\n\tPeople of all ages and body mass indexes line up like spandex-wearing cattle outside the Marina del Rey Marriott on a recent Wednesday morning and are ushered to the sand for a group photo. A 20-something man cups his genitals as he jogs to the lifeguard tower in nothing but red underwear. A middle-aged woman does some last-minute scissor kicks in the parking lot. The 50-degree weather doesn\u2019t stop some contenders from slow-motion running in the water. Yes, the dream of becoming Hollywood\u2019s next David Hasselhoff or Pamela Anderson is palpable.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/variety.com\/wp-content\/themes\/pmc-variety-2020\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSami Drasin for Variety<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cHow many of you actually know CPR?\u201d asks a photographer perched on a ladder. Almost everybody raises their hands. \u201cI could save your life,\u201d one man tells me later, without cracking a smile. His manscaped, melanoma-spotted body glistens with oil. I wonder, Am I in danger?<\/p>\n
\n\tWith a straight-to-series order, the reboot will pick up where \u201cBaywatch\u201d left off more than 25 years ago in Los Angeles. The lifeguard drama was a global phenomenon that turned the beaches of Southern California \u2014 and the hot, bronzed bodies that patrolled them \u2014 into a symbol of American aspiration. The show reached an audience of 1 billion viewers per episode, an impossible feat in today\u2019s skewed content climate. But with a wide-net casting call doubling as a promotional event, Fox is hoping to make an early splash and inspire even a fraction of the original\u2019s audience to return to the sand.<\/p>\n
\n\tFourteen thousand people submitted reels and headshots, and only 2,000 of them were invited to audition. Hundreds flew across the country to spend 45 seconds reading a few lines of dialogue. Among the people gathered outside the hotel: A mother and daughter with zero acting experience who came in from Colorado. A math tutor in a self-diagnosed \u201cmidlife crisis.\u201d An influencer who had never heard of \u201cBaywatch\u201d until she saw the casting call. A woman caked in white face paint who explains, bluntly, \u201cI\u2019m a clown.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThis whole thing is not normal,\u201d says reboot lead Stephen Amell, mingling with his potential future co-stars.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSami Drasin for Variety<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI\u2019ve been acting for a while, and I\u2019ve always been told, \u2018You\u2019re too blonde; your boobs are too big,\u2019\u201d says Athena Vas, a bodybuilder and the winner of Season 2 of the Greek version of \u201cThe Bachelor.\u201d She turns around to show me the back of her bathing suit, which is stamped with her first name. \u201cSo this is the perfect role.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tA 77-year-old woman named Margaret \u201cBB\u201d Dupr\u00e9 \u2014 clad in a pink cowboy hat, a studded black corset and fingerless gloves \u2014 worked as a stand-in for Anderson on the original series (\u201cAny part where Pamela wouldn\u2019t get her hair wet, it was me\u201d). Her business card bears a photo of her in a swimsuit and reads: \u201cPainter\/Sculptor\/Writer\/Psychic.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tHeading toward the hotel, not everyone in line is a beach-ready bodybuilder. \u201cI figure lifeguards need moms and neighbors and fruit-stand vendors,\u201d says Denise Koek, an improv actor wearing a sunhat, a blouse, an overshirt and leggings.<\/p>\n
\n\tWhile the series is set to begin shooting in March, the range of opportunities is indeed wide. The producers are looking to cast lifeguards, barflies, extras and even series regulars. \u201cWe have a season\u2019s worth of people that need to be saved on the beach,\u201d showrunner Matt Nix tells me. Some roles have yet to be written. \u201cWalking through the lobby, I was like, \u2018Oh, wait a second. We didn\u2019t even think about this character, and I just saw three of them,\u2019\u201d Nix says. \u201cI literally just texted the head of casting for Fox.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tFor many, \u201cBaywatch\u201d 2.0 marks more than just a reboot but rather a bold bet on Los Angeles, which has yet to fully recover from COVID, strikes and fires. (For a visual, drive up the Pacific Coast Highway and watch the waves smack the bones of charred beach homes that look like ancient ruins.) Multiple previous attempts to revive \u201cBaywatch\u201d were to be shot in South Africa or Australia, but thanks to a $21.1 million California tax credit, the show will be filmed on Venice Beach.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSami Drasin for Variety<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cL.A. has been punched really hard,\u201d says David Chokachi, who returns as Cody Madison in the reboot. \u201cThis is like putting the paddles on the city \u2014 you know, the defib?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAs far as the tone of the new series, Nix insists the reboot is not campy. \u201cWe never make fun of the original,\u201d says McG, who will direct the pilot. \u201cAnything that proves to be as zeitgeisty as \u2018Baywatch\u2019 doesn\u2019t deserve snark.\u201d He brings up \u201cTop Gun: Maverick\u201d as a guiding light for how to honor nostalgic IP with a bighearted blockbuster vision.<\/p>\n
