Yes, I really did get paid to drive these!

Seriously, I accepted money for test driving these cars!!! It was a tough job, but somebody had to do it.

Ferrari F430 Coupe, Porsche 911 Turbo, Lamborghini Gallardo and a Ferrari F430 Spider. And yes, Spider is spelled with an ‘i’ for this car. We looked it up on the Owner’s Manual because we were curious.

This gig happened for a little over a week in July 2007 and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I got up at 1:45AM every day, got to work by 3:50 (I live about an hour from the shop) and was driving out the door at 4:00AM. On the mornings when I had trouble dragging myself out the door, I’d wonder why I tortured myself getting up so early and driving so far. Then, the door would roll up and the cars were sitting there and we’d all give each other that ‘pinch me, ’cause I MUST be dreaming’ look.

I’ll admit, though, that driving for 8 hours in any car isn’t fun for some people, but I love it. I also love that it was my job to press every button, turn every knob and then write out my findings, my preferences, my suggestions for improvement.

Told ya it was a tough job, but someone had to do it!

They’re all so freakin’ sexy–except the 911. Sorry Porsche people, but I’m just not a 911 girl. I wanted to like the car, but I just couldn’t find anything about it that turned me on. Nothing. Well, the cup-holders were pretty bitchin’. They fold up and stow away when not in use. That’s all I liked about the car.

I liked the Gallardo. It had some eccentricities, but I liked it.

I loved the Ferraris. OMG did I love them. Everything about them. They could’ve had more torque, but I’m used to driving my Viper, so I expected the Ferrari to be lacking in that regard. The sound, the paddle shifting, the steering, ohhhh… I’m getting all orgasmic just thinking about those cars!

It’s been months and I still only barely believe I got to drive those cars. If it weren’t for the pictures and all the notes I’d scribbled for the job, I don’t think I’d really believe I was fortunate enough to have done the job.

The Changeling (5)

Monday was great. Tuesday was awesome despite the dead bird. Wednesday was incredible. Thursday and Friday, I didn’t see a whole lot of action.

In fact, on Thursday, I only worked in one scene and Friday we were recalled (Yes, a record for me. This was the first time I’d ever worked 5 days in a row on any show.), but sat in holding for a few hours before they decided to cut the scenes we were supposed to be in.

However, the scene I worked was a sort of inspection scene. I was assigned to one of the rooms in the hallway–with another lady as my roommate. All we did was stand there as the doctor worked his way along the line to Angelina.

Since I was a Code 12 patient rather than a mental patient, I stared down the doctor. I didn’t know how else to keep it interesting for me.

That was the extent of my work in the scene, but if I could download an image or two from my brain, I’d go for ‘Clint Eastwood with a big, white, one-winged cockatoo on his shoulder and Angelina reaching out to make friends with it.’ It was the last day of shooting. Strange things can happen. I heard later that the bird had been rescued after being attacked by a dog…and it was potty trained!

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. (And what’s with me and birds on this show? First the dead one and then Clint’s pet!)

My experience on The Changeling is likely to be the highest point of my background acting career for a very long time.

I waited until I got home to take the following picture of my hair and make-up. Hopefully, I’ll be in the finished product and have a screen capture or two to add!

The Changeling (4)

Monday was spent in holding. Tuesday was utterly amazingly awesome despite the dead bird. Today…

I got to the lot, passed the WGA strikers, (they’d learned what we were working on and started joking with us about having a good crazy day!), enjoyed my hot fresh buttermilk waffle breakfast, got into costume, hair and make-up and was shuttled to the sound stage just fine.

Once again many of us were used in the first scene of the day. I was placed second in line at the nurses station in the hallway. It was time for us to take our pills.

It seemed like I was set there prematurely because I kept being in everyone’s way. But every time I tried to move, I’d get told to go back where I was. It took a little doing, but I started to watch for when the camera guys and such were trying to frame the shot versus when I could be out of the way without being told to get back into place. That wasn’t easy. There was a lot of movement with various crew members doing several jobs and me trying to figure out when it was a good idea to not be standing where the guy carrying the ladder/lighting fixture/stand/etc. would run into me while coming around the corner. It was a hallway for goodness sake. Lots of work and not a lot of room to do it in.

