Be Cool (2)

The following is from an email sent the day after the shoot:

I was on Be Cool again last night… Remember how last time I saw The Rock, he was rather flamboyant? Well, this time, he was sooooooo the other end of the spectrum and literally beating the stuffing out of a dummy with Vince Vaughn.

I didn’t actually get to see them destroying the dummy, I only heard all the grunting, short lines and echoing punches and kicks.

Then, when I was finally allowed around the corner, there was this poor mutilated dummy laying in a huge pile of its stuffing. I mean, with The Rock beating it up plus Vince, yikes! Vince is actually about an inch or so taller than The Rock, too. Big men…I felt real sorry for the dummy!

I also hope Vince doesn’t think I’m stalking him. I’ve worked on his last three movies: Starsky & Hutch, Anchorman, and now Be Cool…

Remembering back to that night shoot, this email left out a bunch of stuff.

The scene was a swing dance bit inside a club in downtown LA. I don’t know if I got any camera time, and sincerely doubt it, but nonetheless it was fun to see all the swing dancers doing their thing and at least acting like they were having a good time.

I was booked with my Mustang fastback which they’d parked in the background of the scene with the dummy. By the way, in the finished product, it’ll look like Vince and The Rock are killing a guy and putting him in the trunk of their car…rather than a dummy.

Anyhow, that was the night that spoiled me for trusting production people with my car. I was instructed to spend the night in holding after the swing dance part while they used the cars in the parking lot. Fine with me, but I got a little bored so I went out to watch the scene and saw the bit with the dummy.

It was cold that night, so I didn’t stay. Next time I went out there, my car had been moved. No big deal…except that they’d put it hanging out of the driveway, front wheels on the sidewalk, window down, keys in the ignition.

Now this car may just be a car to most people, but to me, she’s my baby. I’d been lovingly pouring time, money and lots of blood sweat and tears into this car since 1993…my dream car essentially…and they’d left her hanging out like that for anyone to easily steal if they’d been so inclined. And I would have been downright inconsolable if that had happened. To me, the car is not at all replaceable.

At that point, I locked my door and took the key. Thankfully, the AD was on my side. He totally understood my frustration and truthfully I wasn’t being a bitch, even though I was perfectly justified. Never once did I raise my voice or say anything mean. I wrote out my cell phone number and told them to call me from holding if they needed to move my car because I was certainly not going to leave my keys with them again.

The next time the car was to be moved was when I signed out. And honestly, I am grateful for the experience because I have had to explain to other productions why I am not willing to leave my keys with anyone. And because of that, they’re usually okay as long as I don’t stray too far from my car.

Had it not been for the car incident, the shoot would’ve been great. I mean, maybe four hours walking through a swing dance club and then ten hours bored, noodling around on my pda in holding is not a bad shoot at all.

Plus, seeing Vince and The Rock again…yum yum yum…

Kicking and Screaming

I just got home from a fifteen hour shoot on the set of ‘Kicking and Screaming’…starring Will Farrell. He as well as Vince Vaughn probably think I’m stalking him because I’ve worked on their last couple shows….It’s just rare to have such a long day be such a good day and actually get some decent camera time in the process.

Jen always asks how close I got to whichever star… Well, I was about three inches from Will this time.

And my piece of business…writing. I was writing in my notebook while sitting in a coffee house and Will is standing in a line right next to me.

The man is downright hilarious… a real comedic genius.

It was another one of those scenes where as extras, we’re not allowed to laugh, but as soon as the director hollered “Cut!” we all just busted up to get it out of our system. He’s very professional, very ‘in the moment’ and very funny. Before long, I think I’m gonna end up a Will Farrell fan!

The following is the actual words I wrote in my notebook during the filming of the scene. Boy, did I say what exactly was on my mind…not much!

Making it look like I’m busy… On the set of Kicking and Screaming… Will Farrell’s in this movie. It’s the second of his in a row. So strange. I’m listening to him make a big deal in a coffee shop. He’s playing a caffeine addict. He’s going on and on… It’s actually pretty funny. I’m writing through the break just so I can get onto the next page. Okay. Here we go again. I’m in the shot. I just don’t want to be too obvious. The guy is yelling. This is great. Here he goes again. Not a bad day. Loud. Very loud. But really fun. He’s ranting like crazy. It’s really a blast. But I also really gotta take a whiz…onto my next page. Still going. It’s downright hilarious. I hope they keep this stuff. It’s really a hoot. He’s still going. I’m even required to react to what all’s going on the scene. This is great. Keep going. Wow. Page after page. I’m diggin’ it. I–

After about five to seven takes, they must have gotten what they were looking for because what I wrote in my notebook cut off right there!

And here’s a deleted scene bonus… My 2000 Plymouth Prowler:

Be Cool (1)

Today, I was on the set of ‘Be Cool’. It’s the sequel to ‘Get Shorty’. John Travolta wasn’t there. I’d’ve loved to see him again. He’s a real sweetie. It’s been a few years since I’ve seen him.In fact, of the three actors that were there, I only recognized one name…and recognized him, the man, as well despite the white satin shirt, light blue pants and red cowboy boots…and, my oh my… I really didn’t think I’d be quite so…ummm… impressed.

Yeah, luckily the weather was a little chilly so I didn’t have to blatantly fan myself because holy-moly The Rock is one super-fine man in person! Wow!

I didn’t see him actually acting in the scene because I was hard at work walking around in the background, but my goodness, I nearly ran into the guy on my way to grab a donut and I swear the man stepped right out of a torrid romance novel…well… from what I could tell with his clothes on at least! Tall and handsome and sexy and seemed rather nice–he was signing autographs for passers-by between shots while the make-up and hair crews touched him up.

It was actually kind of a strange day. There’s nothing like being booked with a particular car, going to start it up at 5:15AM and having the battery cable so corroded that there was no way in the world that car was gonna leave my driveway.

I had to call the casting director and apologize profusely. As luck would have it, my service had told me the wrong car to bring in the first place! I was off the hook and on the road. I made it just in time to hurry up and wait. Seeing The Rock and having to consciously remind myself not to drool was like karma making up for the car not starting.

And as I recall, when I’d spoken with the casting director, I told her that I only had one other new car because the rest were classics.

I guess she remembered that because I got booked again on Be Cool the following week with one of my Mustangs.