Season 1 (Top Actor)

The first season of ***Top Actor***premiered on June 7, 2016 and featured 12 aspiring actors.

The host and main judge was actress and tv-personality Shannen Doherty. The rest of the judging panel consisted of Chair of Acting for Film Department at New York Film Academy, Glynis Rigsby, and director, Andrew Haigh.

The winner of the first season would receive a full-scholarship for the New York Film Academy, an apartment in New York City close to the school, management and a baring role written for him/her in upcoming 9-episode, untitled HBO-drama director by Canadian director Xavier Dolan.

## Episodes

### Episode 1: Welcome to Hollywood

*Original Airdate:* June 7, 2016

The 12 aspiring actors move into a loft in the heart of Hollywood. Here they are met by Shannen Doherty who will guide them through the competiton. They are then handed a script which they must memorize for their very first Casting Call.

At the casting challenge the best actor and the best actress will win an advantage going in to the first Elimination Scene. At the casting challenge the actors must work a scene with actor, Jesse Metcalfe, without any direction. They do the scene three times, where they must go into the scene with three clear and different intentions. Gina is declared the best actress and Nick is declared the best actor.

Back at the loft the actors begin to get to know each-other with a dinner and house-party.

The next day the Elimation Scene is revealed to be a break-up scene in the middle of the streets - on location with real passer-bys. Gina and Nick get to choose their partnes, wher the others are randomly assigned pairs.

 Aaron
 Matthew
 Adam
 Jonathan

At the filming of the scene some pairs had a hard time finding chemistry and tried to outstage each-other, while some pairs excelled.

At elimination Jonathan & Terralon and Matthew & Patricia were deamed the best pairs. Terralong surprised the judging panel with her coy aggression and won the challenge and immunity for the next week.

Aaron & Aubrey and Nick & Sonya were deamed the bottom pairs, with Aubrey and Sonya landing in the borrom. Sonya was told she seamed to whiny, but it was Aubrey's lack of commitment in the scene, that made her the first to be eliminated.

* **Winner of Casting Challenge:** Gina and Nick
* **Winner of Elimination Scene:** Terralon
* **Eliminated:**Aubrey

### Episode 2: Just Make Something Up

*Original Airdate:* June 14, 2016

The competition begins to sink in with the remaining contestants, and tempers begin to flare when Patricia lashes out at Terralon for her "not deserving the win".

At the Casting Call the actors must work in a scene with Lea Michele. What they don't know is that she will start improvising half way through the scene. Jonathan, Nick and Patricia are chosen as the winners.

For their Elimination Scene the actors must work in an improvised scene under the title of "The day my life changed". Jonathan, Nick and Patricia gets to choose their teams.

The teams are as follows:

* *Jonathan*, Sonya, Terralon, Gina
* *Nick*, Aaron, Adam, Christine
* *Patricia,*Matthew, Braeson

At elimination Team Nick is declared the winning team, with Christine winning the challenge for her strong character and wins immunity. Team Patricia is declared the losing team for lacking direction in their scene. Patricia lands in the bottom two for her one-dimensional character, but in the end, Braeson is eliminated for seeming unnatural in the scene.

* **Winner of Casting Call:** Jonathan, Nick and Patricia
* **Winner of Elimination Scene:**Christine
* **Eliminated:**Braeson

### Episode 3: Class Act

*Original Airdate:* June 21, 2016

The remaing actors are invited to a Shakespearian-inspired Casting Call, where they must deliver classical performances with actor Ralph Fiennes. Terralon is declared the winner and gets to choose the pairs for the upcoming challenge.

Adam starts to doubt himself, because he is so young, which makes Terralon comfort him as she finds him very talented.

Tensions start to flare between Matthew & Jonathan and the rest of the comptetition, because they beleive "they have it in the bag".

At the Elimination Scene the contestants must perform in modern-day Shakespeare scenes from Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, The Tempest or The Winter's Tale.

 Nick & Sonya
 Patricia & Aaron
 Jonathan & Matthew
 Christine & Gina

* **Winner of Casting Call:** Terralon
* **Winner of Elimination Scene:**Adam
* **Eliminated:**Aaron

### Episode 4: Just Make Me Laugh

*Original Airdate:* June 28, 2016

This week the remaining contestants must go to a Casting Call where they will read for a sit-com role with Lisa Kudrow. Terralon and Patricia win. They must choose teams for the Elimination Scene.

