500 Days of Summer

I got the call for this gig while I was on the set of I Love You, Man. I knew I wasn’t going to be leaving any time soon–the rumor was 3AM!–so when I discovered I had to be in downtown LA at 7:30AM, I was not thrilled one bit.

Luckily, the wardrobe for both shoots was about the same, so all I had to do was add a couple shirts, jackets and a pair of pants to my gig bag before I went to sleep around 2AM. We surprisingly got out a little after 1AM. I was still going to be sleep-deprived, but I wasn’t the only one and the extra hours of sleep definitely helped.

I got to the set on time and went through the usual rigmarole. The weather was awfully gloomy and threatening to rain some more. I was trying to keep as much of a sunny disposition as I could. It wasn’t their fault I’d been stuck on a late shoot the night before.

The wardrobe lady loved my stuff and that truly made my day. She excitedly tugged at a couple of my shirts and a jacket and said, "Is this vintage?!" I replied, "Yeah. It used to be a dress, but I opened it up to be a jacket." She tugged on it, "Great! Wear that over whatever else you want in order to keep warm."

I didn’t have much to go under it, so I just grabbed an extra shirt and put it on over the one I was wearing. I’d come prepared with one of my heaviest coats. I was good to go…despite my awful habit of wanting to lay down and close my eyes. The blacktop was looking so comfortable…

Anyway, we hopped in a van to go to the set and the incredibly awesomely nice PA started placing us. (I really wish more PAs could be like him. He was so nice and without a bad attitude toward us extras. I really appreciated it after the hell I had on Raising The Bar.) I followed him as he set up crosses for people to do and since I’d been holding a book said, "If you want, I can just sit somewhere in frame and read. If that’d work."

He liked the idea and sat me on a bench behind where the action was to take place. I tell ya, my mental capacity at this point probably couldn’t have handled a cross, so sitting on that bench, reading was perfect. I even made sure I wasn’t static when the cameras were rolling. I was just so thankful to be there, doing that on a day when I was really off my game like that.

I even sat there between takes, between setups, the entire time. I didn’t bother going to holding. I mean, whether I read on the park bench or read in holding didn’t really matter. Plus, I had my feet up on the bench and since there was only a chair in holding, it wasn’t as comfy.

Okay, now, here’s the surreal part of this gig. Imagine all the sleep-deprivation creating a good fog in my brain… I’m reading a book because that was about the extent of the actions I could perform on such low energy… And the scene…well…the two lead actors were shouting "Penis!" at the top of their lungs.

Y’know, when two young kids are just having cute fun together kissing and goofing off in between. Well, that’s what the scene happened to be. I don’t know why they were repeatedly yelling "Penis!", but it does make me want to see the movie in order to find out. Plus, there’s a pretty good chance I’ll make it into the finished product due to my static location.

So, there you have it… The day I spent in a haze, on a park bench, reading a book while the scene revolved around two people yelling "Penis! PENIS! PeeeeeeNIS! PEEnis! PEEENIIIS!!!"

I love being an extra. The truth is almost always waaaaaaaay stranger than fiction.

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