Oh well… I called casting and they helped me get where I was supposed to go. I was only ten minutes late and they weren’t pissed off about it at all.

In fact, I still love this show. The first time I was on was great and so was the second. This third time was no different–well, no different in general, but completely different in practice. Last two times, I was an upscale recovering drug addict. This time, I was a pedestrian with my 1968 Mustang Fastback and it was 1970-something.

I’d dragged a ton of clothes to this gig because, well, I have them, I might as well use them. And for a great change, the costumers loved me.

It was a simple scene, but since there was a flipped car and a bunch of water involved, the set-up was kind of involved. I ended up driving my car to the set before going through hair and make-up.

Since my eyebrows and the front of my hair had been burned off in a small kitchen explosion brought on by team effort stupidity between my husband and I, my hair is a little shorter than usual. When I stopped by the hair trailer, she just sighed and said there wasn’t enough for her to really do anything with it. I just kind of smashed it down and pretended I was Janet from Three’s Company. It’s too short, but I felt the need to try.

Then, in the make-up trailer, the lady started going nuts with me. She drew on eyebrows to hide my stubble and even put fake eyelashes on me to lengthen my burnt lashes. She really had a great time on my eyes and good golly, that’s the best I’ve felt since the explosion. It’s been a little over a week and it just seems to take forever for hair to grow back when you have none. At least the burns on my eyelids, lips and nose are done. They took about five days to heal. Now they’re just a little tender, but no big deal. I just want my facial hair back!

Anyhow, once I was out of there, we sat around in holding for awhile (which was air conditioned…it was getting freakin’ hot and humid outside and we were all thankful for the opportunity to stay cool) before heading to the set. I was saved as a driver and they’d planned on having me drive my Mustang, but it was too loud. Of course. Happens every time.

Instead, I drove one of the other picture cars…through a towering water effect on the first take before they toned it down for the following ones. It was another miserable black vinyl, no air-conditioning car just like my Mustang, so I kinda felt right at home. I just drank a ton of water so I didn’t dehydrate.

Basically, after those four or five takes, we were done, but they were still filming and a few of the other extras worked. I ended up reading a book and/or talking with others there. It wasn’t a bad gig at all. I just wish it wasn’t so hot. That was no fun at all.

Traffic was so bad getting there, that it took me a full two hours. I changed my route on the way home just to change the scenery a little and it took me an hour and a half despite the actual mileage was longer. I’ve certainly learned my lesson!

I got to keep the fake eyelashes as a souvenir and just before actually working, I snapped a picture with my phone. I’m really not supposed to do that, but I was careful not to get anything that’s supposed to be some big secret in the background, so hopefully I won’t get chewed out. I just really wanted to capture the brilliant make-up job I’d been given. It was kind of Twiggy-esque.

Much of what burned on the Universal lot this year was where base camp and the set were, too. When I heard about that fire, I immediately thought of my time on Spiderman II, Superhero and Where The Truth Lies.

Here’s another of my smallest performances. It’s not quite as small as Hollywoodland, but it’s close! This is definitely the kind of shot where I wonder if I’ll actually be seen at all or was I just given a cross there ‘just in case’ the camera happens to see that deep. It’s always nice to make it in frame, though!

In these next ones, boy was I pissed when I tried to do the screen capture and there was some dumbass extra blocking the view of my car…

Yeah, that dumbass extra was me!

The way I could tell was not just by the colors on my dress, but that’s my own purse. I recognized my purse and then vaguely remembered doing this wipe, but hadn’t realized that it was part of my cross heading across the street.

I looked for myself in the other shot, but while I thought I saw myself, I wasn’t entirely sure, so I didn’t do a capture. The finished product was nothing like what was shot.

I got there, parked in a dirt lot before being directed up to the set, survived wardrobe with flying colors (she actually loved what I was wearing and the fact that I’d brought a ton of choices. Why can’t all costumers be that awesome?) and got the car appropriately backed in just in time for the first rehearsal. Then, the scene was shot–without any picture cars in the background–and I was sent to holding. Ummm…okay…

About an hour or so later, I was brought in to do about three takes for a tiny little scene and then ushered back out to holding. Ummm…all right…

An hour after that, I was wrapped. Ummm…yay!

I was a “Narcotics Support Group” member with my car (’06 Mustang, this time.) for two days on Criminal Minds.

The location was a church and there were very few signs as to whether I was in the right place or not. I was about an hour early, but usually there’s at least one sign as I near the location. This time, it wasn’t until I got to the set that I saw a sign. It was also a little difficult to get to from the directions I was given. But that’s one of the reasons I like to go early…just in case.

I parked on the set, got shuttled to base camp to go through wardrobe. Very cool wardrobe people on this gig.

Then we were taken back to holding in the basement of the church complex. It was a little creepy and weird, but not as bizarre as other places I’ve been in. Anyway, I read Shadows of Darkness by Brian McIntyre and John Zaffis. It’s true stories of demonic possessions and various other supernatural weirdness. I dig that kind of stuff. Plus, I met John Zaffis at a ghost hunt on the Queen Mary last month and really liked what he had to say.

So, I sat in holding until it was time for us to work…in a sort of mini-theater. There was a podium up front and a bunch of folding chairs set up. Since I was apparently a former drug addict, I sat in the audience. I know I got on camera, but I have no idea if I’ll make it into the finished product. I don’t want to give away any of the story, but from what I saw, the episode looks really, really good.