At one point, we were real close to getting started. Angelina arrived and Clint was describing to her what the shot was going to look like. He was animated and right in the middle of the hallway and I wasn’t sure if I should stay where I was to help illustrate the scene or if I should clear out to make room. I ended up sort of cornered against the wall when Clint made a move to go down the hall and then come back. He landed about three inches from me as I tried to sink into the wall so as not to be in the way.

He sorta came back out of the scene and looked at me in kind of surprise. (Y’know like, “Oh hi. I didn’t see you standing there.”) I didn’t know what to do, so I do what I always do in that situation and smiled my biggest watermelon grin. Which he returned!!!!!! That made my day!

Also adding to the oddity, I’m sure, was my hair and make-up. One of the other extras said something about how every time Clint would come onto the set and see all of us the first thing in the day, he’d grin and shake his head. I gotta admit…we were a pretty motley-looking crew. You’ll see when the movie comes out. We’d been done up to look our worst and it was strange for anyone to be in a room with all of us.

The action of the scene was that the lady ahead of me would take her pill. Then I would move up and take mine. Then Angelina would fight and various defiant mayhem would ensue in this amazing tracking shot. We did the whole thing a few times in just one take, but I don’t know if that’ll make it into the finished product or they’ll have to cut a couple times.

When I was told I was to take a pill and then walk down the hall, they assured me that I didn’t have to actually take it. I could just pretend.

Well, when I accidentally swallowed the first one, I figured what the hell, why not keep going.

I ended up swallowing so many pills, I swore my stomach rattled. They tasted like nothing, but kinda looked like breath mints.

From what I could gather, at some point, they did a little close-up/insert of me. I don’t know if it was just me or if it was one of those where they start on me and then pan to Angelina, but I’m pretty sure they did at least one take like that. Maybe that’ll make it into the finished product. I dunno. By now, I was still just glad to be there and having such a great time.

Later on in the scene, while Angelina is fighting an orderly, all of us extras got to come down the hallway, shocked at what we were seeing. They even did a shot just for us! The camera went by all of us as we stared in fright. It was awesome that all of us extras got close-ups that time. I wonder if they’ll use any of them, though. It was just awesome that they even bothered with us. I mean, we’re extras, we usually only get camera time behind the principle or by accident.

Jen always asks how close I get to the celebrities. Well, today was a doosie. 3 inches for Mr. Eastwood and 0 inches for Ms. Jolie. Yeah, I was unintentionally standing in the way and she accidentally bumped me.

I spent the last scene of the day in holding before getting yet another call time while being signed out. Yeah, I was on my way to yet another day of fun and excitement!

The Funky Smell In My Prowler

I’ll admit the car was down for a few months, but it was in the garage. The windows were down, too, but when I started driving it again, yikes! it smelled funky. I can’t even really describe the scent… Maybe like boiled sweat. I’ve never smelled anything like it. Not putrescent, but certainly not a pleasure to inhale–especially in a car with such a small passenger compartment.

But it didn’t keep the car from running, so I drove it anyway–windows down, of course. LA weather’s good for that.

I was fortunate enough to get a week’s worth of work on The Changeling and that car is one of my favorites to drive on studio lots, so on the Monday, I kept the windows down until I got there and all was well, but funky smelling.

On Tuesday, as I was tossing my stuff in the car before heading out, I just by chance happened to look behind the driver’s seat. I found the cause of the funky smell, but didn’t have time to deal with it. I mean, I didn’t know how long it had been there and didn’t want it to either come apart in my hand or drip something icky that I’d need to clean off the upholstery right away. I’d need to take precaution. The only immediate thing I felt I needed to do was take pictures!

So, I drove to the studio that day knowing what was stinking up my car and I wished I’d taken care of it because it was kinda disconcerting for it to be there, me knowing it but not doing anything about it. Until I got home.

Yes, there was a dead bird in my Prowler…and it had probably been there for months! I still every now and then chuckle and utter, “There was a dead bird in my car.” I have no idea how it got there, either. I mean, yeah, the windows were down, but they’re pretty small on that car. And the car was in the garage, too!

I’ve yet to name the poor tweety, but it is now the patron saint of my garage. I’ll mount him on a plaque or something soon, but right now, he’s resting by the door, watching over my cars. Poor little thing. Completely mummified, too.

