Isaac White appears on CBS tonight

By Zachary Fitzgerald
zfitzgerald@daily-review.com
Recent Patterson High graduate Isaac White will appear in the first two episodes of a new CBS show based on the bestselling James Patterson novel “Zoo” with the first episode airing at 8 p.m. today. White will also appear in the second episode at 8 p.m. July 7.
White, 17, graduated from Patterson High School May 15 and will enroll in classes at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in the fall majoring in vocal performance.
White auditioned for “Zoo” in 2014 when he taped the audition with his acting coach. On Jan. 4, White found out he got the role.
White’s part could possibly turn into a recurring role depending on what the show’s writers decide, he said.
The part isn’t the first TV or movie role White has landed. In 2013, he was in Lee Daniels’ The Butler, and, in 2014, he appeared in a couple episodes of NBC’s “Chicago PD.”
Isaac White’s dad, Grey White, said going to college is “a big, big step for him to do something that he really loves doing” in music.
“That’s how all of this started, through our music,” Grey White said.
Isaac White commenced his acting career in 2012 when he started auditioning for roles. After the vocal performance school he was attending closed, he began attending a performing arts school in the New Orleans area, which blossomed into an acting career.
The Tri-City area community helped Isaac White a lot financially at the start of his career, especially donating lots of money to help him make the trip to the iPOP Convention in 2012, Grey White said.
In January 2012, The Daily Review reported on Isaac White’s trip to the International Presentation of Performers or iPOP Convention, held in Los Angeles. He earned four trophies and two honorable mention awards from the event, which brought together trained performers and models to perform in front of choreographers and show producers, the article stated.
For “Zoo,” Isaac White went to locations in the New Orleans area, including Franklinton, to film.
Usually when producers film a pilot, they compete against other TV shows to get a spot on a network, Isaac White said.
However, because of the book’s popularity, the show didn’t have to compete against other shows and was CBS’s No. 1 choice, White said.
The plot of the book and show centers around a scientist named Jackson Oz who’s trying to find out why animals are attacking humans across the world because people are running out of places to hide from the animals, White said. Oz’s father was interested in the global epidemic and would video the occurrences, he said.
“That’s where I come in,” White said of his character named Daniel. “I’m interested in those videos that the scientist’s dad made, and they have a lot of good information about what’s going on in the world.”
Daniel is interested in figure out why the attacks are happening, too, White said.
Oz’s father experimented by taking different animals and seeing how they reacted to certain situations, White said.
Filming for “Zoo” was much different than other TV shows and movies White has been in.
The show filmed on an island surrounded by a “big swamp,” he said.
White’s character in the show is from Africa so he had to speak with an “African accent” for the part.
“It took me out of my comfort zone, too, because of my accent. I practiced that,” White said. “It was challenging, but I like a challenge.”
The role was also different from his typical character playing a “bratty kid,” White said.
Grey White currently travels with his son to film.
But once Isaac White turns 18 on Sept. 6, he’ll be making the trips by himself as shows and movies don’t pay for parents to travel with their adult children, Grey White said.
Isaac White plans to continue pursuing his acting career while in college and find time to audition when possible, he said.
Pilot season auditions for new TV shows are during the spring, and movie auditions generally take place in the fall, Isaac White said.
At Louisiana-Lafayette, White wants to collaborate with music media majors to get in the studio and record in addition to performing on stage.
White plans to focus on “perfecting his craft” and getting better musically in college.
“I’m definitely going to look into theater and stuff like that at UL, too,” White said. He plans to participate in the choir and possibly a gospel choir in college as well.
White said he gives “grace to God” and thanks his family for supporting him in his endeavors.
He has had several close calls where he’s gotten parts and then the show or movie didn’t get picked up, he said.
In 2013, he was in an ABC pilot called “Adopted” co-starring with Kelly Preston and Jane Seymour but ABC didn’t pick the show, White said.
White has a few movies and shows currently on Netflix. He appears in season three, episode 22 of “New Girl” and is in a comedy movie called “Sex Ed” starring Haley Joel Osment.