The Starter Wife
I hadn’t driven my Viper in awhile and the thought crossed my mind to bring it to this gig because it was upscale and there were other people booked with cars, but I just wasn’t sure so I brought my Prowler.
I was to be playing an upscale drug addict in a high-dollar rehab center for the last three days.
Arriving at the location, I was instructed to park on a street. I think that’s a first for all the gigs I’ve been on. It was private property, but it was just strange that all the cars were on the street. Anyway, I got there okay and went to wardrobe after grabbing some breakfast. They mostly liked what I had on. After being instructed to change my tank top, they gave me another cute one to put over it plus some jewelry…and a different pair of shoes.
They were killer.
Yeah, four-inch heeled sandals. OUCH!
I could barely walk in them to begin with because they offered zero support to my ankles and the bottoms were thin enough that I could feel the pavement. When I got to the set, we were on cobblestones and tile. It was absolutely no fun.
However, before we got there, they did ask if anyone else had upscale cars and I offered up my Prowler. The hero car was also silver so there went that idea. Oh well. They still gave me some extra money for it and that was nice.
I gotta laugh at my shoe misfortune a little, though. During the exterior scene, I was asked to do a cross that involved going up the stairs around a fountain and no matter how hard I tried, I could not keep the pain from showing. I tried walking slowly, smoothly, fast, whatever and in the end they decided they didn’t want anyone walking in the background. I’m fairly certain that was mostly my fault because other people asked if my feet were hurting in those shoes.
Yeah, they were killer.
So killer, I put on my loafers immediately just to not be wearing those things.
I spent much of the rest of the day in holding except for one scene where the ADs came running out to holding hollering while pointing, “You…and you! Come now. We need you!” I hauled ass to the set while asking if I should bring the other shoes. They said I looked fine and put me in the scene at the last second. Fun stuff.
Then they needed another stand-in and I got chosen because I resembled the actor a little. I was about the right height and hair color, so I got upgraded. That was nice. I did a couple scenes including a dream sequence one where I was standing in for a sort of Lady In Waiting. While I stood in, one of the set dressers put a ribbon with flowers around me. Yay! I love souvenirs!
The next day was spent mostly by the pool. Even though they really, really, really wanted me in a bathing suit, I declined. My worry was that if they put me in a bathing suit, I’d be expected to go in the pool.
I get cold easily…and I can’t swim unless the boat I was in sank. Yeah, I’m really that pathetic.
So, with more down time I managed to read When Ghosts Speak by Mary Ann Winkowski. Great read. I highly recommend.
Oh! I almost forgot… As I was coming away from the wardrobe trailer toward the changing room Debra Messing was getting into an SUV to go up to the set. I guess she recognized me from standing in the day before and smiled at me. I was already returning her beaming grin by the time I realized that I wasn’t just smiling at some random pretty lady, I was grinning at a principal actor. Eye contact is usually a no-no, but we weren’t on set, so it must’ve been okay.
And I just gotta say, that woman is gorgeous! She smiled at me in the morning and the rest of my day was equally as wonderful.
The following day started with a bang of a different sort. I was used in the first scene along with the rest of the addicts. I don’t want to give away the scene, but lately I’ve been on a few shows where I’m required to do some real acting in the scenes. Remember all my listening on Raising The Bar? Well, that skill came in handy once more on this show… Yay!
And then I spent the rest of the day in holding, having some great conversations in between reading On The Loose by Tara Janzen. I dunno why, but I just couldn’t concentrate on reading. Oh well. Another good day over all.