The Changeling (3)

Yesterday, the hair lady told us not to wash our hair so that it’d look gross for the next day, too. I couldn’t find my shower cap so I had to put a plastic bag over my head when I showered. That was weird, but whatever. The experience of it was kind of fun. When else would I ever have to do it? And for what better reason than a big movie?

When I went out to my Prowler, something odd happened. As I was dropping my backpack in the passenger seat, I happened to see something small and brown–and feathered–behind the driver’s seat. No. Couldn’t be, could it?

Yeah, there was a dead bird behind my seat.

And I didn’t have enough time to deal with it. I had to leave or I was going to be late.

So, I drove to the studio lot knowing the funky smell the car had had for the past few months was a dead bird. Ew. All I could think about the whole time was that there was a dead bird going for yet another ride in the car. It’d probably been in there for a few hundred miles around town at least. Click here for the whole story on the poor birdy…and pictures!

I walked onto the lot and got to base camp just fine. Had my waffle and made the rounds of wardrobe, hair and make-up before getting on a shuttle to the sound stage. Most of us were in the first scene of the day.

When the crew was ready, all of us were led into the breakfast room and lined up so they could pick and choose who sat where. I was selected first–which was bizarre because I’d never been picked first for kickball, so why now? What horror was I in for?–and seated in a seemingly normal spot.

The prop guys were busy putting trays of food and various cups at each setting and another lady was selected to sit in a wheelchair. The day before, she’d been selected to be a lobotomy patient, so today, they’d put a scar on her. She was so sweet, sharing a few more stories about the various featured extra parts she’d gotten that were somewhat similar to this one. I hope I work with her again.

All the rest of us were seated, plus a few were left standing in the food line. Then Angelina came in. She’s so awesome.

Anyhow, the scene was that she gets her food, goes and sits down, then the other principle has a conversation with her, sort of telling her the ropes of being locked up in the place. Some of us really were crazy, the rest of us were locked up because we’d hassled the police one way or another. We weren’t crazy, just sort of jailed.

Angelina smiled at me, admiring my broken nose. Yay! She made my day (even more than it had already been made by just being on the show!)

Then, the assistant director explained to me that ‘my brother had gotten beaten up by cops and I tried to sell the story to the newspapers. The cops hunted me down and locked me up there in the asylum instead of jail.’

I nodded like I understood, but I was thinking, “Holy shit! Does this mean I might be featured?” (”I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. Eastwood…”)
The scene happened, and sure enough, Amy Ryan (I can’t remember her character name for some reason) was telling Angelina (Funny, I don’t remember her character name either!) about how to fit in and that she knew she wasn’t crazy. She then said, “See that woman over there…” then told a little story about how that lady was a cop’s wife who got beat up. “And that woman over there.” She motioned to me!!!!!!! ” The cops beat up her brother–broke both his arms…”

So, during the scene, I was the woman they referred to for that bit. Yay! Whether I will be for the finished product, I don’t know, but on the day, I was the one and that was really freakin’ awesome to me. As if my day could get any better than it already was!

Well, it did…

They had to shoot inserts of us isolated as though from Angelina’s point of view. They shot myself and two other women plus the wheelchair lady. I really hope I make it into the finished product. I really, really do.

The insert close-up shot was pretty simple. I wasn’t supposed to acknowledge the camera per se… just do whatever I’d do while eating breakfast. At one point, the director, (yes, Clint Eastwood!) had me sort of look toward–but not at–the camera.

And that was it. I spent the rest of the day in holding (which was somewhere on Cloud 9 for me…) before unbelievably given a call time for tomorrow while being signed out. Yeah, I was going to come back again for more fun and games! I couldn’t believe it, either!

Of course, as I got in my car to go home, I remembered the dead bird under my seat and thought about the darn thing all the way home. My hubby was gracious enough to do the honor of removing it. Yeah, he reached in and grabbed it. The poor thing was stiff as a board–mummified! It’s now the patron saint of our garage. We put the poor thing near the door to watch over our cars.

