Why The Crew Members From GEICO's Dick Vitale Commercial Look So Familiar
Commercials can be a drag, especially when you're in the middle of watching something you really love. The only time most people actually look forward to commercials is during the Super Bowl — a mere once a year. Otherwise, commercial breaks are just that: breaks in immersion (and quite possibly for some grub).
Every here and there, however, an ad sticks with you — and hey, that's what ads are ideally supposed to do. These exceptions are the cream of the advertising crop, and insurance company GEICO has churned out a surprising amount of them since its introduction of the famous Gecko and his Cockney accent in 1998. What better way to get people interested in your product than to make them laugh?
One of GEICO's more recent commercials (as of February 2021) features famed basketball sportscaster Dick Vitale auditioning for the company, summoning his trademark enthusiasm to try and impress casting directors Kari and Evan, and maybe even Kevin the cameraman. (Of course, it wouldn't be Dickie V. without spinning one of his most popular catchphrases for the purposes of the ad: "GEICO is awesome, baby!") Vitale may be a familiar face, but if Michole Briana White, Chris Aquilino, and Michael Strassner look familiar, too, here's where you may have seen them before.
Michole Briana White has had a long and varied career
Michole Briana White is perhaps best known for playing legal aid attorney Fatima Kelly on 100 Centre Street, a legal drama named after the New York City Criminal Court's address in Manhattan. Outside the courtroom, the show maintains an intense focus on its characters' personal lives, and Fatima's life is ... complicated. Being a young woman in the court system isn't easy to begin with, and her rampant drug addiction only exacerbates things. White's layered performance adds much to what's already a well-written character to begin with.
Aside from 100 Centre Street, White has amassed an impressive number of TV guest roles over the course of her career. She's appeared on sitcoms such as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Family Matters, as well as genre shows like Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. White also made the jump to the big screen multiple times, co-starring in the likes of Edward Zwick's Gulf War film Courage Under Fire and Spike Lee's 25th Hour (based on David Benioff's novel The 25th Hour). She's the kind of actress who just never stops, and you have to respect that.
Chris Aquilino is still relatively new on the block
Chris Aquilino hasn't been around for nearly as long as White has, but that doesn't mean he hasn't left a footprint of his own. Like White, he's known for a number of television guest roles, ranging from an appearance on telenovela/rom-com Jane the Virgin to a spot on the ever-popular It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. His most prominent TV role, however, is that of Danny, the Tesla-purchasing Pied Piper employee introduced in season 5 of Silicon Valley.
Though primarily a television actor, Aquilino has a few movies under his belt as well, including The Sweet Life, a dramedy road trip about the effects of depression, and The Nowhere Inn, which amazingly morphs a psychological thriller into a sort of mockumentary.
Aquilino has also appeared in a number of short films, including Lazy Day (which he also wrote), Let's Make a Horror Movie, and 7 Stages of a Modern Break-Up. He's more or less just getting started, but he looks to have a promising career ahead.
Michael Strassner is also a talented new actor
Michael Strassner fits more on Aquilino's side of the ring than White's: a talented and relatively new actor with a lot going for him. His very first television appearance sees him play one of Ron Swanson's (Nick Offerman) four brothers employed by Very Good Building & Development Co. on Parks and Recreation: Vaughn. He's since continued to appear in a number of shows, from guest roles in the likes of Black-ish and Modern Family to a starring role on Johnno and Michael Try. (He's Michael, in case you were wondering.)
Similar to Aquilino, Strassner is prevalently a TV man but peppers his resume with movies to keep things spicy. He stars in the touching rom-com Good Luck with Everything, a film about the strange happenstances that can occur while housesitting. Strassner's also been in a number of short films, such as 2019's Simply Having, all about a holiday party gone wrong when his character says the wrong thing at the wrong time.
All three actors have a number of projects lined up. Once COVID-19 clears up, their schedules are sure to be as packed as ever.