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When Fredericksburg native Blaine Miller makes his Super Bowl debut Sunday, he won't be sporting a football helmet or a giant number on his back.
Still, he doesn't think you'll have any trouble spotting him.
"You'll know it's me when you see the beanie," said the 18-year-old, who is appearing in an Audi commercial with a snow cap on his head.
"I'm excited for everyone to see it," said Miller, who filmed the commercial only a few weeks ago and hasn't seen the final product. "I'm actually excited to see it myself."
Now a freshman at Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, Miller has appeared on TV numerous times over the years, snagging minor roles in "Gilmore Girls," "Jack & Bobby" and "Reno 911!" He has also interviewed actors, directors and producers as part of the cast of Disney's "Movie Surfers," a behind-the-scenes entertainment show.
This is his first Super Bowl commercial. He couldn't reveal much about the content --that's top secret for the ads that cost about $3 million for a 30-second spot this year.
But lately, Audi's been touting its A3 TDI, which was recently named the 2010 Green Car of the Year by Green Car Journal.
According to an Audi press release, the Super Bowl ad will focus on that car and "will have a fun, tongue-in-cheek environmental theme. Rock legends Cheap Trick will reinterpret one of their classic pieces as the soundtrack to the commercial."
In January, Audi also posted humorous spots on YouTube featuring the Green Police, an eco-friendly arm of law enforcement that urges viewers to unplug power strips when not in use and to fight "napkin abuse," defined as using more than one napkin while eating a sandwich, burrito, panini, fish taco, shawarma well, you get the idea.
Over the last few years, Audi has developed a reputation for producing clever, humorous spots during the Super Bowl. Last year's ad, called "The Chase," featured actor Jason Statham trying desperately to escape a pursuer in a series of older luxury cars, only to finally find success behind the wheel of Audi's supercharged A6.
In 2008, Audi aired a parody of "The Godfather," where a man wakes up in his palatial mansion to find his hands covered in oil and the severed grill of a traditional luxury vehicle in his bed. As he screams, an Audi R8 roars down his driveway.
San Francisco-based Venables Bell & Partners created all three ads. Bloggers who obsess about that sort of thing say this year's commercial is expected to be a 60-second spot, like the other two, and that it will appear during the game's fourth quarter.
Miller said he usually watches the Super Bowl though he's not that into sports.
"This is embarrassing," he said this week, "but I don't even know who's playing in it."
When told it would be a showdown between the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints, Miller sided with the Colts, though he added, "It should've been the Redskins."
Miller's father, Robert, lives in Fredericksburg, and his mother, Clarie, lives in Los Angeles.
Miller got his initial training at M&S Studio for the Performing Arts and acted in a number of local stage productions--as a youngster, he was Oliver Twist in "Oliver!" at the Riverside Dinner Theater and Benjamin in the Fredericksburg Theater Company's rendition of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat."
He attended Walker-Grant Middle School for a bit before moving to Los Angeles to pursue his acting dream.
There, he attended Millikan Middle School for the Performing Arts and graduated last year from Charter High School of the Arts-- Multimedia and Performing (CHAMPS) in Van Nuys.
He said he's having a blast at NYU, where famous alumni often come to lecture and he gets discounted tickets to Broadway shows.
"I'm just sort of going to school and learning as much about my craft as possible. I really enjoy my chosen profession," he said. "I'm just very excited and grateful to be doing the stuff that I love."
It took about a day to film the Audi commercial in Los Angeles, Miller said. Though he had a speaking role, he isn't sure how much of his performance ended up on the cutting-room floor.
"I'm not sure what you'll see," he said. "I could be in it a lot or they possibly could cut out all my lines and just show my face. But I think I'm the only one wearing a beanie."
Edie Gross: 540/374-5428
Email: egross@freelancestar.com