The Changeling (2)

So, by some miracle, an extra’s most unlikely dream came true. After working on The Changeling back in October, I was recalled in December! I think I will eternally be in shock that I was actually called back. Usually, production says they’ll call you, but it never happens. I’ve learned not to believe it even when they say, “You’ll be working tomorrow.” until when I’m being signed out at the end of the day and given my call time.

I’d even brazenly scheduled a dentist appointment for today, assuming they’d never call me. But they did and I’d much rather be on a movie with Angelina Jolie and Clint Eastwood than sitting in a dentist chair!

They claimed that we’d be working the whole week. Yeah, sure, whatever…

I arrived at the studio lot and had to cross the WGA picket line. The guys were real nice. They understood we’re extras and make pennies to even their tens of dollars under the old contract.

I was shuttled to base camp where I was treated to a full breakfast bar…including freshly made waffles right out of the iron. The moment it landed on my plate, I knew I’d probably never have it that good on any other set.

After eating, I went to the costume trailer where I was given essentially a smock and a thin robe to put over it, a pair of slippers and various undergarments. It was 1928 and I was to play a Code 12 patient in an insane asylum. Yay!

In the make-up trailer, I had an even more in-depth experience than I did the first time. She broke my nose and put a big slash across it! Then, more blood in splotches on my lips. My eyes were darkened and I was generally looking drugged, tired and beat up. Yay!

In the hair trailer, I had about the same time as the first time. She made my hair look like I hadn’t washed it in months. I looked properly horrible. Yay!

Eventually, I was shuttled to the sound stage. There were tours going by looking at all of us extras in fright. It was great. We smiled and waved whenever we could. Each time I had to use the little girl’s room one stage over, all the various crew guys working on nearby stages gave me pretty strange looks at first. It was fun for me. When else can a girl walk around looking like that and it’s normal?

I spent almost the entire day in holding, reading a book about English weapons and warfare. Then, a PA beckoned me to work in the scene. I kept getting about a foot away from being in frame before the scene ended. Oh well. I missed it. I didn’t get to see either Angelina or Clint that whole day.

But I did get to eat sushi for lunch. And french fries! (They were good, too!)

And when I was being signed out for the day, I was given a call time for the next day!

LA AutoShow Highlights

I went to the LA AutoShow. Honestly, new cars don’t really thrill me all that much, so it’s a pretty quick show for me. I got to relive the exhilaration of the F430s I got to drive over the summer and now that it has been shown, I can mention that I got to drive the Maserati Gran Turismo, too. So, when I saw it at the show, I convinced the gal to let me into the booth so I could show my husband the car I’d thought was so nifty. I think my husband would still rather have an Astin. I can’t say which I’d rather have because I haven’t driven the Astin yet…but oh, how I want to.

Of course, I also stopped by the Lotus booth… I love the Elise. Someday, I will definitely own one. Absolutely. It’s not the fastest car on the planet, but it’s unique, sporty and little: Just like me.

I’m gonna get me one of them thar cute little cars… I love ‘em!

The other highlight of the show for me was the ‘08 Viper. I wanted to see what the new metallic green looked like in person and oh hell yeah, that’s my color for the car.

However, the single most important thing I did at the show was get in the car and ram the seat forward to see if I could easily get the clutch all the way in without sitting on a pillow, without platform shoes, etc.

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See how much distance there is behind the seat? I know it screws up the aesthetics, but darn it all, I’m a little girl, so I’m forced to go to drastic measures to drive a big man’s car. I really don’t care how silly it looks as long as the car go, go, goes!

I’m sure I’ll be getting a green Viper at some point, too. I’ll likely swap my ‘03 for it as soon as I can. It’s about time Dodge put an interesting color on the Viper.

Yes Man

This movie stars Jim Carrey. I was in Fun with Dick and Jane a few years ago…which reminds me…that’s another one I need to write up. I’ll have to take a wild guess about exactly when I was on it, though. I really don’t remember details other than where it filmed, it was fall and that I was booked with my Prowler, but got to drive a BMW production vehicle in a couple of takes because they needed a different car in the background and I’d worked with the coordinator before.

