Las Vegas

I don’t recall exactly which day this shoot happened on, but it was some time around this day. My memory is a bit hazy and for some reason, I can’t even find so much as an email written about it back then. Let’s see how much I can remember… 

It was a very long day–at least 12 hours. Most of it was spent sitting at a blackjack table. That was kind of fun. Toward the end of the day, I did a few crosses, but I don’t recall what the scenes were about. I was reasonably far from the action, so I suppose that’s why I didn’t make it in frame.

My favorite memory of my time on Las Vegas happened just as all of us extras got placed in the casino setting. One of the prop men came by with decks of cards. They were brand new and he was peeling the plastic off and telling us that this was the first time the Montecito cards were being used. Previously, they were just generic cards without the casino name on them. It was also apparently the first time they’d used that full casino set here in Los Angeles.

The prop man gave me one of the Jokers to use as a bookmark and I really wish I could remember what book I was reading that day because I bet that card is still in it!

Cold Case (1)

The following is an excerpt from an email I’d sent shortly after this shoot:

I was in a new TV show called Cold Case… playing a prostitute of all things! …in 1973 no less!

Yeah, I even got a close-up. Who knows if it’ll end up on the cutting room floor or not. I don’t care. I had fun.

I’d worked with one of the guys on that show a few times before. Let me just describe him… 30 years old, 6′2″, about 180lb., nice body from working, not weightlifting, brown hair, brown eyes. Looks menacing, but is really a sweetheart. Has a sexy sounding accent… Yeah… It wasn’t a bad day just getting to hang out with him. The kind of guy a happily married woman like myself could flirt with and he’s not gonna take it the wrong way.

Gems of my day: the first scene I was in (the one that got me the close-up) I’m leaning against a grafitti wall sort of showing my wares (I was oddly fully clothed in a t-shirt and hip-huggers even though I was supposed to be a low income hooker.) and the guy walks up to me, looks me up and down, nods his head and I put my arm around him and walk down the street.

Yeah, in the group of extras I was hanging with, that became the running joke… I was so easy he didn’t even have to say a word. And he was so suave, he didn’t have to say a word to pick me up.

Back and forth all day. It was a hoot!

The other gem was his advice on relationships to one of the other girls working with us. He told her that she had to kiss frogs in order to find her prince. He also said he didn’t know why guys are such bastards to women. Women are actually easier to please than men. Of course, myself and the other girl expressed that we thought he was nuts. He said, “Think about it… All you have to do is tell her how you feel, please her in bed, whatever she likes, and every now and then get her a little something, no matter how small, cheap or insignificant. If you give her something like that, she’ll know you were thinking about her. They’re real easy to keep happy like that.”

As I recall, that was a fifteen hour shoot over night where us car people really got along with each other. Shoots like that are hard to come by. I don’t recall pulling out my notebook very much because the conversations were all really great.

According to Jen, I was completely cut out of this episode. I never even got seen in the background let alone the close-up they did. Oh well. I still wouldn’t trade it for the world. It was the first time I got to play a prostitute!

Anchorman

I was on Anchorman about 9 times from July to September 2003. I didn’t write much about each shoot at the time.

The highlights were seeing Vince Vaughn (who’s really tall and quite handsome in person) rehearsing his lines while standing about two feet from my car. And spending an entire day scribbling down notes for Driven To Distraction and Forsaken Talisman while lounging in the back seat of my car because I wasn’t being used much. And driving my husband’s ‘66 Corvette convertible while wearing a pink herringbone polyester pantsuit, but that shot didn’t make it into either the movie or the deleted scenes.

The following is an excerpt from an email I’d sent after seeing the movie:

I saw Anchorman today… Hmmm… Out of a 9 week shooting schedule where I was there 9 days, of the exterior shots, only two of them were actually in the movie. I’m thinking that during reshoots, they must have reshot half the movie or something. Even if I wasn’t in frame, I should’ve recognized more of the shots. Very strange…

My car did get a blip of camera time, though…the exact same blip that’s in the theatrical trailer. My Mustang fastback is parked out front of the bar and takes up about three quarters of the screen. Kinda odd that that was the only time one of my cars was in frame. Hopefully, the DVD will have tons of deleted scenes. There’s still hope for me yet!

