• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, 95 minutes ago

It was a question that even stumped Gemini: Who is the actor in the Chase commercial who is beleaguered by non-human gadgetry until he enters a Chase branch?

Apparently, the identities of commercial actors who are not celebrities can be difficult to find -- even by AI -- perhaps because ad agencies and commercial producers do not publicize that information.

Or at the very least, they are not publicizing the actor’s name in this spot, which is a shame because he gives a great performance.

The commercial, which is running often right now, is titled “Places for People.”

In the spot (video above), a man (played by the unknown actor) is seen in encounters with three non-humans on a typical morning before he gets to work.

At home, upon awakening and entering his kitchen to start his day, his Alexa-like virtual assistant does not turn on the lights after he asks it to. 

Next, as he enters the Uber-esque car he ordered, he is seen giving a cheerful “good morning” to the driver, only to discover that the car is driverless.

He then stops at his favorite coffee shop, where he orders black coffee with no sugar, and the robot server nevertheless pours sugar into his coffee cup.

The man’s next stop is a Chase branch, where he is greeted warmly by a smiling human. 

The spot is part of Chase’s ongoing campaign to portray its branches as places for people, not robots.

The acting is right on point. The actor was evidently directed to play the part with subtlety. He never rolls his eyes, or makes any other visibly frustrated gestures.

The only emotion he reveals is resignation. After discovering that there is no driver in the front seat of his rideshare, he is seen simply staring absentmindedly out of an open car window.

He looks more wistful than sad. We can all relate.

The spot is also overladen with appropriate music, with the first lines of the great 1971 Al Green song “Tired of Being Alone” -- “I’m so tired of being alone, I’m so tired of on-my-own …”

It is not the Al Green version, however. The identity of the person who sings it is also impossible to find in a Google Gemini search.

iSpot credits Dentsu-owned McGarry Bowen as the agency of record for the spot. An outfit called The Elements Music produced the music mentioned above. 

This company cites another ad agency, Droga5, as being involved in the production of the commercial.

I dutifully tried to connect with press representatives for all the entities involved, but was foiled in one way or another.

So, the question remains: Who is the actor in the Chase “Places for People” commercial? Does anybody out there know?