At one point while I was seated, two ADs were whispering and pointing while looking at me. I got a little nervous, but not too much. I knew I wasn’t doing anything wrong, so I just continued on with the scene and my participation in it. Finally, one of the ADs came over and said that I was being considered for a sort of upgrade tomorrow. Cool. I found out later that I was the same size and looked a lot like a day player who would be in the following day, so they wanted to use me as a stand-in. Great.

After a yummy lunch, my car worked while I sat enjoying the nice night. It was only a little cold–nothing my jacket couldn’t keep at bay. I finished the Zaffis book.

The next day, I came back for more fun and games. I parked my car, got some lunch and then was immediately pressed into action as a stand-in. Before lunch, I stood in for “Woman #1″, “Woman #2″ and “Smoker” (who didn’t actually smoke, but whatever) which actually gave me the title of Utility Stand-in because I stood in for so many characters–2 of which were blonde. It’s always fun for me when I get thrust into positions I never thought I’d be in. I truly enjoy the adventure.

After lunch, all of the day players were done, so I was mostly there because they were using my car in the parking lot. I stood around a lot, sat around a little and then it was time for the car stunt.

It was pretty simple really. The driver rammed a car into a cargo container. It was enough to have the kind of safety meeting I wrote in Driven to Distraction (by Ashleigh Raine) and I haven’t been on a set in awhile where we were doing anything that involved a real safety meeting, so that was fun for me. I like to watch the coordination process between what the driver does, the Special Effects guys as well as the Medics and Stunt Coordinator.

And actually, I almost forgot something… After going through the lunch line, most of the chairs were taken in the catering tent, but there was one on the corner of a group of four or five guys. I read “SFX” on one walkie-talkie and figured that’d be a fun group of guys to sit with even if I didn’t say anything and just listened.

I was so right.

I won’t repeat the stories I heard, but let’s just say it was well worth the price of admission. At the end, the guys laughed and said I probably didn’t know what I was getting into when I sat down. I replied, “No. I did. That’s why I sat here.” but I don’t know if they quite believed me.

That’s okay, though. I had a great time on this show. The crew was one of the nicest, most awesomest I’ve worked with in a long time. All the extras were treated with respect and everyone had fun–including the director!

I was called at sort of the last minute the day before and then told I’d get my call time later that night. I waited until 10PM before giving up and going to bed. The next morning, I called around 8AM and there still was no official call time for me!

There were only two people on the call: myself with my car and another guy. We were stand-ins.

I finally had to make another phone call around 9, because I knew the location was about an hour away and I wanted to make sure I had enough lead time so I wouldn’t be late. Finally, I got an answer–and had about a half hour to get ready before I had to tune the car and get on the road.

My car had been running sort of rough, so I made the usual rounds, checking fluids and adjusting the carburetor. I wanted to do a little more, but there was no time. I got to crew parking, where I knew I’d be following one of the shuttle vans to base camp/the set.

This was a very small production. After working on The Changeling last week, it was pretty strange to go back to a tiny budget show. It wasn’t a bad thing, just a different thing.

Crew parking was several miles away from the set. One of the longest distances I’ve had. We even had to get on the freeway for awhile. Then, on some back roads through farmland until finally I saw base camp trailers stuffed in a small clearing at the mouth of a side road that seemed to go onto someone’s farm rather than be an actual road. I couldn’t tell for sure. There certainly wasn’t a whole lot of traffic on it–only occasional farm trucks carrying produce crates.

I met up with the other stand-in. He’d worked on the show before and sort of knew the ropes. I accidentally spoke with the director. I didn’t know who he was and just happened to be standing near him. He asked me if I was an actress. I replied, “I’m not serious about it… Well, I’m not seriously pursuing it… I’m only serious when I’m on set.” In other words, insert foot in mouth. Oh well. At least I was honest. I’m not an actress and I’m not actively pursuing it. I am, however, very serious and as professional as I can be when I’m on a set.

I enjoy what I do, but no, I’m not an actress. I don’t want the spotlight on me. It’s too stressful.

The scenes we were working on took place in a car. A few hours were spent prepping the car. My stand-in stint was spent sitting in the car–which was preferable to standing around in the freezing wind outside. I had a warm jacket, but still, the wind was arctic and the car was pretty comfortable. I definitely had the better end of the deal than the crew.

Finally, everything was set up and the actress I was standing in for (Eliza Dushku!!!!!!) traded places with me to do the scene. She’s so cool. She even thanked me and it was hard not to be fangirl and gush about her portrayal of Faith in Buffy, the Vampire Slayer.

Day turned into night. If I wasn’t ‘standing-in’ in the car, I was in the honey wagon. They had an extra room (with a heater) that me an the other stand-in were thankfully allowed to use.

Lunch was served and we ate in what’s called a Lunch Box. I hadn’t been on one in several years. They always amaze me. Essentially, they’re a really big trailer that pulls out on both sides and becomes a rather large room. Set up tables and chairs and voila! an indoor catering tent on wheels. I know from watching Extras that in the UK, they have converted buses that serve the same purpose except they’re more purpose built than Lunch Boxes.

After lunch (which was around average dinner time), we went to the other location which was further out in the farmland. I followed one of the other cars there because finally, my Mustang was going to be in the shot.

I did a little bit of double duty, too. I stood in until it was time to get my car in place for the scene.

This is when things got a little odd for me. They gave me a walkie-talkie so that I’d be able to hear my cue, but due to the wind whipping into the microphone of the Assistant Director giving various cues, the roar of my engine, my inability to see where I was going because of the way the scene was lit and the fact that I was listening for a cue that sounded like “Go Mustang” or “Go Background”, but he instead just said my name in a whisper that didn’t sound much different than the wind anyway, I missed my first cue.