Hell, I might as well talk about that one night where my car was parked outside the bar. I know that last year, I didn’t write it up. That was a little bit before I started doing these Tales.

Anyhow, that night was a Second Unit gig during one of the last weeks of filming. Absolute cake of an evening. I showed up at the location, waited around until it started to get dark. Then, we got in our cars and drove essentially about a half block, parked and walked away.

At some point after the cars were parked, we broke for lunch…errr…dinner, but they still call it lunch even when it’s about 8 or 9PM.

After that, I hung out in the real bar that they were using the exterior of. It was open for business that night. Mind you, the neighborhood wasn’t the nicest and I felt kinda odd when a guy started picking up on me despite my wedding ring. So, I looked for the biggest crew guy I could find. His name was Tim, he was 6′5″ or so and somewhere around 300 pounds. A cool transpo guy. He’d driven me back to the set after lunch. On all the big shows, they’ve got shuttle vans even when the set is less than a block from base camp.

Anyhow, I just ran right up to him, gave him a big hug and told him I might’ve left something in his van. He looked at me kinda odd and I whispered, “Weird guy picking up on me” and started leading Tim out the door. He followed with a chuckle.

Once we were outside, he inquired about the weirdo like he’d get down to business if I needed him to, but I told him it wasn’t really necessary. The weirdo was a little tipsy and it was easier to just stay out of the bar for the rest of the night. So, I hung out with Tim and one of the costumers. Oddly enough, the costumer guy was smoking a Cuban cigar. I’d thought it somewhat of a waste to be smoking a Cuban on set, but he replied something like, “Nothing is ever a waste. Life is to be enjoyed.”

So, there I sat on the curb, talking philosophy, cars (and stuff I don’t even remember anymore) at about 1AM, between Tim and a big tattooed costumer who was smoking a Cuban cigar while my pride and joy ‘68 Mustang fastback was getting her big break in the movies.

Life’s weird that way. And that’s just the way I like it!

Bonus shots:

This was the night that us background people were sort of filling out the scene. The cars coming toward the camera were all stunt and precision drivers. The cars going away…well, I was in that group.

I found this next one in the deleted scenes. This day was a little odd in that I was at the very tail end of the costume line somehow and all of the other car background people had not only gone through the line, but had gotten in their cars and gone to the set. I’d gotten completely left behind, so I followed one of the shuttle vans.

When I arrived, they’d started rolling, so I got in line to drive through because I wasn’t brazen enough to go and just park my car in the scene. I knew I’d get yelled at for driving through because my car was so loud, but I also felt I was there to do a job, so I went on through. The AD, predictably, told me to park it…

And for this last one, there’s a little more story involved. My ‘68 Mustang Fastback is actually hidden even though it’s in frame. The arrow is pointing to me! I can’t believe I made it into the movie after all!

However… This shoot ended at about 2AM and I was pretty tired. I stayed in my disco dress and left my hair and make-up done. Why should I care what I looked like? I was only going home…

So, I was driving a little fast on the wide-open freeway that night. So, I weaved through a little bit of traffic, too. I just wanted to get home and go to bed…But of course, at that time of morning, the cops see speed and weaving and assume the driver’s drunk.

I got pulled over, but not ticketed…I showed him my paperwork from the set to verify that I was just heading home from a period movie and he really didn’t looked fazed at all. Even though my disco dress is loud, I’d imagine he’d pulled over much crazier people in weirder outfits. All turned out well and I crept home nice and slowly.

Starsky & Hutch (2)

This was definitely a life-altering experience for me. I was earning my first two SAG vouchers, on my way to getting into the union and got waaaaaaaaay more than just that. I had zero expectations going into it and just let it unfold. It’s still one of my favorite shoots ever.

Two weekend days in downtown LA that I will never forget.

The following are excerpts from an email written shortly after the shoot:

I spent my weekend on the set of the feature film Starsky & Hutch.

Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson are playing Starsky & Hutch in the movie. I’m thinking it’s gonna be rather campy. But the original S&H do make an appearance.

I saw them very briefly this weekend. They were in one of the stunt scenes we shot. I got to watch as the lead stunt driver jumped the Torino through a driveway into the street so that it landed going backward. Then, he drove in reverse gear toward the poice station and then whipped the car around 180 degrees into a parking space. Oh yeah… It was a thrill just to watch. I was about three cars away from the action… The captain of the driving team was riding in the car in front of me so he could see everything. My, oh my… what a weekend!

