Last week, we saved potentially spilled salsa with the guys from Salsabol, and sang soulfully with Tara Priya. This week, Colin Drummond, CC’09, buys a house…on TV. We’ll be posting a few stories about enterprising alums this week and next. If you know an alum doing something worth writing about, tell us at tips@bwog.com.

Colin Drummond, CC’09, was once known around Columbia for his position as V-Show’s Cupcake Czar and membership in the EC “Mansuite.” Now, you can see this former B&W Campus Character on your TV Screen! Colin Drummond has hit it big: he landed a role in an adorable Lowe’s commercial.

Bwog: How did you land the Lowe’s commercial?

CD: After a summer at home, I returned to New York to start an acting career. I quickly realized I didn’t like the rejection associated with the audition process, and decided to pursue something more stable. I started interning at Hungryman, a commercial production company. Two months later, I started freelancing with them as a casting associate, which is what I do now. During a recent casting for a Lowe’s commercial that sought to target a new demographic, the “Millennial Generation,” the director was having a difficult time finding the right actor. After four days of casting, he decided to put me in front of the camera. He liked me, I guess, and so did the agency, and I got the job.

Bwog: What was the filming experience like? Did you really have to be underwater?

CD: Filming was awesome. I had been on set for a few Hungryman commercials as a production assistant, and being on set as an actor is 100 times more fun (and pays better). There were four days of shooting, one in a Lowe’s store in NJ and three more at a house in Eastchester. I did all my own stunts—I was really underwater (my “wife,” Reyna, would shake her leg when she was done delivering her line), and that was me hanging off the gutter (with a harness)—though the weirdest part about the shoot was wearing a wedding ring. I don’t usually wear rings, and I was very self-conscious about it.

Bwog: Have randos seen the commercial and called you up about it? What’s the reaction been like?
CD: I’ve gotten a lot of texts and emails from friends who have seen the commercial. It’s been showing a lot on ABC Family, I guess. I know the cinema version showed before Sex and the City 2, Get Him to the Greek, and Twilight: Eclipse. I haven’t actually seen it yet, but I guess it’s part of the AMC pre-roll—those 20 minutes of ads and stuff before the trailers.
All in all it was a great experience. It’s only a commercial, but it was fun to play at being a star. Someday down the road I would love to continue acting, but for now I’ll continue with the casting gig and see what comes my way.

Bwog: What’s life like post-college for you?

CD: Life post-college can suck sometimes, but I think if you’re enthusiastic when things go your way, and you work hard and don’t complain when they don’t, you’ll do fine. (If I were still in college, I would phrase that sentiment as a redefining of Machiavelli’s virtu and fortuna, but I’m not. So I won’t.)

Bwog: What else are you up to?

CD: I’m writing a Broadway musical for James Nederlander.

Bwog: Have you ever been to Lowe’s before?

CD: I always used to shop at Home Depot, but now I know that Lowe’s is better.