I got the car turned around and Back to One, but the AD was not thrilled that I’d missed the cue. I explained my dilemma of not being able to hear very well despite clipping the walkie to the top of my collar, so he had a PA stand right next to the car (which is another thing I’m more used to) and give me a visual. Of course, by the third or fourth take, I knew what I was listening for and had been repositioned closer to the set so I could see more of what was going on and needed the visual cue less, but I felt better having the PA there because if the AD called me late again, I’d have someone to vouch for whether I took the cue or not. If I can discern the cue, I don’t screw up. It’s really that simple.

There were a few more takes where I was considered to be late, but the PA was right there. I shrugged it off. It was late. Everyone was freezing. Go ahead, yell at me. I was sitting in a nice warm car. I didn’t care anymore.

Really, though, I never got truly yelled at. It was more that I didn’t hit the mark at the right time, but a lot of that had to do with what the other actors were doing versus it taking a second or so for me to get into the frame because I had to be so far back. It seemed simple, but it really wasn’t. I had to sit there with my lights off, get them on and go for a ways before shutting them off and getting the car turned around in mud. I was a good sport about it, but I know several people who’d've pitched a fit about going off road in their classic Mustang.

They’d considered using my car as the hero car for that last bit. While I was okay with the idea, I realized that whoever was driving it had to be used to a manual steering, manual brake, car with a mid-stall torque converter behind a 400+horsepower engine. It’s temperamental and very far from a turn-the-key-and-go kind of car. You gotta know what you’re doing in my beast. I explained that, and they decided not to use it as the hero car. I was fine either way. I wasn’t even going to ask for more money. I do this because I love it.

Even when not getting out of there until 2:30AM, I still loved it. But that’s just the kind of girl I am.

Once, yeah, I’d seen it when the movie came out, but the second, super blurry time was a surprise. There were only a few of us there and once again, my car was in the back. I’m actually behind the person wearing the big hat. I just wasn’t meant to personally appear on screen in this movie, I guess!

On this movie, I was booked with my ’06 Mustang just like on G-Force. Yeah, lots of car calls lately. I dunno why, either. It seems to go in waves.

I ended up following a production truck onto the lot, so I didn’t accidentally drive to the Red Sea again. And to be honest, after parking on New York Street, checking in, going through wardrobe, I was still bummed that I missed the Red Sea! ‘Cause this time, if I’d've accidentally landed at that path again, I’d've totally driven through. That’s one of the things I wished I’d done. Oh well. Better luck next time. This was only a 1-day call.

I’m honestly not sure how it happened, but I didn’t work the whole day. I missed the first setup because I was in my car. I tried to be in the next one, but the camera guys said not to bother with the foreground crosses because the camera couldn’t see them. After that, I stayed near the AD, but somehow never got used. Yeah, I was sitting in doorways, up steps, but not because I was hiding. I was just trying to stay out of the sun. If I’d've been asked to jump in the scene, I’d've so totally done it.

Anyway, I ended up finishing Terry Jones’ Medieval Lives and starting another called Medieval Times. Sensing a theme perhaps? Terry Jones is an amazing writer. I love his stuff. It’s the best non-fiction to have on set because I don’t think he could write dryly even if he tried!

The other book is also well done. I got almost half way through! Off the top of my head, though, I can’t remember the author. The book was first printed in 1968 and surprisingly isn’t dry. There’s not much worse than trying to read dry non-fiction while on set. It makes staring off into boredom space preferable to reading the words.

My car might’ve actually made it in frame. At the top of the day, they had me pull it out because that was where they wanted the camera. It wasn’t until after lunch that they wanted my car back on the street.

Speaking of lunch… I dunno why, but it was really, really good! Herbed potatoes, breadsticks with baked-on cheese and my favorite rare steak with chimichuri. I think mostly, it was just that everything was cooked how I like it, using ingredients I like over most others, etc. that kind of thing. Everything was food I’d already had, just not on set. I didn’t even touch the salad bar or the dessert bar because I was enjoying the steak and potatoes so much. There was also fish and chicken available, but I wanted steak. The chimichuri was so good I looked up a recipe on my iPhone so I can make some at home.

Strange little day I had… From the not hardly working, to so much reading, to the awesome lunch…

What? You say I mentioned having an odd driving experience at the beginning of this and then never got back to it?

Well… The whole day, I was bummed that I’d missed the Red Sea, but it wasn’t like I was going to go try and drive through it at the end of the day. The trams were running and plus, there was still a lot of light and I didn’t want to get in trouble.

In fact, I was parked on a small block that the trams passed right by as they went in and out of the King Kong stage. After studying the map, I planned out the best way to get off the lot.

And at the first intersection screwed up which right turn I was supposed to take.

I drove past more stages…offices…shops…through the golf cart depot tunnel thingie…and eventually, the asphalt became reddish cement. And there was a trashcan–the kind you push the swinging door open and then put your tray on top of. And there was a maze of metal pipes.

Like the kind for standing in line for a ride!

OH SHIT! I was about to drive into the theme park itself! Gah!

I threw the car into reverse and backed outta there so fast! I didn’t get in trouble because only one preoccupied guy in a golf cart saw me, but I was terrified.

I did, finally, find the road I was supposed to’ve taken and then got myself off the lot. Whew!

There’s just something about the Universal Lot and me having car calls on it. I can’t even begin to imagine what’s gonnna happen next time…

And apparently, on this particular show, they needed everyone in yellow, green or white… Three colors I just don’t own. The only green I’m inclined to wear on a regular basis is camoflage. The only yellow I have are three car T-shirts and an electric yellow, long skirt suit from 1986–with shoulder pads like a football player. And white…well, I’ve got tons of T-shirts and a few ugly, draping polyester dresses from the late 70s-early 80s. (Think Falcon Crest…Dallas…Dynasty…yeah, eww is right!)  So, when I had to come up with something for this gig, I was utterly terrified and lacked a helluva lot of confidence in what I was wearing let alone what I brought and I just really felt like the gods were conspiring against me.