Let me break it all down a little more…

I showed up at base camp and got my first SAG voucher. I was absolutely on cloud 9 at this point.

The person checking me in gave me a map of the set and told me where to park. I was already in costume because wardrobe chose an outfit from my own personal collection, so I hopped in my car and drove to where the map told me to.

I was about three cars back in the line-up and gradually the rest of the background cars rolled up eventually. I was just excited to be there. I didn’t really care about much else. I was on a show that I’d loved as a kid and was two vouchers closer to getting into SAG. Life couldn’t get much better at that point.

Oh, but it did…

During the first take, the cars in front of me took off and then I was waved through frame only to discover afterward that I’d been grouped with the precision drivers!!!!

Talk about a little dream come true for me!

Because I’m a good driver, that first take set the stage for the rest of the shoot. The precision driving coach took a liking to me and used me all day the first day.

And then on the second day, I figured I’d never get used again because my car was seen so much. But when the driving coach asked me where my car was, I told him production didn’t want to see me anymore and he talked to the 1st AD about it.

WOW!

From that point on, they considered me a precision driver! I had the time of my life! He let me drive a bunch of different cars on the driving team.

I just happened to be in the right place at the right time and know how to pay attention and drive a car such that I hit the same mark every time and I got to be on the precision driving team. Yeah, the captain of the team has been stunt driving since Mission Impossible, the TV show!

By the time that second day was through, I’d driven about five different cars. It was so amazing. I’d found a new dream…to be a stunt driver or at least a precision driver. So far, that’s my absolute favorite. I already love cars.

Also, during that fantastic second day, Jen and I got to talking on my cell phone. We were in edits on Lover’s Talisman and were discussing the book as a whole.

This was the day we decided to rewrite the end of the book.

Actually, one of the weirdest things about our decision to rearrange the end of Lover’s Talisman was that I was the one who actually noticed it was lame somehow. Usually, I’m not quite that astute and Jen points out where we suck the hardest and we fix it.

I just remember sitting with the driving team on Starsky & Hutch, calling Jen on my cell phone to check in as I usually do and of course, we got to talking about Lover’s Talisman and how we were both rereading it for the millionth time.

We sort of reminisced about writing it and I was trying to figure out how to exactly say what was on my mind… That while even on the millionth read through, Lover’s Talisman wasn’t half bad, but there was one scene…(one of Jen’s personal faves from the getgo)…that I was just tired of reading.

It was wonderfully great the first time, but after the millionth, I really paid no attention to it. And it’s a friggin’ sex scene! So, I just kinda quickly glossed over that in hopes of not pissing her off and we went on to talk about other stuff.

Then, the next time I talk to her, she has this brilliant idea to rework the end of the book mainly because the cave scene really didn’t advance the plot in the ways it should.

Boy, did I wipe the sweat from my brow. Sure I had no idea why I didn’t like the millionth read through of the cave scene, but that’s why Jen and I work so well together.

Life altering. I tell ya, this shoot had everything. Tons and tons of adventure plus writing stuff. I got to do great research for Driven To Distraction as well as get on my way to getting into SAG.

One of my all time favorite shoots bar none. I wish they were all as awesome as this one.

Ripley’s

The following is an excerpt from an email I’d sent to Jen the day after this shoot:

There were five events last night. Clearing a pool table, forward flip slam dunks, breaking boards on your forehead, hot dog eating and my personal favorite (where a new hero might come from) laying in a bathtub with the most rattlesnakes.

I was right up in the front row so one of the snake wranglers occasionally tossed me a one-liner or two. The line I remember most was, “It’s just controlled fear.”

There were two hundred rattlers on stage. And that particular wrangler even got almost bitten on his pinky finger. He’s been bit so many times that regular antidote doesn’t work on him, they’d have to do surgery.

Anyhow, the snake wranglers were from Texas so a couple were even wearing cowboy hats. The testosterone level was so deep I was worried I’d need waders. Them rattlers were pissed off and striking at each other.

