "high fall training".

They arrive at the second floor roof off a building, where they are greeted by Stunt Coordinator Kurt Bryant, whom we first met two weeks ago in episode 2. Bryant gives Stuntman Brett Jones a signal, at which time he falls four stories onto an enormous airbag below. As Jared puts it, "This set the tone for the rest of the day" because people were horrified by what they would have to do. Harold's immediate reaction is "I'm not doing that." In interviews, Greg agrees with Harold, while Linda is excited and now more eager than ever to get started.

Howard escorts each finalist to the window and gives them 15 seconds to decide whether they're going to jump or not. As Somere says, "Keeping eliminations in the back of your mind is always a factor, it's always something there, but we were told ahead of time if you are not comfortable, you do not jump." Mélisande is up first and visibly impresses Kurt with how well she falls, landing dead center in the middle of the airbag below. Jeanne lands a little outside the target area, but has a good jump nonetheless. However, not everyone is this comfortable. Several finalists take advantage of this and decide to wimp out, the first being Harold who steps up to the ledge, and waits a second before chickening out. Somere is next, dismissing the challenge with a "Hell, no". Greg chickens out and knows it, as he flaps his arms like a chicken while walking away from the window ledge, much to everyone's amusement. Mae also declines to jump. Linda (who is wearing a white bonnet over her head, which had two little "ears" that made her look like Hello Kitty) has no such problems. In fact, she is extremely pleased with herself for actually jumping.

John, on the other hand, is a different story as he has an intense fear of heights to overcome. After pausing at the window and taking a few moments of reflection, John overcomes his fear and jumps, landing dead center. His fellow finalists cheer and congratulate him.

The following day, Brenda Cooper, the Hollywood stylist and Next Action Star Fashion Consultant, whom we first met last week in episode 3, arrives at the house for a wardrobe session and a talk about confidence levels and self-esteem. The finalists are asked to choose an outfit from among the racks that Brenda has with her to demonstrate what they'd wear as an action hero. While everyone manages to find some outfit they like from among the racks of clothing Brenda has on hand, Corinne can't find anything she likes and also seems to be having some trouble with the self-esteem part. As they’re trying on clothes, Sean – wearing black jeans, a black top, black leather jacket and black sunglasses – does his best impersonation of Neo in The Matrix when he's dodging bullets.

Meanwhile, the girls strip down to their lingerie right in front of the camera. Linda comments that she "was fine with that, I enjoyed that... I worked hard for this body!" Corinne, however, has a monumentally huge problem with that, but when pressed, can't articulate what exactly she’s uncomfortable with. In an interview, she claims she can't find anything with which she was comfortable and that suits her body type. Brenda disagrees, calling Corinne "a challenge" (read: difficult) and say she believes that Corinne does not have a good self image.

Next up is an acting lesson — at home, or as Jared puts it, "our acting coach makes a house call." The living room is set up like a bedroom. Corinne's initial reaction when she sees this is to whine "I don't want to do this scene!"

Being Jeanne's roommate, she sees the ultra-skimpy short-shorts that Jeanne as chosen for her scene and asks incredulously, "That's what you're going to wear?" Jeanne replies that Corinne "has got to get used to this stuff."

Howard tells the finalists that this scene, in some ways more than the emotional work they've done, will define their professionalism. As with the high fall training, Howard tells the group that, "where you draw the line, is where the line is and everybody has to respect that." Well everyone, except the judges when deciding who gets eliminated.