But the casting director said production was more interested in our cars than in us…so maybe I wouldn’t get yelled at by wardrobe, hair and makeup people for not having what the call required. Good golly, I was hoping so…

I showed up. I parked. We all waited for awhile. We moved our cars. We lined up so the director could pick and choose who was going to walk through frame. (I silently did cartwheels in my head because I knew I wasn’t going to be used. I didn’t look anything like the other people there.) I of course wasn’t chosen, but they loved my car. We moved our cars again and they wanted my Viper right in front. We ate.

After lunch, the Director, AD (Assistant Director) and DP (Director of Photography) were so excited about my car (some of the crew even thought it was a production vehicle, not a background car!) that they had me put it in a different spot so they could do this really great dolly shot along the side of it.

I love it when whatever car I bring inspires the production guys. I absolutely love it. Of course, that means my car can never be seen again because it got a close-up, but whatever. It’s always fun to see the guys get excited. “Can you put your car over here and I’m gonna do this dolly shot and sweep up from here so we can see your car there and be able to get all this other stuff in frame and it’s gonna look really neat and thank you for bringing it because this is gonna be awesome…”

Of course, that’s always the first shot of the day and my car gets to be in deep background the rest of the day. Not that I’m complaining. I just see a pattern and think it’s a blessing and a curse every time it happens.

So, needless to say, after moving my car out of frame for the second shot, all I did was sit in holding and read a great book about Medieval life. I got about half way through it because it was so awesome I didn’t want to put it down.

Next, we were signed out and I went home…taking somewhat of a long way because I’d seen my fair share of traffic this past week and didn’t want to sit in any more even if that meant circumnavigating the globe to get home. Plus, I was in a friggin’ Viper. It doesn’t do 5mph willingly!

It took an hour to get to the location for a 6AM call time. Going in, I knew it’d make for a long ride home because when I’m on a car call, that means we only work during daylight hours if we’re called in that early. I was working with my ’06 Mustang on this one.

The first day, I spent many hours in holding. Over the course of this gig, I read an entire book about Medieval Seige Warfare. Not half bad, but also a little dry–which makes any book the wrong book to have on set. But it was what I had in my bag, so I did enjoy it between conversations with other extras.

Something odd about this gig was that the set was about 5 blocks long and holding was on one end rather than in the middle. And we were on a rather steep hill…one of the blocks reminded me of a non-crooked version of Lombard St. in San Francisco. It wasn’t quite that steep, but after the third time walking up it…you get the picture. Thankfully, when I did have to walk up and down it during the shot, I didn’t have to go far. The SUVs in were hauling ass, doing stunts in the street, so the most I could travel was about 20-30 feet during any given take.

I got to drive a little on one of the days. That was nice. I always enjoy driving.

Watching the stunts was fun, too. One had an SUV coming down the hill, going around a car, as another SUV came around a corner, cutting off the car and following the first SUV as it swerved around another SUV while yet another SUV came around another corner and joined the fray. Lots of squealing tires and good, fun automotive mayhem. I heard the drivers came within inches of a few of the vehicles…cool! I dig that shit.

I missed the big stunt on one of the other days because I was forgotten in holding. I heard it didn’t go off as planned, though. A little too much ramp and the SUV exchanged the intended target for an unintended target. There wasn’t any massive carnage or anything and it looked great on camera, but it wasn’t what the script required so they had to do it again.

That one I got to see. The SUV went up the ramps and landed on an old RV, shattering it. Awesome shit for me. I’ve seen a few other similar stunts, but it had been quite awhile. I’m always amazed at the prep time before and after a shot like that, too. It seemed to take forever, but was, of course warranted. I mean, if I was anywhere involved in the action, I’d want to make sure everything was right, wouldn’t you?

I just realized that I mentioned the hamster in the beginning and never got back to it. Well, I’d snuck a peek at the story board on the first day. Apparently, we were filming some sort of car chase between a CG hamster in a giant motor-propelled (I think…it was hard to tell how it was propelled because it looked like the hamster was driving it, not running in it) ball. It looked really bitchin’ on the story board. I definitely want to see this movie when it comes out just so I can put together all the pieces of the shots I was part of and see what we were actually doing. I had my back to the action on several occasions.

Sometimes, to simulate the hamster, they used this weird home-made-looking car-like contraption that I can’t even begin to describe and do it justice. It was kinda like a go-cart, kinda like a dirt track car, kinda like a “hey guys, I got some metal and an engine, let’s build a kickass-fast race-buggy” sort of thing. It was really nifty and I’ve never seen anything like it.

I’ve never worked in a scene where heavy CG stuff was going to be added later. (I didn’t work with Doc Oc when I was on Spiderman II.) So, when they brought out the sort of camera tester balls of various materials plus the ones with various furs on them, at first I didn’t make the connection. That was what made me try to steal a glance at the story board. The weird car, the groups of balls, just what the hell kind of show was I on? Then, everything made sense and I started really diggin’ it and wondering what it’d be like from the CG animators point of view when the footage landed in the queue. I’ve never been on that side of it, nor had I thought about it before. Fascinatin’ shit to me…

The weather was odd. The first two days had hot sun (thank goodness for the sunblock in my generic survival kit in my gig bag) with icy cold sea breeze. The next day was miserable hot sun with no breeze…and then rain. We went home “early”–about an hour earlier than the previous days–and it took me two-and-a-half hours to crawl home because it was Friday night, too. That sucked. The last day was perfect. Warm, but not hot. The breeze was cool, but not freezing. I wish more shoots could be like that.

