Henry Poole Is Here

I left way early. It was Friday, so I’d assumed there’d be a lot of traffic, but since my call time was 2PM, that was the sweet spot when there’s almost zero traffic from my place all the way to downtown LA. Whoops! Oh well. I drove as slow as I could and still ended up 45 minutes early. But not so early that nothing was set up when I got there. That happens sometimes. But not this time.

After finding the Little Girls’ room on the honey wagon, I settled in to the holding area, ie. catering in this case, and tried to enjoy the stinky, urine smell that seems to be everywhere in downtown LA. Thankfully, there was a nice breeze. Once me and the few other extras moved away from the brick wall on one side, the air was a little easier to breathe.

Because I don’t work too often, I don’t generally see people I know, but this time was different. A buddy of mine, Aaron, was working, so I knew I’d be talking to him the entire length of the gig. Not bad. He’s a hoot and a hottie…

I was supposed to be a ‘young professional pedestrian’. So, I was wearing some business clothes, but of course, they weren’t quite business enough. Then, it was part of the look of the scene that they wanted only dark gray suits, but all I had were beige and a dark green one that they really didn’t want to put me in, but there was nothing else on the truck that was small enough to fit me (a growing and very annoying problem because nobody makes business clothes for kids, so consequently I can’t buy new business stuff, I have to either get custom clothes or wear ones that are a few years old from thrift stores.), so I did end up in my dark green suit, but they gave me some different shoes to wear. No big deal.

As I went back to holding, that’s when I saw him…Luke Wilson. OMG, I’d never really thought he was hot before, but good golly gracious me, I’ve changed my mind about him! I didn’t freak out or anything. He was in the black SUV, ready to go to the set. And he’s hot.

I continued to holding and was asked what car I had and if the production could use it in the next scene. Sure. But they wanted me to move it from the lot I’d parked in, to the one they were going to shoot in. Not really a big deal…

Except that the half-block walk to get my car while wearing wardrobe’s shoes–no socks–had created a tiny, bleeding blister on my left heel. Oh joy. As soon as I got in my car, I put my socks and shoes back on, moved the car and then carried wardrobe’s shoes back to base camp and asked for the Medic so I could get a few band-aids. I didn’t care that I’d gotten a blister, it was more that I hadn’t worked yet and it was going to be my job to do a bunch of walking–which meant, yeah, OUUUUWWWWCH for the blister I already had plus a strong likelihood for new ones.

During the car-moving expedition, the rest of the extras were herded up and taken to the set to work. Me and the other car guy (coincidentally Aaron) were held back in case they needed us separately. So, of course, we got caught up on the last year or so since we’d seen each other. That was nice.

Then, it was time to break for lunch. Yum. I was starving for some reason, so lunch tasted that much better. For the record, ‘lunch’ just means the meal break we get in the middle of the day’s shooting. I’ve eaten ‘lunch’ at midnight before… This time, lunch was some time a little past 4.

After lunch, one of the costumers had been sitting behind Aaron and I. She leaned over and asked if we possibly had any other non-business clothes with us because the look of the scene had changed from business to downscale or at least casual. Well, I had nothing non-business, but I did have a look that was more toward casual. So, back to my car I went, changed and then headed to the wardrobe trailer to give back the shoes–Yay!–and they gave me a really cute sweater to cover my too-businessy shirt. Great.

We were all changed and then herded one building over on the sidewalk, to the set. Luke Wilson was going to be looking in the window of a pawn shop. I never did learn what he was looking at, but whatever the moment was, he was very, very, very sad. Just looking at him, I felt his pain. It was awesome.

Background pinball was the game of the evening. Start in a line at one side and wait for the PA to cue you to walk across to the other side. Get back in line and wait to be cued to go back through. Sometimes, with a partner, but I always ended up by myself. Whenever that happens, I walk through slowly once and then come back fast or vice-versa to change it up. Yeah, I’m still wearing the same clothes, but hopefully the finish product won’t look like I’m aimlessly going back and forth if both of my crosses end up in it.

Well, roundabout the third take or so, Luke walked right in my path. It was either run into him or cross between him and the camera. I had to make an executive decision. I chose to cross between him and the camera. I didn’t get yelled at for it, but we were all instructed not to do that on the next take. I don’t think I was the only one who made the same choice.

He did it again and I missed him by about a quarter inch. I really enjoyed being that close to him. Can you tell my opinion of him changed? I dunno… I’ve just got this thing for Luke Wilson now! He’s freakin’ hot now! I wanted to jump him!

Anyway, the next few takes, our paths didn’t cross quite the same so I missed that closeness. Eventually, we were told that if he comes close to us, go ahead and run into him, but keep going. Unfortunately, I didn’t hear that until it was too late. Darnit. What I wouldn’t’ve given to be able to run into him!!!!!