Things were different on Yes Man, though. Much different. I recalled from Fun with Dick and Jane that it had been a very long day, so I assumed it’d be more of the same for this gig, too. Comedies often take awhile because the actors will try different ad libs or different ways of delivering the written lines and see what works best. Scenes evolve rather than being static, cut and dried. All of the Will Farrell gigs I’ve been on were like that. To me, it has never been a hardship, either. I like to watch how everything unfolds and morphs and I find it very interesting. Plus, it’s neat to see inside the head of the comedian in those cases because there’s a general brilliance to be seen. It’s truly amazing.

I’ve heard from various people that Jim Carrey is unfunny when the cameras aren’t rolling. I didn’t find that the case. I saw him as very focused and serious, but not unfunny. When you’re making a movie, you can’t be silly all the time or nothing gets done and lots of production money gets wasted…which also makes no sense. Jim Carrey was great. Even when things weren’t going too well, he got over it and got on with the scene. (More on that later.)

I parked. I was shuttled. I went through wardrobe who almost liked what I was wearing. Almost. They were very, very, very picky on this show. I was a coffee house patron. The look was supposed to be very funky, but drab. Those are some of the toughest gigs to dress for. If I’m wearing funky clothes, they’re loud and well…funky…not drab and boring. I did my best, but was still given a shirt off the wardrobe truck. Oh well. I realize that the principle actor was wearing a dark suit for each of the scenes we were working on so if the extras were too bright, we’d accidentally upstage him.

I think, perhaps, my bone to pick isn’t with the costumers themselves, it’s with the vocabulary used by the casting directors when they’re trying to describe what sort of clothes we should bring. Had I been told to bring drab colors with interesting cuts to the garments or perhaps casual, hip grunge I might have faired a little better. But oh well. I got to wear my stuff for the first change and then add their shirt for the second change.

Then there was a little mix-up as to where we were supposed to go–catering or holding. I ended up going to catering, then holding, then catering, then finally to holding. I was okay with that. My only real hang-up was the general disdain for extras on this show. Between one of the costume assistants really talking down to us, the people on the car call who seemed soooooo much better than regular extras, plus the others who’d worked the show before, and a few general comments made by crew members that I’d overheard, I really dreaded working this day. I got out my book on Medieval history and tried to lose myself in it because I just don’t understand the mindset that extras are trash and should be treated as such. Don’t people realize that if they treat us like humans, we’ll act accordingly and even try to be good?

Anyhow, I sat in holding for the first scene, but was used in the second one. In fact, I did a cross right in front of Jim. On the first take, I thought we were going to collide! Doh! He didn’t get mad, so I figured everything was okay. And no one told me to do it differently, so I just tried to stay a little further out of his way. All was well. I did my little cross over and over for all the different camera angles and such. The day was feeling better. One of the ADs and a couple of the PAs were really cool and I appreciated that.

Lunch was good. I didn’t know I was supposed to be segregated on tables without tablecloths in a separate, walled-off part of the catering tent, so I plunked down at a nearly empty table and a group of PAs sat down with me. I had great conversation with a cutie named Tex.

When lunch ended, we were instructed to change clothes. I put on the shirt I got from wardrobe plus my jacket. All was well. I was placed at a table outside the coffee house and did the scene as I normally would. Two paparazzi guys showed up and were quite disruptive. That sucked pretty hard. I felt bad for Jim.

I then went back to holding for the following scene.

And then plans changed a little and all of us extras had to go back to wardrobe for another change. Okay, whatever. I was given another couple of shirts and off I went. We were instructed to stand outside so that the Costume Designer could inspect us again. Okay, now this is where everything went pretty far south for me.

Throughout the day, I was wearing two necklaces–one a choker, the other regular. I had been instructed to keep the same jewelry on through both changes. I did. Then, for this third, unexpected change, the shirts I was given had a higher neckline, so I had to lose the regular necklace. I left the choker on, assuming it’d keep me in that funky look they were going for. But at no time was I instructed anything in particular as far as jewelry went, so I just used my best judgment.

Okay, at the beginning of the day, there was a lot of degradation of the background actors, then it cleared up for me and I wasn’t annoyed anymore even though there were still a few “fuckin’ extras” comments here and there plus a few ridiculous attitudes. But standing there in front of the Costume Designer’s assistant–not the Designer himself, mind you–I heard the most humiliating thing ever said directly to my face. I realize it may not read rude or mean, but she said, “Take off that necklace because sometimes less is more.” with the attitude like I’m too stupid to dress myself.