I doubt I made it into the movie. Us extras were mostly just little blurs of movement on the sidewalks. When I rent the DVD, I’ll have to freeze-frame it to maybe see myself. There’s a pretty good chance of seeing my car, though. The camera was right next to it in one of the shots, so maybe they were using the row of cars parked there. That’d be good enough for me.

Because the shoot was so close and gas prices have come down a little, I drove my Viper…just ’cause. I haven’t driven it much lately, so why not?

I parked. I got shuttled. I checked in. I went to wardrobe.

Okay, last night, I agonized over what to bring to this gig. Usually, casting directors specify “NO BRIGHT COLORS” and repeat that, like, ten times in the recorded message about what clothes we’re expected to bring. Well, this time, the message said, “We love bright colors.” And said it, like, ten times… But what went through my mind was, “They say they want bright colors, but do they really mean it? And do they know what they’re getting themselves into by asking me to bring bright stuff?”

So, I chose a pair of loudly tie-dyed teal/aqua pants, a teal tank top (’cause we’re having 100-degree weather), a loud teal floral over-shirt (just in case) and maroon Chuck Taylors (I oddly don’t have a teal pair yet for some reason). Then, I grabbed a loud pink/purple floral pantsuit from the late 60s, and another, less loud outfit in shades of royal blue, tossed in a few extra, random shirts just in case and figured, well, they said bright colors, so I’m gonna give ‘em bright colors.

And sure enough, I presented myself in front of the wardrobe people and, though surprised, they said, “Ummm… Great.” So, I went on my merry, tie-dyed teal way through hair and make-up.

As I came out of hair, they were loading up us extras to go get our cars because they wanted to use them in the shoot. Okay, whatever. I’m always game for car calls. I did wish I’d known this was going to turn into a car call so I could’ve brought a different car. Oh well.

But what extra drives a Viper?

Yeah, I became a little mini-celebrity because of my car. Oh well. It’s always fun. I got the car parked and they told me to stay in it.

But I couldn’t. It was already about 90 degrees outside and my Viper heats up to inferno in nothing flat. The inside is small and black, the top is black and the engine radiates heat inside, too. I kept having to get out of the car and stand next to it. At first the PAs and such thought I was trouble, but after awhile, they realized that, no, I wasn’t trying to be difficult, I was over-heating and didn’t want to pass out!

During a short period of time when I didn’t need to actually be in my car, I was sitting nearby and doing what I always do: watching everything. I like to see what people are doing and how they’re doing it. I still find it fascinating even though I’ve seen it so many times. And, well, Jen had told me to look out for Bradley Cooper because she’s got a crush on him and he’s a hottie.

And, well, I make it a point to scope out hot men, so when I saw him, I figured I’d text-message Jen just to tell her that I was about 20 feet away from him. (Which was pretty much for the record or thereabouts for all the principle actors today.) She replied about being jealous and then a little while went by and I had to go back to my car for a little bit.

While I was at my car, I looked back down, just to see the action, etc. and I wanted to do a mental recording of what I was seeing just so I could send it to Jen… Bradley was changing his shirt as he walked closer down onto the set and…well…omg…I’m drooling now just replaying the mental video. Jen wasn’t kidding when she said he’s a hottie… I have now seen him without a shirt and wouldn’t mind seeing more…a lot more!

Anyway, I was always pretty far from the action, but essentially the scene had Sandra Bullock running alongside a van, with Thomas Hayden Church as passenger. The woman was awesome. In hundred-degree heat, she ran alongside that van for about 12 hours and never seemed grumpy about it. She rocks! I’d already thought she might be a pretty cool chick, but I hadn’t worked with her. Now, she’s just plain and simply awesome in my world. And I hope I look as good as she does when I get to be her age. She’s amazing.

As I fried in the heat, I put myself in her shoes…well go-go boots today. Yeah, she’s got guys to give her a ride, air-conditioned cars and tents and trailers, etc. But darn it all, what she did was hard work today. She had to 1) Run in those go-go boots. 2) Act. 3) Do it for 12 hours. 4) Do it in hundred-degree weather…in the sun the whole time. 5) Keep it fresh in every take.

I dunno about anybody else, but I think I would’ve had a meltdown were I in the same predicament. So, for now, Sandra Bullock is my new hero!

Eventually, I did get to drive through frame. I always enjoy driving on set, but everything kept getting confusing because sometimes they’d have us drive forward and then back up and sometimes they wanted us to do a U-turn and then get back in line the way we’d started. I preferred to back up, but more so, I preferred that they’d all had us do the same thing no matter what they chose. Oh well.

I do think I was either the only one or one of very few people in a stick-shift car. As I said earlier, if I’d've known it was going to turn into a car call, I would’ve brought a different car. I’m actually also surprised they let me use it. It didn’t really ‘go’ with the rest of the cars, but whatever.

I rarely got out of first gear, but what was most annoying is that the whole set was on a hill, so there I was, trying not to let the car roll downhill before going forward or in reverse. I enjoyed the challenge, but still wished I’d brought an automatic. The one saving grace, was air-conditioning. Even though I couldn’t let the car idle for long, while the cameras were rolling, I had the a/c on and got to cool off a little bit. I just didn’t want to overheat the car, too.

