Borba's Non-Automatic Transition

Andrew Borba has learned to "never say 'never ever' ever." In cockier days -- when he was studying drama at NYU, perhaps, or working on a cushy repertory contract at Oregon Shakespeare Festival -- Borba had told friends, "I'll never ever ever go to L.A. unless someone paid for my plane ticket because I've got a part." But then he married a development executive from HBO, had twins, and finally committed to making the stage-to-film transition.

How's it going, then? Despite some casting directors seeming "skeptical that I didn't come here when I was 18," things have been moving for him: He recently landed his first national commercial, which afforded him the financial freedom to direct a virtually non-paying 99-Seat production of Hamlet at Theatre of NOTE; he landed a part on Alias and this week read for a role on The Practice (both with famously theatre-loving casting offices). In his late 30s, with leading-man looks that suggest a balding Eric McCormack, Borba remains upbeat.

"It's like Han Solo says when he goes into the meteor shower: 'Never tell me the odds.' If I looked at the odds, I wouldn't still be in this business."