But the good news is that when this movie comes out, there’s a teeny, tiny chance one of my crosses might be in it. Or maybe an elbow or a knee or something. Anything, please. I soooo want Luke Wilson now!

They decided not to use my car after all and then decided not to use me, either, the rest of the shoot, so I was wrapped. Short day for me, but certainly a great one. The crew on this show was great, too. Especially the PA handling us extras. She told us the whole plot of the script plus the scenes we’d be shooting and where they fell into the story. And wasn’t afraid to theorize with us about how long we might be there.

I gotta say that this is one of those areas that scores major points with us extras. We like to know about the show, why we’re there, what we’re doing and approximately how long we’ll be there, even in terms of ‘you’re only here for these scenes, not these other ones’. We honestly don’t need to know, ‘you’ll get out of here around midnight.’ We understand how shooting goes. If we’re in the martini shot, then we know we’ll be on that set at least 12 hours and we’ll count through the other set-ups until that martini shot without lament.

Or at least I don’t lament. I block out about fourteen hours from call time as ‘unavailable’. If I get out early, I call myself ‘off the grid’ and either stop for a cup of tea, take the long way home, whatever I feel like doing with the extra time I unexpectedly have on my hands. It’s like a mini-vacation because I’m not expected to be anywhere. Although, half the time, I do just go straight home…

That’s what I did after this show, too. I got out around 8PM or so and just drove home. I did, however, take the 101 instead of the 5 just so I could drive through Hollywood. I hadn’t done that in awhile and it felt pretty good. I smiled all the way home.

And BTW–Luke Wilson is freakin’ hot!!!! I don’t even know what it is about him. He just shot up my hotness-meter somehow. I wasn’t expecting to come away from this shoot having an all-out thing for him, either. Strange, but nice… I love it when that happens.

Hello I’m Stan Talmadge

The title of this feature film changed a few times during the booking-through-shooting process. I believe the word “Stan” was the only word that did not change, but I didn’t want to title this entry that simply. It would’ve felt weird, I guess. I dunno.

What I do know is that Los Alamitos is a long way from where I live. Even without traffic (thank goodness for an 11:30AM call time!!!), it took almost an hour and a half to get to the location. I always give myself about 2 hours to get where I’m going unless I know I’ll be an hour and forty-five early. In those instances, I give myself a full hour just in case. Sometimes, the simplest shoots turn out to be an adventure just finding the set.

Needless to say, I got there a little early so I sat in my ’68 Mustang fastback (the car they’d booked for the show) and read further into _Theatre Lighting in the Age of Gas_. Limelight and caron-arc fascinate me.

After getting a little lost in the motel complex, I found the catering area and had myself some breakfast while awaiting the usual doling out of vouchers followed by the inevitable escort to wardrobe. It was a small call. Only seven extras, most of us with old cars. The scene we were to work on took place in 1979.

And I wish I’d known it was supposed to be 1979 before I got there. The recorded information just said, “Bring 70s clothes. Do the best you can.” Well, when they say that, they don’t assume that I’ve got essentially the contents of a wardrobe trailer in my closets and can usually pinpoint the exact year back to 1968 or so. Most of the “70s” shoots I’ve been on want the ’70-’75 look, not the late ’70s look. Ugh. I had all sorts of great stuff I could’ve brought, but figured they wouldn’t use it.

Oh well. The costumer was okay with my light blue T-shirt and wraparound denim skirt. It wasn’t the best outfit, but it certainly wasn’t the worst.

It took awhile to get through hair and then make-up because the principal actors were also in the trailer, but I eventually emerged with a wacky hairdo and pink lips. All was well except that it was a little cold due to the sea breeze. The ocean was essentially across the street.

I worked the very top of the day. Me and another guy walked through frame maybe six or seven times. Just enough to make my feet tired of standing in my heels. (A favorite pair of mine, no less, that I usually have trouble matching to outfits because they are multi-colored in red, yellowish, blue and green while most of my ’70s clothes are brown and beige. They probably didn’t really match the outfit of the day, but since I was wearing a denim skirt and they were cute shoes, all was well.)

Okay, now we get into the rest of my day…

I read my book while sitting in holding. Occasionally, they had me pull my car into frame and park it, but out of the five times they had me do that, I had to pull it back out four times. They did finally use it in the last setup, though. I was beginning to wonder.

Regular day. Not much action. Not too bad overall except I was a little cold.

Entourage (2)

Been a little while since last I got to go out with my Viper.

I was on Entourage for my second time. We assembled at base camp and then headed up to the location. It was some sort of religious house (a sign read “A quiet place for priests to pray” or something like that.) that was doubling for the exterior of a school.