A simple, “Lose the necklace.” or even, “We don’t need the necklace for this scene.” would have been totally fine. I wear what the costumers tell me to wear. I don’t second guess unless there’s something really lame about what I’ve been instructed to wear (ie. the gigantic scrubs I wore on Numb3rs). I wanted to tell the bitch that I’d been wearing it all day and the reason we were all here was so that she could make those kinds of changes without degrading us, but I was so flabbergasted at how rude she’d been (without even batting an eyelash, like it was totally acceptable to speak to extras like that) that I just unhooked it and tossed it in my purse. When the Designer arrived, he said we all looked wonderful and that it didn’t really matter much because we weren’t really going to be seen anyway. That pretty much shut her up, but she was still looking at the rest of us and still wanting to make us change something.

Even in the morning, when I walked up to the wardrobe truck, I’d sensed that she was one of those costumers who changed extras just for the sake of changing them. I swear some of them do that. They may not realize it, but some of them do. If there are four costumers checking out us extras, I’ve noticed on some shows that there’s one or two who feel like they’re not doing their job if they don’t change anything about what an extra shows up in while others do a thorough once-over and say we’ll pass or maybe ask if we have something simple like a different shirt or pair of pants rather than a complete overhaul. I understand they’re just doing their job, but when I change from one green outfit into another green outfit, I wonder whether they’re really doing their job or just exerting their control over us stupid little fucking extras. Can you tell I was irritated?

It doesn’t even have to do with the fact that I’m very into my clothes and have a wardrobe the size of their truck all in my size at home. (No kidding! Just ask Jen or Jason!) That’s not even what pissed me off. It’s the attitude. Hell, I could be in the position to hire her someday and I sure as hell won’t…and I’ll tell all my friends not to hire her, either. These people should think before they talk down to extras. They really should. They just don’t know who we are or are going to be someday.

So, for that last scene, I was feeling pretty crappy and didn’t want to verbally vent about it… I got out my iPhone instead. Here’s an excerpt of what I wrote during the whole time (At this point, I was playing coffee house patron with iPhone and using it in the scene.):

I am so pissed off right now I could scream. I handled it with grace, but that was fucking mean. Does she really think all extras are stupid? Does she realize that if she showed us some respect, we might try a little harder? …It’s clearly not us, it’s her. I don’t even care if anyone is reading this over my shoulder. I am that pissed off. I’m even writing this between takes I’m so incensed. I want to cleanse this feeling because the day was resurrected until that moment. And I’m almost at 12 hours of being here… This was a record worst. And she clearly felt no remorse at her words. This was an acceptable thing to say to an extra…to another human being. How mean!!!!!!! Venting on my iPhone sure is nice. Then I don’t have to be outwardly grumpy. I can keep this all to myself. Whew… I’ve been treated pretty badly before, but that really took the cake. Seriously. Totally mean…totally rude.

During the scene and in between I got everything out of my system and started feeling much, much better. Here’s some of what I wrote after I calmed down… (the scene itself was going to hell, however.):

Rolling again. Should work great then. Going again. Quick scene. Having trouble tearing a sheet of paper without it going screwy. Rigging in progress. I love Hollywood. Again. I am trying to make it look real. Wide at the beginning. Split second only. The shot is real quick. I don’t think they realize that I’m really writing. This is fun again. My iPhone saved my day. Might not actually still be in it. All well and good to me. I’m having a good time again. I’m so calmed down now, I want to sleep. I like this, though. Makes me feel better. Got to IM with Jason during a take or two. He just randomly SMSed me during the scene. That was funny. Day’s getting long, but I’m totally okay with that. Sometimes it’s the little scenes that stick. Still going. Not too bad, though. Having a good enough time. Enjoying what I can while I can. Maybe I could use some caffeine. Broke a prop. Had to fix. Back in action. Slow going. Going. Going. Gah. And again. Long day getting longer. Painful for the crew. Painful for the actors. Been on worse, though. West Wing with Rob Lowe was worse because the scene was longer. It’s just the way it happens sometimes. And it happens all the time. I’m totally okay with it. A couple keep having to go in and out. They’re not thrilled. Yay! Got a great one, too.