For a long, hot day, it was nowhere near as bad as it could have been. I mean, I’ve been on longer, hotter days and this wasn’t near so bad. I don’t want to do a lot of these, but once in awhile, I’m totally game for it. Between the male eye candy and the acquisition of a new female hero, not a bad day overall…

After finding the Little Girls’ room on the honey wagon, I settled in to the holding area, ie. catering in this case, and tried to enjoy the stinky, urine smell that seems to be everywhere in downtown LA. Thankfully, there was a nice breeze. Once me and the few other extras moved away from the brick wall on one side, the air was a little easier to breathe.

Because I don’t work too often, I don’t generally see people I know, but this time was different. A buddy of mine, Aaron, was working, so I knew I’d be talking to him the entire length of the gig. Not bad. He’s a hoot and a hottie…

I was supposed to be a ‘young professional pedestrian’. So, I was wearing some business clothes, but of course, they weren’t quite business enough. Then, it was part of the look of the scene that they wanted only dark gray suits, but all I had were beige and a dark green one that they really didn’t want to put me in, but there was nothing else on the truck that was small enough to fit me (a growing and very annoying problem because nobody makes business clothes for kids, so consequently I can’t buy new business stuff, I have to either get custom clothes or wear ones that are a few years old from thrift stores.), so I did end up in my dark green suit, but they gave me some different shoes to wear. No big deal.

As I went back to holding, that’s when I saw him…Luke Wilson. OMG, I’d never really thought he was hot before, but good golly gracious me, I’ve changed my mind about him! I didn’t freak out or anything. He was in the black SUV, ready to go to the set. And he’s hot.

I continued to holding and was asked what car I had and if the production could use it in the next scene. Sure. But they wanted me to move it from the lot I’d parked in, to the one they were going to shoot in. Not really a big deal…

Except that the half-block walk to get my car while wearing wardrobe’s shoes–no socks–had created a tiny, bleeding blister on my left heel. Oh joy. As soon as I got in my car, I put my socks and shoes back on, moved the car and then carried wardrobe’s shoes back to base camp and asked for the Medic so I could get a few band-aids. I didn’t care that I’d gotten a blister, it was more that I hadn’t worked yet and it was going to be my job to do a bunch of walking–which meant, yeah, OUUUUWWWWCH for the blister I already had plus a strong likelihood for new ones.

During the car-moving expedition, the rest of the extras were herded up and taken to the set to work. Me and the other car guy (coincidentally Aaron) were held back in case they needed us separately. So, of course, we got caught up on the last year or so since we’d seen each other. That was nice.

Then, it was time to break for lunch. Yum. I was starving for some reason, so lunch tasted that much better. For the record, ‘lunch’ just means the meal break we get in the middle of the day’s shooting. I’ve eaten ‘lunch’ at midnight before… This time, lunch was some time a little past 4.

After lunch, one of the costumers had been sitting behind Aaron and I. She leaned over and asked if we possibly had any other non-business clothes with us because the look of the scene had changed from business to downscale or at least casual. Well, I had nothing non-business, but I did have a look that was more toward casual. So, back to my car I went, changed and then headed to the wardrobe trailer to give back the shoes–Yay!–and they gave me a really cute sweater to cover my too-businessy shirt. Great.

We were all changed and then herded one building over on the sidewalk, to the set. Luke Wilson was going to be looking in the window of a pawn shop. I never did learn what he was looking at, but whatever the moment was, he was very, very, very sad. Just looking at him, I felt his pain. It was awesome.

Background pinball was the game of the evening. Start in a line at one side and wait for the PA to cue you to walk across to the other side. Get back in line and wait to be cued to go back through. Sometimes, with a partner, but I always ended up by myself. Whenever that happens, I walk through slowly once and then come back fast or vice-versa to change it up. Yeah, I’m still wearing the same clothes, but hopefully the finish product won’t look like I’m aimlessly going back and forth if both of my crosses end up in it.

Well, roundabout the third take or so, Luke walked right in my path. It was either run into him or cross between him and the camera. I had to make an executive decision. I chose to cross between him and the camera. I didn’t get yelled at for it, but we were all instructed not to do that on the next take. I don’t think I was the only one who made the same choice.

He did it again and I missed him by about a quarter inch. I really enjoyed being that close to him. Can you tell my opinion of him changed? I dunno… I’ve just got this thing for Luke Wilson now! He’s freakin’ hot now! I wanted to jump him!

Anyway, the next few takes, our paths didn’t cross quite the same so I missed that closeness. Eventually, we were told that if he comes close to us, go ahead and run into him, but keep going. Unfortunately, I didn’t hear that until it was too late. Darnit. What I wouldn’t've given to be able to run into him!!!!!

But the good news is that when this movie comes out, there’s a teeny, tiny chance one of my crosses might be in it. Or maybe an elbow or a knee or something. Anything, please. I soooo want Luke Wilson now!

They decided not to use my car after all and then decided not to use me, either, the rest of the shoot, so I was wrapped. Short day for me, but certainly a great one. The crew on this show was great, too. Especially the PA handling us extras. She told us the whole plot of the script plus the scenes we’d be shooting and where they fell into the story. And wasn’t afraid to theorize with us about how long we might be there.

I gotta say that this is one of those areas that scores major points with us extras. We like to know about the show, why we’re there, what we’re doing and approximately how long we’ll be there, even in terms of ‘you’re only here for these scenes, not these other ones’. We honestly don’t need to know, ‘you’ll get out of here around midnight.’ We understand how shooting goes. If we’re in the martini shot, then we know we’ll be on that set at least 12 hours and we’ll count through the other set-ups until that martini shot without lament.

