A Blue Blood Hassid in Brooklyn

Me and Lulu

A rush-call to be a hassid in episode 14 of the new season for Blue Bloods got me in front of the makeup mirror with Lulu at the Broadway Stages in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.  She was an expert makeup artist from Dublin, who as it turned out was also on the set of  "Man on a Ledge" doing similar work to plain folk like me.  As our banter continued she chatted with her colleague behind me -revealing that neither of them were comfortable being in front of the camera, even though they had plenty of opportunities.  Myself being a ham (no kosher pun intended), I'd always wondered about that aspect of showbiz... "Why wouldn't someone want to be a star? ...and all the other folderol that comes attached to that (fame, riches, a fake life...)".  But I understood and respected their comfort zone.  After all, they were happy to contribute to the industry with their art and were satisfied with that.  Nuff said.

Sneaking a look at the call-sheet, I found out that the episode was entitled "MEN IN BLACK" and due to air in 6 to 8 weeks, right in the middle of Oscar-award season.  The scene dealt with a gathering of hassids inside of a synagogue to mourn the murder of one of their community members.  Our direction was to shuckle (the ritual swaying during prayer) as the rabbi at the podium chanted the El Mole Rahamim (prayer for the dead).  Being Jewish, I knew the routine very well.  Quite frankly, I loved the whole scene -I was in my element... not to be outdone by the accompanying conflict of emotions that this was supposed to be a very sad moment (Jewish guilt).  As we were all lined up in a group on the perfectly built set of the synagogue, two principals were brought to the front: Richard Masur and Len Cariou.

Richard Masur and Len Cariou

In my hassidic makeup I became a bit braver than usual in attempting to converse with the principals.  Between takes, I was able to do a quick walking-chat with Richard Masur.  He shook hands with me as I told him I'd seen him in a play (The Oldsmobiles) where he was jumping off a bridge with his wife (played by Alice Playten).

The Oldsmobiles

The conversation had a somber turn when Richard quickly mentioned that she had died sometime after the play run had ended.   I attempted to say hello to Len Cariou but he was in a kind of "deer-in-the-headlights" mode and whizzed by with a quick "Hi!".  Probably trying not to get into another familiar "dinner-scene conversation" that most Blue Bloods fans try to initiate with him.  I was only going to mention my bodyguard scene with him in Damages.

In a following scene, the director, Alex Chappel, wanted hassids spread around the synagogue in schmoozing-bunches. I was paired up with another hassid where our direction was to react to a loud noise as one of the principals, Len Cariou, storms out of the synagogue. I think I might get a split-second of "hazy-background feature time" in this one -as my partner and I gesticulate about the sudden ruckus. 1 rehearsal and 2 takes later we were done.  In fact much of this scene was zooming along at break-neck speed from different angles -each time with a different set of hassids while the "used hassids" were sent back to holding.

Extra hassids (on line for props)

Holding was a hilarious sight.  An entire room full of fake-hassids doing "Oy-veys!" and "Don't mess with my payiss!", all of it punctuated by endless tales of Jewish jokes... all in good taste. I even met my old buddy Dale at this gig.

Dale

As I began to compliment his makeup, he quickly corrected me (and later the makeup people who wanted their hair back at the end of the shoot), that it was all his hair!!!  There were about 7 real hassidim hired for this shoot.  They were sequestered across the street in a separate area with kosher food.  At one point I was mixed into their group and chatted with them for a while.  One of the extras named Eliyahu, was an Israeli who promised to pray for me (we can all use some of that sentiment).

Eliyahu

At lunch time it was difficult to eat.  The beard was constantly in the way while we were repeatedly told to keep our beards and clothes clean. Fat chance!  I missed breakfast and now I was ravenous. In went the taco, the salmon, and the dreaded gravy-laden mashed potato...(Ha ha ha ha...evil laugh).  All this while the person next to me was telling me about how he had dropped a lot of weight in recent months by skipping soda beverages.  Yeah... Right... as I continued to chomp.  But he was a good-natured late-30-ish guy and told me all about how unhappy he was with his previous real-life job and how he now planned to be a stay-at-home-dad for his expecting wife's birth of twins.  This wife had a great job in the media and was covering news items for presidents Bush and now Obama -as well as covering medical benefits for her husband.  The man had it made in the shade!!!

Getting the voucher filled out and signed was another bit of challenge for me -I'd forgotten my glasses in the mad rush-call and was hard put to decipher some of the instructions in the form.  This got me sent back to "GO" and to check the posted samples stapled to the wall.  Unfortunately they were not the enlarged versions and it took me a while to write things in the correct boxes.  Only a few years in this business and I'm already getting old?  Weyz mir!

EPILOGUE: The show aired on February 8th and the only shot of this scene was FROM THE BACK!!!  Disappointing.  But then again, I didn't see Richard Masur in any other scenes either.  I don't get it... how can they hire a top-notch actor like Richard and not feature him in any way???  And I thought I had a low profile.