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Janesville actor unsure why he was cut from ad

JANESVILLE — It was a bummer of a Super Bowl for a budding Los Angeles actor and Janesville native who apparently got cut from a promotional commercial for the NBC series "The Voice."

Shaun Daley, a 2005 Parker High School graduate, said he was sure he'd gotten the part. Daley had done filming in December, and said he'd had a positive conversation at the time with an NBC executive who told him he was "the guy."

Yet when the commercial aired Sunday night during the Super Bowl, it was clear things had fallen through. He was not the guy.

It seems actress Betty White was.

Daley, 25, says he had a contract with NBC for a "principal speaking role" in a blockbuster commercial for the network's hit singing-competition show "The Voice," which stars pop superstar Christina Aguilera.

The commercial promoted season No. 2 of the show, which aired after the Super Bowl.

In his role, Daley said he played an unsuspecting, towel-wearing everyman whose hotel-room wall was blown open during a special-effects action sequence that pitted host Aguilera against the show's other co-hosts, singers Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton.

But in the one-minute version of the commercial that aired Sunday night, it was the 90-year-old White, not Daley, who was featured in the hotel room.

Daley's not sure how or why he got cut from the commercial, but he wants his family, friends and readers of The Gazette know one thing: "For me, it's like gut-wrenching heartbreak," Daley said.

Daley had reached out to The Gazette last week, saying in an interview that he'd landed a main speaking role the commercial.

At the time, he couldn't give specifics, saying that his contract had a confidentiality clause. Daley's casting agency, L.A.-based Atmosphere Casting, would tell the Gazette only that Daley was cast in a role in the commercial.

Daley has done small parts in movies and TV shows since 2008, and he's used to seeing some of those parts chopped or diminished in the cutting room.

But Daley said this role was different; it was a main part. When the commercial aired Sunday and he wasn't in it, he had a sinking feeling in his stomach.

At the time, Daley was at a Super Bowl party in Phoenix, Ariz.

"Everybody said, 'Whoa, that's the commercial?' People have been texting me and calling, saying 'Hey, are they going to do a different commercial at a different time?' I don't know."

Daley said he plans to contact NBC to learn what happened and whether he'll receive credits for his work.

Meanwhile, Daley said he regrets going public with his experience before his role in the commercial was a done deal.

"I'm completely embarrassed. Do I say something to people? People out in Janesville—who knows what the hell they're thinking. I'd love to explain this business," Daley said. "Until you're big time, you can't say you're in for sure. You just never know."

Daley said his parents, who are local residents, told him not to hang his head.

"You've got to keep pushing. It's very hard. Most of the time they (producers) won't tell you what you did right or what you did wrong," Daley said. "You're just like, 'What did they not like about me?'

"It's the most frustrating part of the business."

Former Gazette intern's video appears in Chrysler's Super Bowl commercial

If you thought Madison protesters made it into Chrysler's "It's Halftime in America" commercial during the Super Bowl, you're right.

And the video was shot by a Madison man who worked as a photo intern at The Gazette from summer 2008 through January 2009.

Matthew Wisniewski shot the clip of protesters outside the Capitol that appears 50 seconds into the two-minute commercial.

Clint Eastwood narrates the commercial. The clip is used as an example for the line, "When the fog of division, discord and blame made it hard to see what lies ahead."

Observers online were quick to point out some of the protest signs were altered from the original video before appearing in the commercial.

Wisniewski told his social media followers Chrysler legally licensed his footage, and he thought the message was great.