This is the second time my Viper has been booked as a parent’s car. What parent picks up their elementary school kid in a Viper? Not many. Not many. It was very weird for me to be there amid all the 4-doors and SUVs. But whatever. At least they didn’t completely turn up their noses at me.

They were even going to have me drive through frame, but, like duh, how about not the Viper. Finally! I mean, I knew I would end up parking the car and walking through frame. It’s always a matter of time. I never go to these assuming I’ll be driving.

I was given two fake kids. We did a couple variations on our crosses and then my day was done. I think I worked a total of about 4 hours. Not too shabby.

And I don’t even really have anything about the show to report. I couldn’t hear any interesting dialogue and the scene was so short, there probably wasn’t much going on other than all the kids getting to school.

Bones

Night shoot. Well, kinda. More like a get-there-before-dark-and-leave-when-it’s-still-dark. Usually night shoots last until the sun comes up.

Anyhow, I was a ‘fight club patron with car’. I gladly brought my Viper.

After misjudging traffic by more than an hour (I’m still shocked that the Sepulveda pass was not utterly jammed at 4:30 on a Friday afternoon), I parked my car and sat in it for about a half hour before heading to base camp. This was one of those rare occasions when they say there’ll be a shuttle from parking to base camp, but there isn’t. And then it didn’t matter because base camp was about a block away. I’ve walked further to catch shuttles.

Okay, now, as an extra there are a few events right at the beginning of the shoot which can make or break the experience. This show, made it. Oh hell yeah.

I was walking with another guy who’d been early. When we got into base camp, there was a friendly-looking guy making what to the street racer world is the spinning finger circle denoting that there’s a cop nearby, but in Hollywood, that’s the signal that the camera’s rolling, so be quiet and stay still until the moment passes (can be as long as maybe ten minutes, but is usually somewhere just under a minute). Then, the fellow showed us to where holding was–and sounded welcoming. Weird. Extras are usually treated like a necessary evil.

From that first moment, myself and the guy I’d walked in with agreed that this was going to be a pretty good night. We hadn’t been to the set yet, but if one person was that cool toward extras, there’d likely be lots more.

Our call time coincided with the end of the lunch break, but the extras got to go through the chow line, too. Awesome, awesome, awesome. If I’d’ve known, I wouldn’t’ve eaten before I came. (See, I’m really not used to being treated so well.)

I survived wadrobe by having to change into what I thought was one of the least likely things I’d brought: my violet/black vinyl snakeskin pants, burgundy tank top and black burn-through velvet blouse. That meant that while my shoulders would freeze, my legs would bake. Believe me, that was a billion times better than a spaghetti strap minidress. Night calls get cold no matter what time of year it is.

Anyway, I spent the down time reading a book about the Hundred Years War while in holding.

Funny thing, though, I got to see something I’d never seen before… While in holding, we could see through windows out into the warehouse where there was an SUV parked between two screens. What looked like a suburban neighborhood scrolled by, projected on both sides as though the SUV was in motion.

Not that I didn’t know about the technique, I’d just never seen it done. Being that close to it was kinda disorienting, but I wouldn’t trade the experience for the world. Weird, but nifty. I love Hollywood.

Anyway, when the time came, I went out to bring my Viper around and was directed to park it near the entrance. I’m still amazed that I got it shoe-horned into the tiny spot they wanted it. Thankfully, they never treated me like ‘a girl’. Sometimes, when I’m in any of my cars, I get treated like I can’t drive before I’ve even proven myself. It’s just like when I get asked if my ’68 Mustang Fastback is my boyfriend’s or husband’s car. Grrrr… Anyway, the guys on this show seemed to accept me for me and that was awesome.

The 2nd AD was very thorough with us extras. Admittedly, he did have a lot of time to place us, but it was really nice of him to walk us through our crosses and make sure we knew what he wanted to see out of us. That was nice. Consequently, we didn’t get yelled at, we got directed during the shooting.

The scene was about three minutes and all of us extras just had long crosses through the parking lot into the warehouse. Simple stuff, but stretched out over a long time.

Both the big stars were there. I know my best friend was jealous that I’d get to see David Boreanaz again. (I was on Angel a few years ago.) He’s so friggin’ hot.

And I almost ran him over after I was instructed to move my car. There just wasn’t a whole lot of clearance between one of the trucks and the corner of the building. It wasn’t a near-miss or anything. He and the other actor he was walking with yielded and I waved my thanks. I was a little terrified, but whatever. I had to get my car parked and run back to set.

But the parking structure was closed. And there was nothing but red curbs near base camp.

I finally got the last spot after moving a traffic cone that I nearly didn’t see and almost ran over. By the time I hoofed it back to base camp, the 2nd AD was wrapping various people. I was gladly one of them. WooHoo! I got to go home after a short day–well, night.