That was the only event of the night where a new world record was set. One of the snake guys sat in the bathtub with 81 rattlers. Yeah, you just gotta be really still. The girl doing it had a helluva time because two rattlers started to have a fight and everyone was worried that they were gonna strike at each other, miss and end up hitting her. Also, after they got one of those pissed off rattlers out of her tub, the other one slithered deep between her legs and it took at least a half hour to figure out how to get the darn thing out of there without it striking at anyone.

Anyhow, the guy with 81 rattlers in his tub, his wrangler was the one who talked to me in between. He had to put the snakes in one by one. By the time he got to 65, he was sweating bullets because most of the snakes on the pile they were pulling from were pretty pissed off by that point. I mean, I couldn’t see the look on the guy in the tub’s face, but his wrangler was lookin’ pretty nervous as they got up through the 70s. The guy in the tub is one of those crazy guys who’ll kiss cobras.

The tension in the place was extreme because by the time there were so many rattlers in the tub, they were all getting pissed off and the number one rule of snake handling was do not make any sharp movements. I mean, the tubs were plexiglass and we could see that there were about twenty snakes just snuggling under the guy’s back. It was actually more difficult to get the snakes out of the tub than it was to put them in there.

At 81, they stopped and started taking them all out. It was so intense. That was when I decided that our hero will either be a snake wrangler or perhaps a former one.

Of all the events, the snakes really did it for me. I mean, how crazy is that? One move and the thing could strike you. These rattlers were striking sometimes multiple times. They were not messin’ around. It was great.

So, after talking with Jen, we decided to create a hero very similar to any of the guys I saw on this shoot. I’m not telling which Hollywood Heat book he’ll meet his lady, but I am serious when I say that I do background acting for the stories.

That whole night shoot was incredible. While in the audience, I stood next to an incredibly handsome fellow named Jay. Yeah, he does stunts sometimes… Just like the hero in Driven to Distraction.

Once and awhile, a gig comes along that really moves me, really affects me. This was certainly one of those gigs that offered up stories and characters smashed into an experience that knocked my socks off. And I got to keep a snake skin, too. I keep it in my office for inspiration.

And as a little side note to all of this: During my “lunch” break around midnight, I got a call from Starsky & Hutch essentially begging me to help them out and work the following weekend. Of course, I was excited, but they went one step further and offered me SAG vouchers. I was in heaven. At the time, to get into SAG, three vouchers were required and they’d just guaranteed me two. I was on my way to achieving further dreams.

13 Going on 30

After watching this on DVD, I remembered that I’d been in it. Of course, the shot I was in got cut, but there was enough for me to remember that day.

This was before I wrote out all my experiences and posted them to Ashleigh Raine’s Fake Reality yahoo group.

Anyway, here’s what I can remember of one of my shortest and nicest days on a set:

It was a night shoot in downtown LA, but not the kind of night shoot that’s supposed to last all night…just the kind where the crew is doing a sort of split day where they’ve got stuff to shoot during the day and stuff to shoot once the sun goes down. We were told ahead of time that there’d be no food because we were coming in at the end of the day.

But when we got there, they offered us boxed lunches. That was so nice of them. It really was.

Then, us extras were herded over to wardrobe. I was supposed to be a nondescript pedestrian, but there was also a ‘hip and trendy’ category and I think the costumers got confused because they chose my hip look over my ND look. Fine with me…I’d rather wear the fun stuff any day!

From there, we were shuffled through hair and make-up all the while being told there was only one quick shot to get with us. Yeah, right. That’s what they all say. “One quick shot” usually means fourteen hours doing the same exact thing every take.

At some point, we were herded out onto the street for positioning so that when the camera crew got there, we’d be ready to go. That was pretty cool. I’d never been on a set where they’d done that before. I was assigned two friends and we walked away from the camera up the sidewalk. No big deal. We all went back inside and waited for the crew to finish their company move.

Once again, they all said, “One quick shot and you’re all outta here.” Yeah, right…uh-huh…sure.

I recall doodling in my little notebook and talking to Jen on my cell phone. I can’t remember what about, though. I just remember having to hang up on her when it was time to go outside and do the uh…”one quick shot”. She’s used to me having to hang up on her by now!

Anyway, once outside, the rather cheerful camera crew was ready to go, Mark Ruffalo [an absolute su-weetheart] got to his starting position, and we did three takes, complete with a little bit of banter and jokes in between.