Or at least I don’t lament. I block out about fourteen hours from call time as ‘unavailable’. If I get out early, I call myself ‘off the grid’ and either stop for a cup of tea, take the long way home, whatever I feel like doing with the extra time I unexpectedly have on my hands. It’s like a mini-vacation because I’m not expected to be anywhere. Although, half the time, I do just go straight home…

That’s what I did after this show, too. I got out around 8PM or so and just drove home. I did, however, take the 101 instead of the 5 just so I could drive through Hollywood. I hadn’t done that in awhile and it felt pretty good. I smiled all the way home.

And BTW–Luke Wilson is freakin’ hot!!!! I don’t even know what it is about him. He just shot up my hotness-meter somehow. I wasn’t expecting to come away from this shoot having an all-out thing for him, either. Strange, but nice… I love it when that happens.

What I do know is that Los Alamitos is a long way from where I live. Even without traffic (thank goodness for an 11:30AM call time!!!), it took almost an hour and a half to get to the location. I always give myself about 2 hours to get where I’m going unless I know I’ll be an hour and forty-five early. In those instances, I give myself a full hour just in case. Sometimes, the simplest shoots turn out to be an adventure just finding the set.

Needless to say, I got there a little early so I sat in my ’68 Mustang fastback (the car they’d booked for the show) and read further into _Theatre Lighting in the Age of Gas_. Limelight and caron-arc fascinate me.

After getting a little lost in the motel complex, I found the catering area and had myself some breakfast while awaiting the usual doling out of vouchers followed by the inevitable escort to wardrobe. It was a small call. Only seven extras, most of us with old cars. The scene we were to work on took place in 1979.

And I wish I’d known it was supposed to be 1979 before I got there. The recorded information just said, “Bring 70s clothes. Do the best you can.” Well, when they say that, they don’t assume that I’ve got essentially the contents of a wardrobe trailer in my closets and can usually pinpoint the exact year back to 1968 or so. Most of the “70s” shoots I’ve been on want the ’70-’75 look, not the late ’70s look. Ugh. I had all sorts of great stuff I could’ve brought, but figured they wouldn’t use it.

Oh well. The costumer was okay with my light blue T-shirt and wraparound denim skirt. It wasn’t the best outfit, but it certainly wasn’t the worst.

It took awhile to get through hair and then make-up because the principal actors were also in the trailer, but I eventually emerged with a wacky hairdo and pink lips. All was well except that it was a little cold due to the sea breeze. The ocean was essentially across the street.

I worked the very top of the day. Me and another guy walked through frame maybe six or seven times. Just enough to make my feet tired of standing in my heels. (A favorite pair of mine, no less, that I usually have trouble matching to outfits because they are multi-colored in red, yellowish, blue and green while most of my ’70s clothes are brown and beige. They probably didn’t really match the outfit of the day, but since I was wearing a denim skirt and they were cute shoes, all was well.)

Okay, now we get into the rest of my day…

I read my book while sitting in holding. Occasionally, they had me pull my car into frame and park it, but out of the five times they had me do that, I had to pull it back out four times. They did finally use it in the last setup, though. I was beginning to wonder.

Regular day. Not much action. Not too bad overall except I was a little cold.

I was on Entourage for my second time. We assembled at base camp and then headed up to the location. It was some sort of religious house (a sign read “A quiet place for priests to pray” or something like that.) that was doubling for the exterior of a school.

This is the second time my Viper has been booked as a parent’s car. What parent picks up their elementary school kid in a Viper? Not many. Not many. It was very weird for me to be there amid all the 4-doors and SUVs. But whatever. At least they didn’t completely turn up their noses at me.

They were even going to have me drive through frame, but, like duh, how about not the Viper. Finally! I mean, I knew I would end up parking the car and walking through frame. It’s always a matter of time. I never go to these assuming I’ll be driving.

I was given two fake kids. We did a couple variations on our crosses and then my day was done. I think I worked a total of about 4 hours. Not too shabby.

And I don’t even really have anything about the show to report. I couldn’t hear any interesting dialogue and the scene was so short, there probably wasn’t much going on other than all the kids getting to school.

Anyhow, I was a ‘fight club patron with car’. I gladly brought my Viper.

After misjudging traffic by more than an hour (I’m still shocked that the Sepulveda pass was not utterly jammed at 4:30 on a Friday afternoon), I parked my car and sat in it for about a half hour before heading to base camp. This was one of those rare occasions when they say there’ll be a shuttle from parking to base camp, but there isn’t. And then it didn’t matter because base camp was about a block away. I’ve walked further to catch shuttles.

Okay, now, as an extra there are a few events right at the beginning of the shoot which can make or break the experience. This show, made it. Oh hell yeah.

I was walking with another guy who’d been early. When we got into base camp, there was a friendly-looking guy making what to the street racer world is the spinning finger circle denoting that there’s a cop nearby, but in Hollywood, that’s the signal that the camera’s rolling, so be quiet and stay still until the moment passes (can be as long as maybe ten minutes, but is usually somewhere just under a minute). Then, the fellow showed us to where holding was–and sounded welcoming. Weird. Extras are usually treated like a necessary evil.

From that first moment, myself and the guy I’d walked in with agreed that this was going to be a pretty good night. We hadn’t been to the set yet, but if one person was that cool toward extras, there’d likely be lots more.

Our call time coincided with the end of the lunch break, but the extras got to go through the chow line, too. Awesome, awesome, awesome. If I’d've known, I wouldn’t've eaten before I came. (See, I’m really not used to being treated so well.)

I survived wadrobe by having to change into what I thought was one of the least likely things I’d brought: my violet/black vinyl snakeskin pants, burgundy tank top and black burn-through velvet blouse. That meant that while my shoulders would freeze, my legs would bake. Believe me, that was a billion times better than a spaghetti strap minidress. Night calls get cold no matter what time of year it is.

