After four years of auditioning around Hollywood with only minimal success, Nicolas Roye, a Salmen High School graduate who trained to be an actor at the University of New Orleans, is suddenly a semi-regular on CBS' blockbuster Thursday night lineup.
At 8 tonight on WWL-Channel 4, he guest stars as "a hip suburban (character) with a lot of attitude" on "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."
Todd, the character he plays, is a suspect, not a victim.
In one of the episode's story lines, the CSI team is "investigating the murder of a woman who is my ex-wife," Roye said. "I don't die."
Sometime early next year, Roye will appear -- as a parking lot attendant who witnesses a crime -- in "Without a Trace," the CBS drama currently challenging NBC's "ER" for dominance in the 9 p.m. Thursday time slot.
Roye has also recently seen or been seen by casting directors and/or producers for the CBS sitcoms "Becker," "Still Standing" and "Yes, Dear," the CBS drama "The Handler," PBS' "American Family" and the searing FX cable network drama "The Shield."
"I've met more producers in the last three weeks than I'd ever met in my life," Roye said in a phone interview. "I come from New Orleans, man. I'm kind of in a whirlwind of amazement right now."
The whirlwind began when Roye was accepted to participate in a recent casting showcase co-sponsored by CBS.
More than 1,200 resumes were submitted for the showcase, said Fern Orenstein, vice president for casting for the network. About 900 actors were asked to do short scenes or readings.
Of them, two dozen were asked to do duet scenes at the showcase, performing for a theater audience full of casting directors.
"A lot of people want to get in this thing," said Orenstein.
Roye did.
"It was a very big room with all of these top-notch Hollywood people," he said. "It was amazing."
For the showcase, Roye and a partner did a cutting from the 1984 movie "The Pope of Greenwich Village."
"It was really powerful, just a great scene," Orenstein said. "They kicked ass."
Roye "was really good, very strong."
So strong, Orenstein added, that Roye was cast in a "CSI" role for which he wasn't perfect.
"He was that good -- honestly," she said. "It changed Nicolas' life."
"Since then," Roye said, "life has been pretty crazy."
The showcase exposure means that Roye will likely be active during the upcoming pilot season, during which hundreds of casting calls are held in a period of just a few weeks to fill roles in dozens of potential TV series that will contend for time slots on network fall schedules.
While pursuing his big break, Roye hasn't had to work small day gigs.
With a partner, he owns a messenger and filing service that transports documents for international business clients.
"I haven't had to do survival kinds of jobs," he said.
And now he's on the job with the likes of Anthony LaPaglia, who provided "fatherly advice" during down time on the "Without a Trace" set.
"He said, 'Anybody out there working as an actor has got a closet full of movies that didn't do well. It's the people who push on that really come out ahead,' " Roye said. "It was great advice."
LaPaglia also praised Roye's performance in their scene together.
"He said, 'Great work. The next 10 years of your life are going to be amazing.' "
. . . . . . .
TV columnist Dave Walker can be reached at dwalker@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3429.
_________________________
'CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION'
What: Salmen and UNO alum Nicolas Roye (above) guest stars as a murder suspect in episode of hit CBS drama series.
NEWSPAPER SEARCH 