\n\tIt is getting cold and windy in the late afternoon as 20 casting directors cycle through auditions with thousands of actors. Press aren\u2019t permitted past the metal detectors that lead to the holding room, where hundreds of actors wait \u2014 just on the other side of a black curtain \u2014 for their chance at Hollywood stardom. If they impress an initial casting director, they will move on to the next round. Finally, if they\u2019re lucky, they\u2019ll read for the \u201cBaywatch\u201d producers.<\/p>\n
\n\tAs the event winds down, I meet a teenager named Dane Duda, who is visibly shaken as he exits an audition room. \u201cOh my God,\u201d he says. \u201cThat went so well. They loved me!\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tHis friend, Elle Evan Casselman, has never acted, but her name has \u201cSAG card\u201d written all over it. \u201cMy parents got married in Vegas after two weeks of knowing each other, on 11\/11. So I\u2019m named Elle Evan,\u201d she tells me. \u201cSay it fast!\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tCasselman and Duda met for the first time today, two weeks after their mothers \u201cyapped\u201d to each other in the waiting room of a doctor\u2019s office. The moms exchanged their children\u2019s TikTok handles.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI left that room smiling because I know I gave my full heart,\u201d Casselman says of her audition. \u201cAt the end of the day, that\u2019s all I can do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tDuda chimes in: \u201cAnd God\u2019s got us. God\u2019s on our side.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tSadly, they are sent doggy paddling home.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSami Drasin for Variety<\/p>\n
\n\tScanning the crestfallen actors eating chicken wraps in the Marriott lobby, I soon feel I have seen enough heartbreak for one day. But as the sun begins to dip over the marina, I can\u2019t help wondering what is going on behind closed doors. What if, I think, the next star of \u201cBaywatch\u201d was right in front of them all along? Maybe I \u2014 a writer who loathes the camera and never so much as appeared in a school play \u2014 am the sun-kissed prince that was promised.<\/p>\n
\n\tCompelled by a strange urge, I turn around, creep toward the private area of the hotel and consider my options. Crew members stand guard, cruising the hallway. I peer inside a trash can and find a crumpled-up sticker \u2014 contestant 00937. I stash my press pass, put on the sticker and slink in past the gates.<\/p>\n
\n\tHundreds of actors sit anxiously, reciting dialogue to themselves. A sheepadoodle with a ring buoy lopes into the room as a sunburned gentleman holds up his phone to take a selfie, adjusting the angle to ensure both of his nipples are in the frame.<\/p>\n
\n\tI take a seat next to a handsome 24-year-old Penn Badgley type from Myrtle Beach. \u201cI\u2019m Logan Polson,\u201d he says. \u201cWhich part are you reading for?\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSami Drasin for Variety<\/p>\n
\n\tI do what all great actors do and improvise: \u201cI forgot the name of the character. I lost my paper.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAnother actor, named Alex, turns around and hands me his sides. \u201cI\u2019m off book,\u201d he smiles. \u201cAnthony Hopkins style.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cLet\u2019s read,\u201d Logan says, nudging me on the shoulder, sensing I am out of my depth. \u201cI\u2019m glad you\u2019re here, dude.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tSuddenly, I am a lifeguard on the verge of a breakdown.<\/p>\n
\t\tETHAN
That guy slipped right out of my hands. I saw him go under.\t<\/p>\n
\t\tLOGAN
And I caught him and he was fine! So you made a mistake!\t<\/p>\n
\n\tI\u2019m not built for the beach, but Logan is talking me off the ledge.<\/p>\n
\t\tLOGAN
Think of the people who will get hurt if you quit. What about them?\t<\/p>\n
\n\tHis face lights up. He\u2019s not looking at the page.<\/p>\n
\t\tEthan looks at Logan, cracking a smile. Their eyes meet.\t<\/p>\n
\t\tETHAN
So this is about a bunch of imaginary future people you think I\u2019m gonna save?\t<\/p>\n
\t\tLOGAN
(takes Ethan\u2019s hand)
Well, not just about them.\t<\/p>\n
\n\tMy heart races as I claw myself out of the fantasy. \u201cYou did great, dude,\u201d Logan says. And for a second, I believe him. A smile washes over my face as I feel the warm glow of an event coordinator hovering over me.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThey\u2019re ready for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAnd in that moment, I realize I have drifted too far out to sea.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You simply cannot wear a red Speedo in the rain. That much is obvious. Everyone knows that. That\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":492237,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[112102,88],"class_list":{"0":"post-492236","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-baywatch","9":"tag-entertainment"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=492236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492236\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/492237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=492236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=492236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=492236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}