Anyway, I spent the down time reading a book about the Hundred Years War while in holding.

Funny thing, though, I got to see something I’d never seen before… While in holding, we could see through windows out into the warehouse where there was an SUV parked between two screens. What looked like a suburban neighborhood scrolled by, projected on both sides as though the SUV was in motion.

Not that I didn’t know about the technique, I’d just never seen it done. Being that close to it was kinda disorienting, but I wouldn’t trade the experience for the world. Weird, but nifty. I love Hollywood.

Anyway, when the time came, I went out to bring my Viper around and was directed to park it near the entrance. I’m still amazed that I got it shoe-horned into the tiny spot they wanted it. Thankfully, they never treated me like ‘a girl’. Sometimes, when I’m in any of my cars, I get treated like I can’t drive before I’ve even proven myself. It’s just like when I get asked if my ’68 Mustang Fastback is my boyfriend’s or husband’s car. Grrrr… Anyway, the guys on this show seemed to accept me for me and that was awesome.

The 2nd AD was very thorough with us extras. Admittedly, he did have a lot of time to place us, but it was really nice of him to walk us through our crosses and make sure we knew what he wanted to see out of us. That was nice. Consequently, we didn’t get yelled at, we got directed during the shooting.

The scene was about three minutes and all of us extras just had long crosses through the parking lot into the warehouse. Simple stuff, but stretched out over a long time.

Both the big stars were there. I know my best friend was jealous that I’d get to see David Boreanaz again. (I was on Angel a few years ago.) He’s so friggin’ hot.

And I almost ran him over after I was instructed to move my car. There just wasn’t a whole lot of clearance between one of the trucks and the corner of the building. It wasn’t a near-miss or anything. He and the other actor he was walking with yielded and I waved my thanks. I was a little terrified, but whatever. I had to get my car parked and run back to set.

But the parking structure was closed. And there was nothing but red curbs near base camp.

I finally got the last spot after moving a traffic cone that I nearly didn’t see and almost ran over. By the time I hoofed it back to base camp, the 2nd AD was wrapping various people. I was gladly one of them. WooHoo! I got to go home after a short day–well, night.

Great gig. I wish more were like this one.

Okay, Brothers and Sisters. It’s a new TV show with a huge ensemble cast. There were familiar faces plus a few I recognized: Sally Field, Calista Flockhart and Balthazar Getty.

And I must say everyone was looking wonderful–despite the shot being a funeral.

This was my first trip to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery and I wish I’d had more time to explore. I suppose I’ll have to go back in order to pay my respects to William Desmond Taylor, Rudolph Valentino, Florence Lawrence and others. I did, however see Mel Blanc’s grave. That was the street I was instructed to park my Viper on when I arrived.

My trip through wardrobe wasn’t surprising. I always try to wear something that might spark interest in diversity, so it was no surprise when I had to change. Every show loves my plain black pants. (Thanks Mom for buying those for me in, like, 1990)(They’re good pants, and I wore them so infrequently that they’re still black!)(And now that every costumer under the sun loves them, I dry clean them to keep them black!) The costumer gave me a black shirt with beige flowers. She sounded apologetic when she gave it to me, but I really didn’t care. It wasn’t ugly. It was considerably more conservative than I usually wore, but it wasn’t a bad shirt.

My biggest objection to anything was simply that I didn’t want to be wearing black on a 90+ degree day outside in the sun, but as this was a funeral, there was no chance of wearing anything other than black.

Once through wardrobe, I was instructed to stay with my car. No biggie. I pulled out my blanket and layed it on the grass over some nice people’s graves and sat down to read a book–A Horrible History of England by Terry Deary. It wasn’t for another hour or so that I pulled out my folding chair. And then, of course, it was time to go to the set.

All the cars got turned around and in line to go about a block down the cemetery road to provide a backdrop for the memorial. It was going to be a day of leaving the car parked while I worked. Cool… ‘Cause ‘drive-forward, back-up’ in my Viper can get super expensive.

When everyone was being placed, I did my best to get in the shade. At that, I succeeded, however, during the first shot, I was literally behind one of those standing bouquets of flowers. I’ve learned never to take offense and to just let the day go on as it will.

Wise choice. As it turned out hours later, there was even one shot where they gave me my very own mark on the grass. Oddly enough, in order to frame the shot properly, I was standing in front of the line of cast members. Weird, very weird. But nifty in the same manner.

There were several shots of the memorial itself and several more shots of everyone breaking up and going to our cars. And I think I really had the toughest job of all. See, once the flowers were gone, I had a straight shot of Balthazar Getty. So there I stood, for hours on end, forced to look at such a beautiful man. Oh, the hardship! (OMG I wanted to call Jen just to tell her how hot he was in person. Very intense in his acting, yet easy with a smile and a joke between takes. I have one word to describe him: Yummy!)

Anyway, somehow, I ended up working in every dispersal shot except one. Depending on the footage they edit together, you might be able to see me walking away in both directions!

I mentioned it, but no one seemed to care. And because of that, I assumed the shots weren’t very wide and if I’m seen at all, I’m only a blur. Fine by me. I get paid whether I’m on camera or not. It’ll just be funny if can pick myself out of both directions.

I wish I had more action and adventure on this one–seeing as how it’s my first one back from that bizarre, extended hiatus I unintentionally took. Oh well… I still have yet to cash in my ticket to stunt driving school (And I gotta do that this year!) Hopefully, I’ll get a few more exciting gigs soon.