Great gig. I wish more were like this one.

Brothers and Sisters

Good golly it has been ages since my last gig.

Okay, Brothers and Sisters. It’s a new TV show with a huge ensemble cast. There were familiar faces plus a few I recognized: Sally Field, Calista Flockhart and Balthazar Getty.

And I must say everyone was looking wonderful–despite the shot being a funeral.

This was my first trip to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery and I wish I’d had more time to explore. I suppose I’ll have to go back in order to pay my respects to William Desmond Taylor, Rudolph Valentino, Florence Lawrence and others. I did, however see Mel Blanc’s grave. That was the street I was instructed to park my Viper on when I arrived.

My trip through wardrobe wasn’t surprising. I always try to wear something that might spark interest in diversity, so it was no surprise when I had to change. Every show loves my plain black pants. (Thanks Mom for buying those for me in, like, 1990)(They’re good pants, and I wore them so infrequently that they’re still black!)(And now that every costumer under the sun loves them, I dry clean them to keep them black!) The costumer gave me a black shirt with beige flowers. She sounded apologetic when she gave it to me, but I really didn’t care. It wasn’t ugly. It was considerably more conservative than I usually wore, but it wasn’t a bad shirt.

My biggest objection to anything was simply that I didn’t want to be wearing black on a 90+ degree day outside in the sun, but as this was a funeral, there was no chance of wearing anything other than black.

Once through wardrobe, I was instructed to stay with my car. No biggie. I pulled out my blanket and layed it on the grass over some nice people’s graves and sat down to read a book–A Horrible History of England by Terry Deary. It wasn’t for another hour or so that I pulled out my folding chair. And then, of course, it was time to go to the set.

All the cars got turned around and in line to go about a block down the cemetery road to provide a backdrop for the memorial. It was going to be a day of leaving the car parked while I worked. Cool… ‘Cause ‘drive-forward, back-up’ in my Viper can get super expensive.

When everyone was being placed, I did my best to get in the shade. At that, I succeeded, however, during the first shot, I was literally behind one of those standing bouquets of flowers. I’ve learned never to take offense and to just let the day go on as it will.

Wise choice. As it turned out hours later, there was even one shot where they gave me my very own mark on the grass. Oddly enough, in order to frame the shot properly, I was standing in front of the line of cast members. Weird, very weird. But nifty in the same manner.

There were several shots of the memorial itself and several more shots of everyone breaking up and going to our cars. And I think I really had the toughest job of all. See, once the flowers were gone, I had a straight shot of Balthazar Getty. So there I stood, for hours on end, forced to look at such a beautiful man. Oh, the hardship! (OMG I wanted to call Jen just to tell her how hot he was in person. Very intense in his acting, yet easy with a smile and a joke between takes. I have one word to describe him: Yummy!)

Anyway, somehow, I ended up working in every dispersal shot except one. Depending on the footage they edit together, you might be able to see me walking away in both directions!

I mentioned it, but no one seemed to care. And because of that, I assumed the shots weren’t very wide and if I’m seen at all, I’m only a blur. Fine by me. I get paid whether I’m on camera or not. It’ll just be funny if can pick myself out of both directions.

I wish I had more action and adventure on this one–seeing as how it’s my first one back from that bizarre, extended hiatus I unintentionally took. Oh well… I still have yet to cash in my ticket to stunt driving school (And I gotta do that this year!) Hopefully, I’ll get a few more exciting gigs soon.

Courting Alex

I wasn’t on the list at the guard shack and I didn’t quite know what to make of that. But I’d driven my Prowler, so I at least looked somewhat important and the guard got his supervisor to okay me. That was really nice. It totally felt like good luck had smiled upon me because it’s next to impossible to get on studio lots without a pass these days.

I parked and went to the stage, glad that I’d have some time to read more of Heaven Tree–which I’d started a few weeks ago on West Wing and was still in my bag. I read another ten pages or so before the AD started checking us in.

I wasn’t on the check-in list, either.

Okay, now I was starting to doubt my sanity. I’d been booked as ‘street atmosphere and art gallery patron’. And that’s what they needed. I couldn’t’ve coincidentally pulled those two categories out of my imagination. Yes, I was on the right stage for the right show.

But I wasn’t on the list and there wasn’t a voucher for me.

That was a big problem. No voucher, no paycheck. Big problem. But the AD told me to hang out while he got it figured out. The best part of that expedition was that a lot of people learned my name. On sets, it’s rare for ADs to know and remember the names of background actors, so I figured I was either in for trouble or a great day.

