"The power of television is truly incredible," said Ryan Danz, as he settled down with a chilled bottle of Fiji water at a Cardiff cafÈ. "Only five or ten seconds on the screen, and people understand the role you play."
Not a startling new insight, this one about television, but it is particularly apt coming from one of the contestants on this season's new Mark Burnett reality show, "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart."
The Cardiff resident was chosen from a pool of over 600,000 applicants. He went to an open casting call in downtown San Diego at the urging of his wife.
"I got down there at 8:30 in a suit and tie and waited in line with a bunch of people until 5:30 that night," he said. "Every single guy there looked taller, better looking and, I'm sure, smarter than me. A lot of people dropped out of line and gave up before they were called, but something in my gut told me to wait it out."
Danz, a recent law school graduate, and his new wife, Nicole, a medical malpractice attorney in Del Mar, have been remodeling their new house in Cardiff. After the first episode in which Danz's team, Primarius, won the reward challenge, Danz and the other team members went out to dinner for sushi with Martha Stewart.
"This wasn't on the show, but Martha asked me where I was from and what I did. I told her my wife and I just bought our first home and that there was a lot of fixing up to do because it is quite a bit older —— built in the '60s. Martha looked at me and said, 'The 1960's?' and laughed. Then she told us her house was built in the 1860s."
Filming the show this summer for a month and half, during which all of the contestants were virtually cut off from family and friends, was grueling, said Danz. "Usually you can come home and leave your stress at the office but not there. We hardly slept, didn't eat very well. It takes its toll —— physically, mentally and emotionally."
Danz said about 300 hours of videotape is condensed into each 42-minute episode.
"Just because you don't see it, doesn't mean it didn't happen —— it just didn't fit into the story line for that particular episode," he said. "They probably could have made me look cheesy or cocky," he said referring to the last episode, when Danz was selling a wedding cake. "But I was happy how that part of the show came off. I think it was very fair.
"Even if Martha doesn't hire me, it's like a job interview with 7 (million) or 8 million prospective employers," added Danz, looking every bit the television star. "If Martha hires me, I will focus on that, but if not, I'm not ruling anything out."
"The Apprentice: Martha Stewart" airs at 9 p.m. Wednesdays on NBC.
