Hollywoodland

All this time I’d thought I’d posted about Hollywoodland. I worked on it over a year ago, but I just checked the archives and it’s not there.

When I worked on it, it was called ‘Truth, Justice and The American Way’.

The week before the shoot, I went to a costume fitting. The costumers on the show were very picky. Very, very picky. Or at least the designer was. The other girls were pretty cool, nice, lacking the holier-than-thou attitude which gets tiring as an extra. Background actors are truly the bottom of the totem pole and get treated like dirt most of the time. This was no exception so I kept my mouth shut and changed outfits three times even after saying, “I’m extra small.” and variations on that theme because sometimes in order to fit me, I’m given clothes out of the section they consider children’s even though they really are adult. But still, costumers never believe me when I tell them how small I am and I have no idea why.

The Costume Designer finally settled on a green gingham sundress that I absolutely loved, too. The belt she added didn’t seem right, but I guess from far enough away, it’d look okay. The light pink button-up sweater reminded me of my grandma and was super-soft. And I was glad for that little sweater because I get cold very easily. The shoes looked great, but felt awful. I prayed that I wouldn’t have to be on my feet for very long on the day of filming.

The Hair and Make-up lady gave me nail polish and lipstick and a sheet on how to do the rest of my make-up. I was pretty scared because I’m lousy at putting on make-up, but it didn’t sound too difficult. And she was the first Hair Designer who didn’t freak out that my hair is short. The scene was to take place in 1953, I think.

Fast forward to the big day.

I showed up early to the school auditorium that’d serve as holding. There were two categories: children and parents. Guess which category I fell into?

For some reason our costumes either didn’t make it onto the truck or were misplaced. It took a little while to find our outfits, but I got into mine just fine. The shoes…oh, the shoes…ow, the shoes.

Anyway, they were shooting in multiple locations. Of course, my scene was up last. I got my hair done in a great 50s style and my make-up was retouched from the job I’d done. I felt like I looked great to start. But I was feeling pretty wilted after waiting in holding for nine or so hours and finally boarding a bus to the set.

It was a neighborhood scene in which about twenty kids were playing with all sorts of cool toys and the three of us ‘Moms’ were gathered together talking. Then, all of our kids start running toward the houses and we break up and follow. You see, the theme song to Superman came on and all the kiddies had to go inside to watch. It was a very big deal for us.

UPDATE: Yes, that really is me waaaaaaaaaaay in the deep background, almost hidden by the tree and the bicycle. This is probably one of my smallest appearances on screen!

We did several takes. My feet ended up numb, but I felt pretty good about the work I’d done despite the pain. I don’t know if I can be seen, but my little bit was supposed to be during the opening credits of the movie. I haven’t seen it yet, so I don’t know if I’m on the cutting room floor or not.

The best part about the long wait and then the single, relatively simple scene was that once it was done and the sun was going down, I got to leave…and slip on my comfy shoes for the drive home!

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