As it turned out, I wasn’t on the list, there was no voucher, but I had indeed been booked on the show. Whatever. Once we were all sure I was in the right place, I was given a voucher from someone who hadn’t shown up. By this point, I was somewhat late getting to wardrobe.

I’d thought I was in for hell with wardrobe, but they actually fell in love with my clothes. That soooooo rarely happens, but it has been happening more lately and I don’t know what I’m doing now that I wasn’t doing earlier. Whatever. They gave me a different sweater and gushed about my art gallery stuff. (Funny how the shirt they’d liked for the art gallery was a shirt I picked up literally the other day at a thrift store because I knew it’d be perfect for extra work…guess I was right.)

The production needed some upscale cars so I volunteered my Prowler. Remember, I was late, though, so I had to practically run to get my car and then get out of the structure, off the lot, back in through the main gate and over to New York street.

Apparently, no one in New York has a Prowler.

I was apologetically told to go put my car back in the structure and walk back to the set.

Thus, I was even later. By the time I got to the set, the AD had already set just about everyone. He looked at me, considered the scene, scratched his head, then gave me a cross to do when the scene was about half over.

Great! I was in business. There was nothing left to do but wait.

During that time, Jenna Elfman came onto the set. She is sooooooo tall and gorgeous. I’m so jealous… Anyway, as I was standing there in lalaland, I hear that unmistakable voice–one I’d only previously heard through television speakers–say, “Lisa.”

My heart did a weird flippy-floppy thing. Why the hell was Jenna Elfman saying my name? How did she know my name? Lots of people who didn’t need to know my name had learned my name today, but why was Jenna saying my name? I thought I was going to die, but I looked up with raised eyebrows, ready to do whatever she needed.

She obviously wasn’t talking to me and I was glad for it. She did look surprised when I looked up so attentively, but the real Lisa approached and life went on as I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Coincidence had already been weird that morning, this was weird enough on its own.

We started rehearsing the scene. I waited halfway through and went to do my cross, but Jenna and Hugh (I never learned his last name and I’m sorry for it.) were side-by-side on the sidewalk and skinny little me couldn’t even fit through so I just crossed behind. It seemed to work, but it ‘felt’ wrong, so I went up to an AD and explained.

I knew I was in weird territory, but I carefully phrased my concern, “Could you please let Jenna and Hugh know that there’ll be extras making crosses against them? There’s not enough room on the sidewalk without cutting between them and the camera.”

On the next rehearsal, I was able to get through. It was awkward, but Jenna and I didn’t do any funky dance steps and I didn’t get yelled at afterward, so I assumed all was well.

We shot the scene several times and then it was time to go in for coverage. I waited and read more of Heaven Tree while they got the stuff before my cross.

Okay, now this was a unintentionally big moment…

While shooting coverage of where my cross happens, there was a false start. They were still rolling. Hugh and Jenna were resetting. I was down the block and my cross was at the top of the take, so I literally ran back to my spot.

…Thus endearing myself to all the ADs. One in particular (the 1st AD, I’m guessing) promptly thanked me from the bottom of his heart.

But I’d just been doing my job. I felt weird being thanked for doing my job. Whatever. That was cool. I was the golden extra during the rest of the takes involving me–there weren’t many–and then I read more of Heaven Tree. (This is why I always carry a decently big purse–great for hiding paperbacks, my palm pilot and a notebook.)

Once the exterior was finished (We were on New York street where Seinfeld used to shoot. Once upon a time, I actually parked my car on that street while it was still dressed for Seinfeld. It has been fun to see it morph since then.), we were allowed a one-hour walkaway lunch as usual when shooting on the lot. I got a grilled cheese sandwich at the commissary. Yum.

Next up was the art gallery, so I changed into my fun outfit. Earthy green and beige, but lots of drama in the styling.

I was assigned a date and then told where to stand. The scene was going to be shot in three or four separate parts. We were right in front in the middle. That was cool.

During the second part, we were given a cross to the opposite side…where we were given certain marks to make sure we were in frame.

During the next part, we were given another cross all the way to the other side past where we were in the first section and then instructed to make our way back around and follow two of the principles to take their place looking at a painting when they left. We landed in the front again.

At some point my date noticed. I had been oblivious because my feet were killing me for having been standing on them all day.

I really took in his observation and realized that it was probably because I was the golden extra. The AD knew he could count on me to cross in the right place at the right time so he used the hell out of me, making me drag my date along. Which worked great.

I explained it in a nutshell while we waited do do another take, “This morning. False start. They were resetting. I ran.” My date chuckled knowingly, then rolled his eyes, “This really is your fault, then. We could be in deep background, with our backs to the camera, but no, you had to go and do a good job. Great. Just great.” We quietly shared the laugh.