The director was happy. We went inside kind of in a line…

…And found ourselves being signed out.

What was going on?

We all looked at each other, scratching our heads, completely dumbfounded.

I was on set for a total of about 4 hours, got paid for the full 8, and wasn’t lied to. Pleasantly strange…

And by the way, the movie’s great! I absolutely loved it and hope I get to work on more like it.

Starsky & Hutch (1)

I was on this film four or five times and unfortunately didn’t write much about each experience.

The first shoot was in April of 2003. My car broke down on set, but it wasn’t a big deal. My battery was tired. The cars were only parked anyway. To get home, one of the transpo guys gave me a jump. No big deal. I got a new battery the next day.

The second and third shoots kind of blur together for me. Two different locations, but same kind of stuff in both places: driving. Lots and lots of driving around and around and around. Not bad, though. I wish I could remember more. I never did see what the scene was about.

But I did get camera time. During the cafe scene, my dark teal ‘68 Mustang fastback is clearly seen going from right to left through one of the windows. I’d brought my best friend, Eddie to drive my aqua ‘68 Mustang convertible. He had fun and I had a blast watching him!

Eddie and I also worked another gig in downtown LA. I recall it being 2nd Unit (ie. inserts or small shots usually without the principal actors). I tried to drive through frame, but they said my car was too pretty. Eddie got to drive through a few times…and a couple girls hopped in the car, too. He had a great time on that shoot for sure! In fact, he keeps asking me if there are any other shows that want two of my cars at the same time. I’m already looking forward to bringing him along if I ever get on another show like that. I keep hoping…And I’m sure he does, too!

Spiderman II

I did a lot of writing while on this shoot. I had a small notebook and was frantically scribbling for most of both nights. Reading through the notebook, I’d hoped to post some of what I’d written, but really there wasn’t anything interesting in it! I was half asleep and hardly coherent. Plus, much of it was notes about Twyla and Craze in Forsaken Talisman and if you want to know what the notes were about, just read the book. You’ll know when you get to the end.

This shoot happened over the course of two nights on the Universal Studios backlot on their New York street.

Until watching the DVD, I had no idea I was in the movie at all! The following screen capture surprised me because there are only extras in the frame, I was one of them and I didn’t even notice in the theater!

The following is an excerpt from an email that I’d written shortly after the shoot:

I have breathed the second hand smoke of Sam Raimi (whom I am also taller than).

I have come within 3 inches of Tobey Maguire.

And at another point when I was simply resetting back to my number one position, our eyes met. I swear I wasn’t really trying. And he grinned and whispered “Hi” almost like he recognized me or something. To my knowledge, he didn’t acknowledge anyone else like that last night.

And for the record, non-union extras can get thrown off the set for making eye contact with the principal actors. I know that sounds mean, but it’s because the actors are there to do a job, not socialize and something as small as eye-contact could blow their concentration so it’s better to just not look.

I had three different boyfriends and we all made up little ideas about what we were doing. Yeah, walking into the hotel facade with a tall blonde man in a suit who happened to have a few romantic stories of his own…priceless. We made up a little story that we were co-workers having a torrid affair. It was a blast!

I’ve seen the movie and think I saw my arm. I’ll have to pause it when I get the DVD. My best work was definitely cut out. Sam Raimi likes to ask extras about their character, but that wasn’t why I’d already worked mine out. I was BORED and it was way after midnight.

There was one bit I did where I came out of a door, while putting on my trenchcoat and yacking on my cell phone as I walked up the street. I was right next to Tobey. In my head, I was talking to Jen on the phone about Forsaken Talisman and she wanted to meet me immediately at a coffee house up the street so we could talk and write notes in person because the scene she was working on wasn’t quite coming together. But Mr. Raimi never asked. I suppose that’s because I was believable and not looking stupid and in the way.

And ironically, while writing Forsaken Talisman, there were a couple of scenes that gave us that kind of trouble. But rather than meeting, we just talked on the phone and pulled each other’s hair out.

Carnivale (3)

This episode was called “The Day That Was The Day”. It’s the season one finale.

