The "27 Dresses" of Katherine Heigl

( This was one of the best background exposures I ever got in a major motion picture. Even my wife shouted "WOW! That's you..." )

It just keeps getting better and better... these 3:PM call times are great!
The studios must have figured out after all these years that getting the extras on set in the early morning is just another way of assuring them more overtime pay! After all, there is so much to set up at the locations: euqipment, lights, props, fabrications, food...etc. This time we were taken to set at 5:30 PM -not too bad of an initial wait for those of us dressed to be part of the NYC backround business crowd. Unfortunately it was a different story for the "wedding guests"... they had to wait 9 hours in their fancy costumes prior to shoot time!

Katherine Heigl and Judy Greer were waiting for us on the corner of Madison Avenue and 50th Street last Sunday. They were dressed in shiny purplish bridesmaids outfits and kept picking up their dresses' bottoms as the humid city streets radiated the clammy summer heat up their legs. Between takes, Judy Greer was wearing flip-flops instead of the high heeled accessory and Katherine Heigle had a lit cigarette pulled in and out of her mouth by a doting production assistant.

"Oh no Katherine...DON'T SMOKE! It'll just make your `anatomy greyer'..." I undertoned to my partner, a fellow "businessman" with whom I was paired for the walkby shoot that would start in a moment or two. And after discussing with him how often women seem to be getting lung cancer, he and a fellow extra, dressed as a hippy, lit up a couple of "fags" of their own (pardon my British).
The shoot was over in an hour or so and we were taken back to holding: The Women's Republican Club on 51st Street off 5th Avenue.

Going up to the 2nd floor, there were portraits of famous patrons, first of which was Nancy Reagan. "She used to carry a gun in her purse!" I mentioned to one of the extras in my group.
"Did she REALLY?" was her response. Many of the extras were young and "before my time", and as I found out later, devoid of political savy that predated Saturday!

Upstairs we were seated at a dozzen or so linen covered, albeit unset, dinner tables while the SAG crew was lined up to eat. We, the non-union people, were told in no uncertain expletives that this was for "SAG ONLY...SAG ONLY!!!". So I got on the line and got my portion. (They rarely check for your SAG card proof.)


Meanwhile, back at the table, we were told to "scrunch" together because more people were coming!? This created an intimate group of 10 people at our table with various backgrounds whose stories ranged from experiences of living in a haunted house, the simple life in South Carolina and the eventual topics of religion, politics, weird jobs and writing the Great American Novel! Along with the banter and a rousing round of a card game that has come to be called BULLSHIT... we managed to pass the hours away until we were summoned again to the night-time streets in front of the New York Palace.





Built in 1882, it evolved from housing for the local gentry to being a fancy-shmancy hotel. We were taken over to the set and placed on our #1 marks as a large truck pulled up and began to wet down the street. "They always do that for night shoots! It makes it look prettier on the film!", my new loquacious walking-partner explained as my beige pants were being sprayed. In between shoots, she proceeded to tell me her life story for the next hour: actress... therapist... religious organizer...rent-control instigator...and back to being an actress again!

"And what about you?", she deigned to ask... when suddenly the PA's called out, "Who's non-SAG here?". Immediately my hand went up -hoping for what would eventuate. And it did. We, the non-SAGers were told to go back to holding, where we were to sign out and go home!!! Excellent timing.