Each of those sentences represents a take, I’m pretty sure. The trouble was with the action that Jim was trying to do. The props just weren’t agreeing with him and such a simple scene dragged on and on and on and on. But in the end, we had a really great take and then everyone was wrapped.

I can laugh about it now, but that’s the only part of being a background actor that I truly hate. People make assumptions that simply shouldn’t be made. I’ve met plenty of other extras who are producers, have gone on to bigger and better things, who are very important people and do extra work for fun. It makes no sense to treat us like shit. It makes no sense to treat anyone like shit. If it weren’t for the attitudes, this gig would have been absolutely fine. Sure, that last scene was a killer, but during it, there weren’t any anti-extra attitudes, so I was totally fine enduring all the troubles of the uncooperative pieces of paper and cork board. In fact, I can’t wait to see the finished product because the premise sounds great: A guy who used to say no, says yes to everything for a year.

Deja Vu 2003 ~ SoCal Fire and Havoc

As I write this, friends of mine are being evacuated from their homes due to all the wildfires burning throughout Southern California.

In 2003, I was in the same boat. ‘Cept, I was working on a movie called Havoc.

This year, I’m hoping for the best. It seems worse this time, though. I dunno why, it just does. I’m also hearing that more homes are either threatened or have already burned. Maybe that’s why it seems worse.

In 2003, Jen and I were working on Angel In Moonlight. She called me asking when I was going to send her whatever the scene we were working on and I said, “Ummm, Jen…I’m packing up my dolls. There are helicopters over my house at all hours and I’m probably gonna have to evacuate. It’s gonna be a little while before you get the scene back.” It hadn’t hit her until that very moment that my house was threatened.

What’s kinda odd is that it actually still hadn’t hit me yet! I was packing stuff up, but I didn’t actually feel threatened. It didn’t hit until the fireman came into my house, telling me that I really needed to get my stuff and get out. But also, once it hit me, it was so out of my control anyway that I forced myself to shrug it off and cross my fingers that everything would be okay. I just went on with my life–modifying plans as necessary. I couldn’t come up with anything better to do with my evacuation time.

Right now, for me, the scariest thing is that the wind is blowing toward my house. There are two fires in my area. One would have to go through the whole city before it got to my place, so I’m not real worried about that one. The other, well, it’s close to the area that burned in 2003. It’d still take a few days to get all the way over here, though. I’m not hearing helicopters non-stop, so that’s encouraging. I’m worried for friends, not myself.

But, bottom line, now that I’ve been through it once, I’m much better prepared. I know more about what to expect if I have to pack up my stuff (turtles and tortoises included!) and evacuate.

Leeloo’s Wig

One of the main identifying characteristics of Leeloo is her orange hair. I’d assumed that finding an orange wig wouldn’t be that difficult.

It wasn’t…

However, finding one that was a deeper orange than traffic-cone, fluorescent orange proved to be much more difficult. And since the wig had to be reasonably precise, I couldn’t just surf the ‘net for one. But I also didn’t know where to go other than Hollywood Blvd. That was the only place I’d seen more than two wig shops within about five blocks of each other.

However, whenever I’m anywhere in the vicinity of a vintage shop, I can’t resist the magnetic pull. I must go in. I must shop. I rarely walk out empty-handed, but it has happened a few times. On the day I got the wig, I also found this beautiful *cough, cough* peacock jumpsuit.

Oddly enough, about six months later, I found a dress made from the same fabric. I’ll be merging the two garments eventually. Right now, they grace my crap room with the rest of my projects in various states of not done/not started/I dunno what this was for, but it was nifty, so I acquired it because it was cheap.

So, after going to all the shops and sighing because they just didn’t have a short orange wig, I settled on a longer wig–more expensive, of freakin’ course–that I’d swindle my hair dresser into cutting. The styling would happen over the course of two weeks, with lots of hair gel, bobby pins, and T-pins. The wig experience was the easiest piece.

Actually, that’s a lie. The boots were the easiest: I walked into my closet and picked out the pair that looked the most like Cancan shoes and the boots Leeloo wore in the movie. I had about fifteen pairs of black boots to choose from. This was not a difficult decision, either, because I still had to be able to dance in the boots, too. (More on my shoes and boots collection in future posts, I’m sure.)