Our crosses got rearranged a little as far as timing…And then there was the one where we were supposed to go when Josh Randall sat down…

…but he didn’t sit down.

I was terrified, but quickly faked it and walked through with my back to the camera while pantomime-talking to my date.

It ‘felt’ good and we didn’t get yelled at afterward, so we did it the same way every time. That was fun. The scene was great.

And then we were released. Great experience. The crew was wonderful. They still had another scene to do with Dabney Coleman. Long day for them. I was only there for eleven hours. I wish I could have more gigs like this one. I really do.

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.

American Dreams

I’m gonna combine three shoots into one this time. I was on American Dreams as a driver in Jason’s ’66 Corvette. Even though I knew I wouldn’t be seen walking around in frame, I still did my best to wear something that was period-correct for 1966.

Anyhow, I’ll do sort of highlights of each of the days… For the most part, the days were pretty run-of-the-mill except for these oddities.

The first day included 3 locations all around Sunset-Gower studios. And well, the Corvette’s pretty darn loud, so I don’t usually drive through frame much. I tell the PA’s and such, but they still don’t listen for some reason. I end up in the driving line to go through frame and then around the block. Usually, I only go through once before they pull me out. This time, I made it through 3 times before they told me to go park somewhere around the block.

I wait there for a few hours, watching all the other car people do their circles. But then, I realize that the cars haven’t circled in awhile and the ones that staged in front of me haven’t come around. Okay… That’s pretty strange… So I walk up and peer around the corner… Everyone was gone! They’d done a company move and forgot about me! Luckily, I recognized one guy who could tell me where to go so I hollered out to him, asking if he could help me. First he looked at me like I was insane, but then we both realized how funny the situation was.

He told me where to go for the next location and I lined up in that drive-through line, knowing full well I wouldn’t last more than one or two crosses through frame. Sure enough, after my second cross, the PA told me to go up to the parking structure and wait for the next shot.

I waited there with a bunch of other parked cars for a couple hours, wondering when either everyone else was supposed to show up or lunch break would be called. Well…lunch was called, but I’d missed it because I followed instructions. If I’d known I could’ve left the lot for lunch…well, dinner…it was about 4PM…first, I’d’ve done that. Anyhow, I had to settle for a couple bagels from craft service. But darn it all, without those, I swear I would’ve passed out.

The rest of the night went off just fine.

The next time I was on the show, I parked on the lot and they told me tonight’s scene was a rain scene. Ummm…the Corvette’s a convertible and the top doesn’t go up anymore. Thankfully, they put me in the back, away from the sprinklers that simulated the rain.

The only other oddity that night was that when I was heading out, one of the transpo guys asked what happened to my license plate. My license plate? Hmmm…I walked around the back of the car to discover that the plate was completely gone. I talked to the prop guys who’d put on a fake Pennsylvania plate and they said there was no plate on the car to begin with. I shrugged, then remembered a certain odd clanging noise when I was on the freeway, heading to the set. Yup, within the next few days I was at the DMV, buying Jason a new plate for his car. Ah well. Life’s an adventure.

The third time I was on the show was a two-day call in Pasadena.

I drove through the frame twice. On the second time, one of the Assistant Directors came running out of the building, waving her arms, yelling at the top of her lungs, “Shut that thing off!!! Shut off the Corvette!!!! NOW!!!!!!” I did as I was told and then just shook my head. It wasn’t the first time I was on the show, why the hell didn’t they remember that my car’s too loud to drive through the frame? I always asked before I started driving, too. Hell, the sound man probably wanted to throttle me by this point. Poor guy. I parked the car and hung out with a few of the other car people.

One guy in particular saw that there were antique stores near the set. Both of our cars were parked and likely wouldn’t be going anywhere for awhile, so we ran through one of the antique malls. Let me just say that it was so good, I brought Jason back there the following week. Yeah, I know I wasn’t supposed to leave the set, but darn-it-all, we knew we weren’t going to be needed for the twenty minutes we took to run through the shop.

Later on when both our cars were parked again, we headed down an alley that led behind a Maserati dealership. Both of us being car folk, naturally, we had to walk in and look. Well, the salesman was shuffling cars around and there, aimed out the back door, top down, engine running, was a metallic-midnight-blue Ferrari convertible. Let me just say that I have never been so tempted to steal a car in all my life. The back gate was wide open, too! Good-ness gracious me… What a sinful temptation.

Nothing else the rest of that day or the next was of any interest. Just more of the same sitting around, then moving my car from one side of the street to the other…all the while dreaming about jumping in that Ferrari and driving somewhere–anywhere in it!!!!!

