Men Who Built America on the History Channel

Managing without a hat

The GPS said one way... but I knew a better route from the travel experience I gained through my previous gig last week.  Up I95 and over to the west on I287 until you're almost at the Tappan Zee Bridge.  This was Tarrytown and the set was at a huge estate called the Lyndhurst Mansion.

The History Channel was doing a documentary re-enactment of the Men Who Built America (Vanderbilt, Carnegie, Edison, Ford, etc.).  This was episodes 4 and 5 and the three scenarios were centered around the first use of the electric chair by Edison; young Ford making a decision on whether or not to keep his job or continue to work on something called the "automobile"; and Carnegie getting bad news affecting his fortunes.

I was selected to deliver a few lines to young Ford as his manager (along with my assistant).  The director, Patrick Reams, asked me to do a quick reading and decided to use me in the scene.  My lines were simple:

Manager:

I'm promoting you to chief engineer.

Ford:

Thank you... sir.

Manager:

But... you'll have to stop working on your... "automobile"

Ford:

(looking shaken and indicisive)

Manager:

You can either stay or go.

The choice is yours.

Ford:

I'll stay.

Manager:

Good.

(turns to assitant with a quick glance and leaves)

There were about seven takes... I kept saying "you can take it or leave it" at times. After each take the director provided additional descriptions and pointers to indicate what he and the AD wanted from the short scene.  He was very kene with recognizing that I had "some sort of European accent"... and that I had been in a "managerial position before".  He wanted the lines delivered with a "high brow attitude" and little emotion.  I was screwing up the initial takes with too much facial accentuation (raised eybrows, sniffing nose, bulging eyes, tonal inflections).  Once I was able to be aware of my "overacting" face, the scene was able to be completed.  It was shot from two different side angles -one fairly close.  Now let's see if it stays in the story.  It's supposed to air in October this year.

Other scenes for me dealt with make-believe chatting while drinking congnac and a silhouette shot of discussing business while Carnegie lay on his sick-bed caughing and attended by a nurse.  The nurse, by the way, was the estate's manager who was recruited to be in the story (since the production company wasn't able to get any women to come to Tarrytown).  I think there were about 15 extras in all.  Most of them being used for witnessing the first electrocution death penalty in the other parts of the mansion.  The crew was terrific and we all got along very well during break times and even swapped some pretty good engineering stories (in addition to the usual "When I was on Spiderman..." showbiz brags.

This was a memorable gig for me.  Wow! I actually got lines to say this time.