How TODAY Stage Manager David Auerbach Landed a Role in ‘Disclosure Day’

The role was an unexpected break for Auerbach who started at NBC in 1984 as a temp, providing vacation relief on various shows including David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Rosie O’Donnell and “SNL.” As good as the gigs were, they were a means to an end for Auerbach, whose real ambition was to act.

“I would take big chunks of time, at that time, and I would go to LA and do a pilot season. I did plays in New York. I considered myself an actor and this was my day job,” he explains.

Eventually that day job turned into a full-time a job and what Auerbach thought would last only a year or two turned into a career at TODAY spanning more than 40 years.

“It’s been a great ride,” he says of his time at TODAY, a job Auerbach says he’s deeply loved and that’s given him unparalleled access to the very people considers peers.

“I just feel a kismet,” he says of the famous actors that file in and out of Studio 1A on a daily basis. “I’ve always had that creative soul that these guys have and I just feel like I relate to them really well. I like to be around that because I feel like it keeps my spark going.”

Reigniting the Fire

About a year ago, Auerbach, 65, decided to act on that spark and signed with a pair of managers thanks to the encouragement of not only his long-time wife, Susan Perri-Auerbach, but TODAY’s Sheinelle Jones.

“We are a family here at the TODAY show and when we say family, it’s not just the people that you see on the air. It’s behind the scenes too. Quite often some of the best conversations I’ve ever had are during commercial breaks, before the show and after the show,” Sheinelle tells TODAY.com.

“One day in particular, I just remember we were talking about life and (Auerbach) mentioned that he used to act,” she recalls. “His eyes lit up and I just felt something from him and I said, ‘You know, it’s clearly still in you and if you still love it or you’re still intrigued by it, I think you should go for it.’”

His very first audition was for a role as a news producer in the film “Disclosure Day.” Less than a week later, his managers called.

“They were on the phone with me and said, ‘You got the part.’ It was very emotional. I definitely cried a little bit from joy — and terror,” Auerbach recalls.

Working With Steven Spielberg

The shoot lasted two days and according to TODAY’s stage manager, working with Spielberg was exactly what you’d expect.

“It was very intense. We barely ever took a break,” he recalls. Between takes, however, things were a little more relaxed. “(Spielberg) would come out and he’d joke around with us. He was just such a nice, really warm guy.”

But once filming resumed, it was all business. “When the cameras were rolling and he was in his lane, there was just no messing around. You really had to be on your A-game because you had to perform for this guy.”

Auerbach used former TODAY show executive producer, Jeff Zucker, who he says was known for occasional control room outbursts, as inspiration for his performance — and Spielberg had a few notes.

“When I did the first take, I was sort of thinking of Zucker,” says Auerbach. “We cut it and Spielberg said, ‘OK, that was great, Dave, but can you do it again, but be a little less angry?’”

Unsure of how much of his performance would actually make it into the final cut, Auerbach says he kept quiet about his part in the movie, telling only a few close friends and family members about the opportunity.

His first viewing came nearly a year later when he attended a screening with TODAY’s Craig Melvin. Far from ending up on the cutting room floor, Auerbach frequently appears throughout the movie’s pivotal ending.

“I was waiting for that scene to come and it came and I was in it. I was so relieved. Then I started telling people here and there,” Auerbach says.

How did it feel to see himself on the big screen? “Weird,” he laughs. But that wasn’t even the real pinch-me moment, according to Auerbach. That came later at the “Disclosure Day” premiere on June 8.

“I was at the beginning of the red carpet and there were other people that were going. I was trying to take the step onto the carpet and I was like, ‘I don’t know if I can do this.’ It reminded me of when I was a kid and I was afraid to jump in the pool because the water was too cold. Then somebody would push me into the pool and I’d be happy to be in the pool.”

He says it took someone pushing him to start walking on the carpet to finally jump in. “It was kind of electric as soon as I got on, it was pretty wild. It was a pretty cool feeling,” recalls Auerbach of the moment.

Though his experience on “Disclosure Day” has come to an end, it’s only just the beginning of a new chapter in Auerbach’s life.

“My wife always wanted me to stay in acting. She really believed in me. Every once in a while she’d sort of prod me and say, ‘You know, you should get back into it.’

At 65 and four decades at NBC in the rearview mirror, Auerbach says he’s ready to give it a try. If signs from the universe are a thing, then nabbing a part in a Spielberg film on his first foray back into acting is a pretty monumental one.

“If that is not a God wink, if that is not an affirmation of ‘You know what, my friend, go for it,’ then I don’t know what is,” says Sheinelle.

“It just goes to show, for anyone, listen to that little whisper and sometimes it’s not a bad idea to just go for it and see what happens. He couldn’t lose, there’s no losing. The only thing you regret is not trying,” Sheinelle explains.

“Kathy Lee Gifford said once, ‘If you have a pulse, you have a purpose.’ So, it’s like while we’re here, let’s do the thing. I’m a firm believer in it and so if something lights your fire, go for it. That’s exactly what Dave did and it’s awesome.”