Entourage (1)

I was on a new HBO show called ‘Entourage’. It’s literally that…a show that dramatizes what goes on in the entourage of a music recording artist. It’s got an ensemble cast, most of whom were there the day that I was. We shot at a club on the Sunset Strip called Shelter, but we parked near Sunset and Vine. Kind of a long shuttle ride, but I’ve certainly had longer.Anyhow, I’d gotten the booking late the night before and had to scramble to get everything together. Club wear. Very trendy. And Jason was also nice enough to hose off the Prowler because that car’s what actually got me on this call.

When I got to holding, about three long blocks away from Shelter, I was so glad to just drop all my bags, but then they almost immediately herded us to wardrobe where I nearly ended up in a very tight and very short purple dress, but the costumer loved my red with black, sorta alligator print pants, so all I needed was a shirt.

When the other costumer pulled out one of those metal mesh shiny shirts, I grimaced because I have one of those at home, but didn’t figure they’d let me wear it. Oh well. I surrendered my voucher and made a mental note that if I ever got on Entourage again that my sequin skin tight camouflage outfit, my metal mesh shirt, my little gold metallic dress, and my green fake alligator pants should be in my bag.

Thankfully I’d brought both a heavy jacket and a blanket. Holding was outside and since I didn’t have a back on that little shirt, I was freezing. I think the worst part about that shirt was that it only had two ties in the back holding it on. Nothing around my neck. The whole time, I truly felt like one good jiggle and the darn thing would fall down around my waist.

On set, I’d brought my blanket, which the costumers hated, fearing that I’d forget to take it off when the camera was rolling. I never forgot and they never stopped watching me, but once I’d warmed up, the blanket was really more so that I could pull up my darn shirt in a little bit of privacy before it fell off!!!!

My back might’ve made it on camera, but that’s about it. I recognized Debi Mazar, Kevin Dillon and Jeremy Piven.

During lunch, I figured I’d conduct an experiment in the bathroom… Testing my shirt. I bounced once and the darn thing really was around my waist!!!!!!! Words cannot describe how tight I tied that thing after I made that discovery. It was more like my little boobs were all that held the shirt up…yikes!!!!

Back on set, during a bit of down time, I overheard part of a conversation that sort of stuck with me. Now, I don’t know if I heard the whole thing and I also don’t know how much of it was a joke, but I do know that Jeremy Piven was talking to one of the production guys and the subject had to do with what was going on after the shoot.

I could’ve sworn I heard Jeremy Piven say that he was going to sleep at the club because the turnaround was so quick! My ears perked up and heard the production guy say something like, “You do what you have to do.” But I was being herded out of of the building and couldn’t hear any more of the conversation. Darn. That could’ve been something funny to put in a Hollywood Heat book somewhere.

Outside the club, I was sitting in the parking lot on one of those cement parking log thingies, while looking up at the giant billboard with Leonardo DiCaprio as The Aviator. When I looked below it, I happened to see Tobey Maguire walking up through the driveway of the club. I blinked. I did a double take. Yeah. What the hell was Tobey doing there? I dunno, but he walked up to a group of production people and started talking.

Weird, but okay… There was still much shooting to be done. I went back into the club shortly after Tobey went in. He hung out with Debi and the rest of the people watching the monitors for awhile. I ended up having to leave again because they supposedly wanted to use my car soon and I had to hop in a shuttle and go get it.

Once in my car, I put one of my spare shirts on over the silver mesh shirt…I was still very worried about it falling off! When I got to the set, everyone was very tired and very grumpy. Apparently all the cars booked for that night plus the hero Maserati were all silver. Doh! But my car was the silliest, so they placed me behind the Maserati out in the street and told me to wait a little bit.

I did.

Then all of the Production Assistants started running around and hollering something I couldn’t hear because I was too far away. Every PA was scattering and a bunch of extras were being herded. Then one of the PAs ran over to me hollering, “Are you Lisa?”

“Yeah…Why?” I asked curiously, somewhat terrified by the worry in the girl’s voice.

She waved her arms and talked into her radio. I had no clue what she said until she turned to me and told me to lock up my car and go get into one of the shuttles.

“Uh…Okay…” I did as I was told, still terrified, but okay with it.

The shuttle driver didn’t know what was going on either, but we somehow figured out that I was getting close to 16 hours on the set which means my rate goes through the roof for what’s called Golden Time. And that they were probably trying to hurry me over to checking out so they wouldn’t have to pay me that kind of money. I was totally okay with that and understood the whole concept.

But I still had wardrobe’s metal mesh shirt.

I was so thankful for the extra shirt I’d put on. The shuttle driver did think me a tad odd when I untied my metal shirt and dropped it out underneath. But hey, a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. And when I turned it in to wardrobe, she looked at me strangely, wondering what I was doing turning in my shirt all by myself. I told her I had no idea either.

