Rounding out the Cast
On Monday I started working on a new film that will keep me busy until the holiday season. New offices, new people (mostly), and a bigger budget. All of which are cool things to have on a new project. The budget of this film is significantly larger than the previous one I worked one. (Think 30x the budget, but that just seems like A LOT because of the previous film’s odd way of financing and getting big name talent to sign up).
Yesterday started up as a pretty awful day. For the second straight morning I had a persistent headache that I could not get rid of. Glass after glass of water and some ibuprofen did NOT help and thus I was in a pretty irritable mood. These factors definitely contributed to a morning filled with people being overly irritating and caustic (in my mind anyway). The one saving grace about yesterday occurred after I had just gotten my lunch. A member of the casting agency asked if I could help escort actors and actresses from the kitchen to the front door after they were done. Supposedly the people working on another film (based on the book that inspired “Sex in the City”) get a little perturbed when people accidentally come even close to their workspace. So, I served as an official escort.
Before I even begin to talk about this, I must let you know I am a huge nerd when it comes to recognizing celebrities and actors and then telling friends of mine. Most friends seem to shrug it off and believe it is a part of living in a city like New York, but every time I see someone, I think it’s cool and exciting. I’m still a little kid in that respect.
But back to the escort duty. The resulting three hours were less than boring mostly because I got to meet so many character actors that I had seen in movies throughout my life. One completely over-the-top New York actor was pretty funny (I recognized him as one of the teenage friends in “A Bronx Tale”) and so he was cool to talk to. Another older gentlemen talked to me for about 20 minutes about how what it was like to be an actor in the 1950’s and 60’s and even now. He showed me his resume, and to my surprise because I didn’t recognize him, he had been in such films as all three “Godfathers” as well man other known films like “Once Upon a Time in America.” We discussed Elia Kazan (directed “On the Waterfront” and “A Streetcar Named Desire”) as well as the influx of people wanted to be on screen that can’t act to save their lives. Talking to him was an insight into an older school of acting and I’m glad I got to sit with him for awhile.
These were only a few that I encountered that really stood out. Another guy I met is easily identifiable as either an army lieutenant or a frat house player, while two or three others fit the mold of “stereotypical New York character actor that you’ve seen many times, but can’t place the film.”
Overall, it ended being a pretty cool day. This was definitely a day that I would look forward to if they ever let me sit there again for three hours chatting up actors and actresses old and new (the production coordinator vetoed that proposal since she couldn’t use me for anything that whole time).
I guess the magic of the big screen still captivates me. I mean, why would I want to do anything else?
On Monday I started working on a new film that will keep me busy until the holiday season. New offices, new people (mostly), and a bigger budget. All of which are cool things to have on a new project. The budget of this film is significantly larger than the previous one I worked one. (Think 30x the budget, but that just seems like A LOT because of the previous film’s odd way of financing and getting big name talent to sign up).
Yesterday started up as a pretty awful day. For the second straight morning I had a persistent headache that I could not get rid of. Glass after glass of water and some ibuprofen did NOT help and thus I was in a pretty irritable mood. These factors definitely contributed to a morning filled with people being overly irritating and caustic (in my mind anyway). The one saving grace about yesterday occurred after I had just gotten my lunch. A member of the casting agency asked if I could help escort actors and actresses from the kitchen to the front door after they were done. Supposedly the people working on another film (based on the book that inspired “Sex in the City”) get a little perturbed when people accidentally come even close to their workspace. So, I served as an official escort.
Before I even begin to talk about this, I must let you know I am a huge nerd when it comes to recognizing celebrities and actors and then telling friends of mine. Most friends seem to shrug it off and believe it is a part of living in a city like New York, but every time I see someone, I think it’s cool and exciting. I’m still a little kid in that respect.
But back to the escort duty. The resulting three hours were less than boring mostly because I got to meet so many character actors that I had seen in movies throughout my life. One completely over-the-top New York actor was pretty funny (I recognized him as one of the teenage friends in “A Bronx Tale”) and so he was cool to talk to. Another older gentlemen talked to me for about 20 minutes about how what it was like to be an actor in the 1950’s and 60’s and even now. He showed me his resume, and to my surprise because I didn’t recognize him, he had been in such films as all three “Godfathers” as well man other known films like “Once Upon a Time in America.” We discussed Elia Kazan (directed “On the Waterfront” and “A Streetcar Named Desire”) as well as the influx of people wanted to be on screen that can’t act to save their lives. Talking to him was an insight into an older school of acting and I’m glad I got to sit with him for awhile.
These were only a few that I encountered that really stood out. Another guy I met is easily identifiable as either an army lieutenant or a frat house player, while two or three others fit the mold of “stereotypical New York character actor that you’ve seen many times, but can’t place the film.”
Overall, it ended being a pretty cool day. This was definitely a day that I would look forward to if they ever let me sit there again for three hours chatting up actors and actresses old and new (the production coordinator vetoed that proposal since she couldn’t use me for anything that whole time).
I guess the magic of the big screen still captivates me. I mean, why would I want to do anything else?
posted by The PA @ 12:32 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home