* *Terralon*, Matthew, Gina, Adam, Christine
* *Patricia*, Jonathan, Nick, Sonya

For the Elimination Scene, the groups must perform in a live-sitcom mock-up-pilot.

At elimination Team Patricia won the main challenge and all of them were declared safe with Patricia winning the challenge and immunity for the following week.

Team Terralon was ciritizised for not working together and creating good ping-pon. Terralon and Matthew were praised and told they were the stars of the group. Adam was told he should feel lucky about having immunity. Christine ended up in the bottom for being to insecure about comedic timing, but in the end, Gina was eliminated for simply not being funny.

* **Winner of Casting Call:** Patricia and Terralon
* **Winner of Elimination Scene:**Patricia
* **Eliminated:**Gina

### Episode 5: Sexual Chemistry

*Original Airdate:* July 5, 2016

The remaining contestants must do a Casting Call with singer Enrique Iglesias. Here they must win him over with flirting with him but they cannot say a word. Matthew and Jonathan win their casting call and as a prize they must choose their partner for the Elimination Scene. In the end they decide to work together.

At the Elimination Scene the contestants find out they will be tested on doing a meeting at a bar that results in a sex-scene. The pairs are chosen at random:

* *Jonathan*and *Matthew*
* Adam and Patricia
* Christine and Terralon
* Nick and Sonya

At elimination Jonathand and Matthew are praised for doing a non-comedic and intimate scene, and they are both declared as winners. None of them receive immunity and is told there will be no more immunity moving forward in the competition. Adam and Patricia are also praised.

At the bottom of the pack are Nick and Sonya for creating awkward chemistry. In the end Sonya is eliminated for not shining through on camera despite having great potential.

* **Winner of Casting Call:**Jonathan and Matthew
* **Winner of Elimination Scene:**Jonathan and Matthew
* **Eliminated:**Sonya

### Episode 6: Cry Me a River

*Original Airdate:* July 12, 2016

With the finale coming up the contestants are challenged with a Casting Call where they must end the scene by crying. The challenge is they will not be playing against another actor. Nick is declared as the winner for his emotional casting.

Back at the house tensions rise as Patricia gets catty with Terralon saying she doesn't deserve to be in the competition and that she isn't intimidating anyone. At a party Patricia and Matthew end up having sex, which complacates things and annoys the other contestants.

At the Elimination Scene the contestants must do a scene, where they receive news that one from their family has passed away. It is all improvised and the only person who knows what the scene is about is Nick because he won the Casting Call.

Nick received his first challenge win because of his deep emotional character work, but it was Christine who was eliminated for not having a large spectrum of emotions.

* **Winner of Casting Call:** Nick
* **Winner of Elimination Scene:**Nick
* **Eliminated:**Christine

### Episode 7: Call In the Big Guns

*Original Airdate:* July 19, 2016

The final six aspiring actors go to a casting call for director Xavier Dolan. Here they must talk about the show he is writing and which they might star in. They then improvise and rehearse possible scenes with him. Adam is declared the winner and gets to have an hour of rehearsal for the following challenge with Xavier Dolan.

At the Elimination Challenge the contestants must deliver big and powerful monologues.

At elimination Adam is highly praised and alongside him, Terralon and Patricia advance to the final challenge. Nick is told he didn't do his best but is declared safe. In the end best friends, Matthew and Jonathan, land in the bottom two, with Matthew being eliminated for not being memorable enough.

* **Winner of Casting Call:**Adam
* **Winner of Elimination Scene:**Adam
* **Eliminated:**Matthew

### Episode 8: Finale: Who Is Top Actor?

*Original Airdate:* July 26, 2016

The final five are challenged with a final casting call with Xavier Dolan and his team from HBO. Here they must rehearse with another actor and go through two different scenes from the show.

They are then surprised to find out that Dolan and his team has decided not to carry on with two of the final five.

* **Advanced to the finale:**Adam, Jonathan and Terralon
* **Eliminated:**Nick and Patricia

The remaining contestants then shoot a pilot each for the television show, and from that a winner is declared.

* **Eliminated:**Terralon (Runner-Up) and Jonathan (2nd Runner-Up)
* **Top Actor:**Adam