Lords of Dogtown (1)

It’s a predominantly hippie movie set in the early 70s in California. We were on Venice Beach, luckily it wasn’t too hot. I did bring a ton of sun block, though. Lots of people got burned, but I’ve already learned that lesson!

While working in the first scene, where a scruffy blond hippy guy drives a Cadillac around a corner, I kept trying to figure out if I knew any of the actors who were working. I was hoping I’d recognize someone. That always makes the day more fun. Well, it took four hours, but then I finally heard the scruffy guy say something… The only word I heard was “can’t” and it was said more like “con’t” because of the fellow’s Australian accent.

Yes, Heath Ledger was there! People were walking past him left and right without knowing who he was. Hell, if he hadn’t said anything I might never have figured him out! Well, at least not until a little while later. You see, Heath now joins the very few celebrities who have actually spoken to me. It was such a crazy moment, too. I mean, there I was sitting on the curb, minding my own business and this scruffy hippie guy comes running at me. He hopped up on the curb as he looked at me and said, “Excuse me. Pardon me.”

Yeah, and that was the one and only panty-melting moment of my day on set. His voice is like velvet in person. I watched the rest of that close-up scene and as far as I can tell, he is a kind of naughty partyboy, but never once was he rude to anyone. He was actually very nice and very down-to-earth, even pausing for a moment to chat with one of the street vendors about a painting. But I’ll bet underneath it all, he really knows how to let his hair down, so to speak. 🙂 The energy around him was alive with mystery and mischief as well as determination.