Next, I tried to to go to holding where the signout line was, but once again, there was a PA hollering for me!!! I got thrown into yet another shuttle, still having no clue what was going on, why they wanted me back on set without having signed out. I was worried I’d have to go back to wardrobe and get the shirt again. Still terrified to be the background celebrity what with my name being hollered at every corner and all…

But when I got to the set, perhaps the one and only PA who wasn’t looking for me was the one who found me and together, we still had no idea why I was there, who was calling for me and what for.

Finally, the PA from earlier runs up to me and I ask her, “Please tell me what’s going on. I don’t care, I just want to know what’s up. No one’s telling me anything. I can’t do what you want me to do if I don’t know what’s going on.”

Sure enough…It was because I was close to Golden Time. She signed me out and I swore that was a fun little runaround that’ll likely show up in a book somewhere. It was insane, but fun all at the same time.

I went home very tired, but strangely fulfilled.

Where The Truth Lies

It took me three tries before I finally figured out what gate to go in at Universal Studios and then they didn’t have any maps for getting to set. It was still dark outside because it was only 5AM when I headed in.

According to the convoluted instructions that the lady at the gate gave me, I hopped on the right street and then came to a suspicious looking stretch that said, “Do not enter.” I was thinking, “Well, if I don’t go here, where the hell’s the rest of the road?” as I stopped in front of the sign. …Then I saw why I wasn’t supposed to continue. That was the part of the backlot tram tour where the Red Sea parts!!!!

I had half a mind to drive through it, but I was in my husband’s ’66 Corvette and I still didn’t know exactly where the set was. With a playful frown, I threw the car in reverse and set about finding the way around the Red Sea. It wasn’t lit very well, but I did find my way.

Once at base camp, all the guys were drooling over my car. That’s always fun.

I went to wardrobe (who of course hated everything 70s that I brought) who gave me a short dress…It was many shades of beige, complete with mountains and geese. I felt sooooo ‘happenin’! Then, I went to hair who gave me a Cher wig with bangs. Then make-up, who dolled me up…a lot like a toned down version of Cher.

Once on set, I parked my car and did a bunch of walking-through-frame kinds of things. I bet my car got more camera time than I did!

That day was short. I got to go home at a reasonable hour. I had as much trouble getting off the Universal lot as I did getting on. Most of the gates are closed on the weekend. But I did drive past one tram tour! 🙂 They probably thought I was Jennifer Beals or someone. I was just glad to be booked for another day.

…And wouldn’t ya know it, I almost drove through the Red Sea again!!!!!! It was 5AM and dark! What did I know? (I tell ya, though, I really, really, really, really wanted to drive through just so I could say I’d done it!)

Anyhow, the day started much as the first one had. Except the costumers changed their minds about hating one of my outfits. But didn’t tell me they wanted me to wear that outfit first, so I screwed up and wore the wrong thing. They didn’t get mad, they just had to give me something else to wear later on.

In that first set-up, I struck up a nice rapport with the First Assistant Director. He at first didn’t realize that I’m not like most extras…I actually have a brain and can understand and follow directions. He gave me a starting cue and an ending cue and I hit them every time.

When the lead actress got to a certain spot, I walked down the stairs of a water tower and then when the lead actress started going up the stairs, I was to cross her path right in the middle. The First AD even singled me out specifically to tell me I was “Wonderful!” It was just nice to know that he’d noticed.

And that water tower–which by the way, I was getting serious stair-master exercise on–it’s actually a tank for shooting underwater stuff. It was empty, but nonetheless nifty to look down into just to say that I’ve seen it. Kinda like the Red Sea, only no risk involved and if I were to have gone into it, I would not have been chuckling like I would have done while parting the Red Sea.

After that scene was done, the costumers gave me another outfit…which had THE most stuck zipper on the planet. Just when I was about to give up and go get help, the darn thing came down and I shimmied into the beige pantsuit.

The next shot was in Hollywood and I had to get in my Corvette (yes, still wearing wig and costume, passing 2 tram tours this time, plus all the people on the freeway) and drive to the corner of Hollywood and Vine. Ironically, the location was out front of the nightclub where Jason and I got married!

They were doing a minor stunt where one car cuts off another one, but my ‘Vette was parked and they had precision drivers running. I was totally jealous. …And annoyed because I was instructed to walk away from the action and didn’t get to see any of it. I only heard it. The second take included some brake-squealing that didn’t sound intentional. After that one, the Coordinator had a few words with the girl doing the cutting off. Okay…so it was more than a few… But at least the next 4 or 5 takes were good.

I must have walked up and down that block a hundred times by the end of the day. One side, then the other, and I never really saw the scene. Oh well. I guess I’ll have to wait until the movie comes out. I still bet that my car got more camera time than I did!

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