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Photograph courtesy of Caroline Cole

Caroline Heerwagen, now known as Caroline Cole, grew up in the West Valley, attending both Los Gatos and Saratoga high schools. After graduating in 2004, she moved to Hollywood to pursue her acting dreams. She has a guest-starring role on this week's episode of 'CSI: NY.'

It's 'CSI' on CBS, and Cole gets a part in the show

Performer was educated in Saratoga, Los Gatos

By Jennifer McBride

No, Caroline Heerwagen isn't a manager to the stars, but she plays one on television. In fact, this week, you can see her playing one on the popular show CSI: NY.

Heerwagen, who now goes by Caroline Cole, grew up in the West Valley. The daughter of Navy parents, she often bounced from school to school. She attended Saratoga High School as a freshman. Then, the family transferred to San Diego where she attended Coronado High, a joint academic and arts school.

Eventually, they returned and Cole attended Los Gatos High for her junior year, and Saratoga High for her senior year.

"Saratoga is where all the people I went to middle school with were, so I got to graduate with them, which was cool," Cole says. "Yeah, it was a lot of changing, which was kind of difficult. I was always kind of a misfit in high school, so I kept going to different schools, sort of hoping I'd find my niche."

Throughout her Bay Area childhood, Cole was a regular in the Children's Music Theater of San Jose.

"I really liked The Who's Tommy; that was a really fun show for me. I also really liked doing West Side Story. Those were my two favorites."

In her senior year of high school CMTSJ did Once On This Island, which Cole decided would be her last show with the local troupe.

"That's when I got my biggest role with that company," she recalls.

It was almost like a sign, letting Cole know she should continue pursuing her acting dream.

The summer after her senior year, Cole acted in an independent film out of San Francisco called The Last, a vampire movie. After that, she moved south.

"I decided I wanted to move down with my sister," Cole says of her older sister Abbey, who graduated from Saratoga High in 2002 and then moved down to Southern California to be a hairstylist. "I really wanted to pursue my acting career, and I knew L.A. would be the place to do that."

She, and about five million others.

"The mystery of how to find an agent and solve the acting scene puzzle is pretty daunting for an 18-year-old," says Belinda Heerwagen, Cole's mother, who remembers her daughter's first year struggling in Southern California. "Helping hands are not the norm, as everyone is competing for their first break."

Cole's mother hit it right on the nose--when she arrived down south, she was forced to crash on the living room floor of the apartment her sister shared with roommates, desperately trying to figure out how to get started. She got a retail job at Fred Segal, so money was coming in, but no acting jobs. Finally, Cole decided to go it alone.

"I decided to move to Hollywood. It was probably the best thing for me. When I lived with my sister, it was almost like I was still living with my parents," she explains. "She's a really good big sister; she really takes care of me. So, getting out of there really pushed me to do more. A year later, I still hadn't done a thing."

As much as she dreaded the idea of going back to school, Cole thought studying acting professionally might help her along.

"I decided I'd wasted enough time," she says. "Not having an agent, that's really the scariest part. Once you have an agent, you can go on all sorts of auditions. You still have to work hard to get the parts, but at least you have your foot in the door."

Cole came across a listing for the Stella Adler Academy, which she remembered hearing great things about. Excitedly, she enrolled.

"It's really helped me," she says, admitting that the schedule can be daunting, though. "Two weeks after starting the school, I got an agent."

The agent met with her for two hours, but said that since they were in the middle of TV pilot season, she couldn't sign her at the time and would call her this summer.

However, Cole didn't have to wait that long--the agent did call her back and decided to set her up on a few auditions to "test her out."

The first audition was a low-budget film.

"She just wanted to see what I could do; she hadn't signed me yet," she explains.

Cole felt she did pretty well in her L.A. audition.

"[Although I wasn't cast], the casting director said nice things about me, so [the agent] sent me out on another audition," she says.

The second was a pilot TV show for CBS. Finally, the agent decided to try Cole out on an audition for a guest-starring role in an episode of CSI: NY.

"I auditioned for the episode's main murder suspect. I got called back, but for a different part," she explains, describing the second role as party animal/rock-star Kid Rock's manager.

At first, Cole wasn't sure if the casting directors liked her.

"I wasn't sure if I was doing right. They made me do it a whole bunch of times. I just kept thinking, 'maybe they're not getting what they want.' I was really nervous and scared," she says.

However, Cole got a pleasant surprise that day, indeed.

"That same day they called me back and said I got the part," she recalls.

Cole was surprised to get some great feedback from the show's staff.

"One of the writers came up to me on the set the first day and said he had really been rooting for me, and was glad I got the part," she says.

Apparently, praise like that is rare in L.A.

"You don't get feedback in this industry at all," she says. "You go in, you do your job, and that's it. Either they're other actors and don't want to encourage you, or they're producers and don't want to give you a big head; they just want you to do your job. It's just really competitive, almost sickeningly."

Nonetheless, Cole says she made the most of the experience and had a great time.

"Kid Rock was really friendly and nice; he even invited me out afterward with him and his band," she says. "I wish that was my job every day. Hopefully, soon it will be. They gave me a little taste, and now I want to go back for more."

Unfortunately, Cole has had to return to her job at Fred Segal for the time being, but hopes the airing of her episode of CSI: NY this week will pave the way for bigger and better things.

"I'm continuing to go on auditions; I go about twice a week. Being able to say you've done something like CSI really helps. Plus, now I can join the Screen Actors Guild," she says. "There are so many actors in this town. The store I work at, I think half of us are actors. So, to say you've done a show like CSI, that's a step most people haven't gotten to before."

Cole is certainly counting her blessings.

"CSI could have just as easily said no. It doesn't mean I would have given up, but it's such a confidence booster," she says. "I'm just very thankful. I just need to remember to take my job seriously, but not myself."

'CSI: NY' airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on CBS. Caroline Cole appears as Kid Rock's manager on April 26.