Domino

Yes, my category was ‘recovering nymphomaniac’ and from the moment I’d learned of it, I was determined to make the absolute most of it…even though I had no idea what was expected of me. They told us to wear stuff that was sexy, but in a support-group kind of way–whatever that meant!

I chose jeans, a little cleavage and my big, tall, crotch-high, black suede witch boots. I was a little late to the set because LA traffic bit me in the ass and I ditched the freeway in favor of side streets only to miss the one-way street and have to go around again. Thankfully, no one noticed that I was late…they really only noticed my boots. They noticed them so much I was worried I wouldn’t get to wear them. The crew guys seemed to like them fine enough, though. 😉

After breakfast, all the extras were herded over to the wardrobe trailer where I crossed my fingers that they’d let me wear the boots. They kept giving people boring stuff to wear and I really don’t own a lot of boring stuff. I just hoped that I’d brought something suitable.

It was my lucky day. They made me change to a different shirt, which wasn’t that much different than the one I’d shown up in, but whatever…the boots were on!!!!!!! They didn’t say they liked them, but they didn’t say they hated them. I was so happy, I was ready to do cartwheels in any case. The boots kick ass and I’d always hoped to wear them on a set someday but never had the opportunity.

When we got to the set, the First Assistant Director [1st AD] started placing us in what looked like a small theater of maybe ten or so rows, about ten seats wide. I guessed it wasn’t exactly a support group meeting.

There was a big sign on the wall that read ‘Nymphomaniacs Anonymous’ and there were bad nude paintings everywhere. I grinned in spite of myself. Somehow, I was soooo in the right place. Yes, half of Ashleigh Raine was a recovering nymphomaniac and needed to come up with a good character in her head because after three rounds of musical chairs, I was in the front row!

…And seated next to a guy who usually does props. Apparently, they’d needed a few more extras because not only was I next to a prop guy, I was in front of an electrician and some other guy who had a clipboard and seemed important. I dunno. I was already having fun and the camera hadn’t started rolling. I did find it pretty funny that no one said anything about my boots…they just stared. That was hilarious.

The scene consisted of our leader talking about how sex has gotten out of hand. Too many people are addicted to it and it’s bringing down society. The director, Tony Scott, told us that the scene is very funny on the page, but for us to play it straight.

I’d been playing it straight the whole time all the while making up my little character in my head. Yeah, I told myself that this was only my second meeting and I wasn’t sure I wanted to or even could give up sex especially since I did so much writing and had to do research sometimes. I never did tell anyone my character backstory. Oh well.

After shooting our leader’s monologue a bunch of times, they did a turnaround…the camera was now looking at the audience from our leader’s point of view.

Well…let’s just say that I really played up my little character. There’s one point where our leader says somethng like “And you ladies mustn’t lure your Great Dane with the pleasure of a peanut butter snatch.” Yes, that’s friggin’ hilarious [not to mention a little icky], but that’s where I really let loose as though I’d just done that the day before.

And apparently Tony Scott saw me…and liked me.

Next thing I knew, the Director of Photography had the light meter right in front of my nose and the camera crew was paying special attention to me…and it wasn’t just the boots anymore. The prop guy struck up a conversation with me and of course Ashleigh Raine came into the conversation. It was universally agreed that I was the right person for the job that day. What a hoot! And all I did was look orgasmic!

I hammed it up like I’ve never hammed it before! I swear, I never try to attract attention, but darn it all, being an erotic romance writer while sitting in a nymphomaniac’s anonymous meeting struck me as downright ironically hilarious and I felt the need to really make something of it because when else would I ever be in that kind of situation?!

Now, my fingers are crossed that the scene makes it into the finished product. I almost always land on the cutting room floor, but maybe karma’s with me this time. Maybe I’ll make it onscreen for once…or at least into a deleted scene on the DVD for a change!

Ummm… I saw the movie in the theatre. Good golly, gracious me, I got in that movie. There’s even a close-up where my head was the size of the movie screen. Jason started busting up. I couldn’t hold it in, either. The people around us didn’t figure it out because it was too dark in there, but if ever I’ve needed to get a screen capture from the DVD, it’d be for this movie… You can’t miss me.

Comments are closed.