I was essentially in the same spot in the same church as the previous time I was on the show. Kinda strange, but I was glad to be there. I really loved working on Carnivale. There was just a special magic in the air whenever I was on it. I mean, this show had me covered in the most dirt, the ugliest clothes, but there was just something about all that…like without all that, it wouldn’t have been so much fun or so magical.

I know I can’t really be made out clearly and you just have to take my word that I was there, but I really wanted to include this episode in the Tales section for a few reasons. First off, for the guy playing my ‘husband’, this was his very first gig. I haven’t seen him since then, but I do wonder how he’s doing. The fellow seated by himself a few rows in front of me, I think I went on three or four gigs where he was booked, too. We spent an entire night talking on the set of Ripley’s and he essentially inspired aspects of Jay in Driven to Distraction.

And finally, I wanted to illustrate the perfect example of where most of my work ends up… Scroll down to the second picture…

Yep, that’s me just barely off screen. Happens all the time!!!!

They Are Among Us

The following is an excerpt from an email I’d sent the day after this shoot:

I’m certain this experience will make it into an Ashleigh Raine book. In fact, Jen would kill me if we didn’t put it in. Before I continue, let me just remind you that this really did happen… No matter how absurd or weird, this is a true story. I jotted down some of the dialogue while I was on the set in fact. And after calling Jen during my lunch break, she couldn’t stop chuckling for an hour.

Okay, with that said, here goes. I’ll spare the boring details like trying to figure out where the hell I was supposed to park and then who the hell I was supposed to check in with. There were only three extras. Usually, there’s at least fifteen and everything’s clearly marked.

“Background, we need you to stand by near the set.” That was my cue. In my blue jeans, green turtle neck, tweed jacket and sensible shoes, I stepped over to the 1971 RV on the soundstage and waited with the other two extras while the lighting guys did some finishing touches and the director talked to his First Assistant about the rehearsal they were about to do. The lead female–her name is DeeDee–was being touched up by make-up. The next sound is “Rehearsal’s up…And…Action!” And DeeDee starts her first line as she steps into the RV.

Mind you, us extras still haven’t been told anything about what this movie is about or what kind of characters we are playing. We’re just standing by, ready to go…wherever going might take us.

“Follow her. Follow her!” The First AD says to me and I obediently follow DeeDee into the RV. We walk slowly to the back where there’s this guy laying down on the floor screaming at us like we’re gonna attack him or something. The guy is in great shape in his fifties or so with stunningly gorgeous blue eyes. His line when we were halfway in was something like, “Get away from me, you buttfuckers!” And he’s really afraid of us. Like we’re gonna eat him or something.

The director shouts, “Cut!” and we all pile out of the RV as the guy on the floor starts laughing. Once off the RV, us extras are looking at each other and saying, “I dunno what we’re doing. Do you know what we’re doing?” Just as we’re standing there scratching our heads, the director goes on the RV to give some notes and the First AD walks over to us.

“Okay. You guys are aliens. You eat collagen. Dr. Norbert on the floor in there is covered in gooey collagen and you’re going to eat him. So look hungry and walk slow and real creepy, okay?”

So us extras look at each other questioningly, but we all realize that yes, we did hear that right. We are aliens and we’re about to eat the guy in the back of the RV.

Then the First AD gets everyone back to where they started from and from there it’s the usual–Director says, “Rolling!” then “Action!” And DeeDee says her line and we all follow her in…

And then as I’m walking toward the terrified, collagen covered Dr. Norbert, I realize that’s he’s Corbin Bernsen. Yes, the very same Corbin Bernsen who was on LA Law and in all those movies, etc. Yeah, him. And I got paid to walk toward him like I was gonna eat him.

Needless to say, it was a very interesting night. I was sad when it was time to go home. I think I’m gonna have to rent the movie when it comes out. It’s called “They Are Among Us”. I mean, after all he’s done, what the hell was Corbin Bernsen doing being eaten by aliens?!

Oh, and as a funny little aside. (I get these from time to time.) On that first rehearsal, when we ran in there without knowing exactly what we were doing, I vaguely heard someone say something like, “…And now they eat him.” And laughingly, Corbin exclaimed, “Start with my penis!”

Here’s a bonus shot from the other scene I was in. As I walked toward the door just before the first rehearsal, I heard some guy sort of ranting to himself. Upon arrival, I discovered it was Mr. Bernsen and he was just practicing his lines…