The New Adventures of Old Christine

My second call with my Viper…

Old Christina is a sit-com starring Jula Louis-Dreyfus–who’s really great, I might add! She’s about my size, too. Not that I didn’t expect it (I never know what to expect) but my curiousity was satisfied. She’s skinny, but otherwise normal and exactly how she looks on TV–gorgeous!

This was my first time through the main Hollywood Way gate at Warner Brothers Studios. Not that the experience was any different there than at any of the other gates, but still. It’s always weird to go through different gates. I’m at the point now where I know the perimeter of the studio, but not the stuff in the middle! It’s strange to get in and then try to use buildings and stages as reference points when approaching from a different directions. In this case, the water tower came in very handy!

The earliest part of the morning was normal. I parked, I latched onto a few other extras as we made our way to stage 5 and sat in the sit-com audience while waiting to be checked in, etc. Nothing odd in any of that.

Wardrobe went well. I did end up changing, but that wasn’t a surprise. If the call warrants it, I always bring my beige suit, but I hate wearing suits so I don’t wear it in hopes they’ll like me in a different outfit.

But nine times out of ten, I end up in the suit.

This time, there was also a small rip in the crotch where the stiching just decided to come undone. I wasn’t flashing undies or anything and truthfully, I wished I hadn’t noticed the little hole because I ended up self-conscious the whole time I was wearing the suit. Oh well. No biggie.

At first they didn’t want to use my Viper. I mean, it wasn’t exactly the kind of car a parent would use to drop off a kid, but whatever. That’s what they’d booked me with. My car spent the first part of the day parked out of frame.

I was awarded a kid–named Anthony (this was his first gig, but he was so professional I’d thought he’d been doing this for awhile!)–and we did a simple cross from the parking lot, under an archway where Julia, etc. were doing the scene, and then up a long walkway between buildings. Not bad at all.

…Except for the pain in my feet!!!!!! This was the first time I’d worn those shoes. I’d worn the suit before, but wanted to wear different–lower heeled–shoes. DUMB IDEA!!!! Yeah, the shoes looked nicer, but good golly I was about to pass out when lunch time arrived. In fact, I changed my shoes to go to lunch at the commisary.

Lunch was actually great. I like the WB commisary. I dunno exactly why, but I do. Last time–when I was there for ER–I only went to Starbucks rather than get a real lunch. This time, as I talked to other extras, they suggested going to the Taco Bell across the street from the studio, but then myself and another lady mentioned that we can go to Taco Bell any time. We need a studio pass to get into the commissary.

Yum.

After lunch, my Viper was finally parked, but I had to remind them that I’d brought it. Whatever. I get paid for it whether or not they use it.

I did a bunch more of the same kind of crosses except mostly without my fake son. Kids can’t work as late as adults, so he left and I got to do the crosses by myself.

I wish more oddities happened on this one, but oh well. Of all the extra gigs I’ve done, this was definitely one of them!

Maybe I’m just getting a little to used to all of this. I’d call myself bored, except that I am truly not bored in the least. Every gig is an adventure in its own way. Every gig gets me into a place I wouldn’t normally have ever gone. Gig after gig helps me be the best background actor I can be.

…Not that background acting is difficult, but there are some certain things a person needs to excel at in order not to lose her mind. My hardest is usually the relinquishing of all assumption of intelligence. Because background acting has zero entry requirements, us extras aren’t always the sharpest tools in the shed and are therefore stereotyped like everything else in Hollywood. So, when an extra shows up on a set, she is automatically assumed to lack intelligence until she shows otherwise.

A good background actor should also excel at taking direction and not taking things personally when yelled at for executing those instructions. I’ve developed a pretty thick skin for this kind of thing… Plus the whole ‘am I allowed to stand here/eat this/do this?’ thing. I use it to my advantage. I do/eat/stand wherever and if I don’t get yelled at for it, I assume it’s acceptable. After all, I’m just a dumb extra who doesn’t know any better.

And it’s really nice to have zero responsibility sometimes. It’s also fun to collect a paycheck for going on adventures not to mention seeing myself and my cars in movies and TV. Not that I get any credit, but it’s still fun.

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