Lilyhammer -BIG in Norway!

Star of the series, Steve Van Zandt

Foreign productions are terrific fun (although this one was commissioned by Netflix* -see link at end of this blog)!  They allow for a lot more latitude of roles -even for us extras.  Central Casting put me on the path to a 3-day gig with this Norwegian hit (presently picked up by 130 countries) and I relished it completely. The series centers around Steve Van Zandt, formerly of The Sopranos... and formerly a guitarist of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band -and now playing a mobster in protective custody for being a snitch.  Protective Custody in this case being in Norway -where he's still up to his old tricks, albeit in a dramedic manner.

DAY 1- I walked into the holding area of a restaurant on the West Village's Hudson Street... and was treated to a sight of colorful people made up to be in a gay-party scene.  Most didn't have to be "made up", they brought their own costumes.  I was given a see-through black blouse and wore my own bird mask (not exactly "La Cage Aux Feulles quality" -but passable enough for me to be in the scene.  My role was to "flirt" with a pretty mini-skirted girl... YAY!!!  Steve kept walking past me and I bantered with him about missing out on the ongoing E Street band's tour.  He laughed -after all, he was involved in this show in various ways: not just acting but musical scoring and the production angle as well. Steve was a busy guy these days.

Partyboys

During the party, there's a plot being hatched to knock off one of the gay-mafioso (is there such a thing?).  And so the party was gay and flirty and certainly flamboyant.  Various camera-POV's were going past where I was standing with my partner and we were certainly in the shots.

Gaudy tourist

In a second scene, I was told to wear "gaudy tourist clothes" and a small bunch of us "gaudy tourists" were placed at the Minnesota tourists' dining table who were being honored in the middle of the restaurant.  Sitting across the table from Steve Van Zandt there was a cameo appearance by another former Soprano star,

Tony Sirico

Tony Sirico (aka Paulie Walnuts)... the two of them, RIGHT NEXT TO US! Tony interrupts our meal (meat, meat, meat,herring and cabbage) to take a moment of silence for grace. I kept getting the clapboards (fiddlesticks) in front of me as a two-camera angle shot was repeated a few times.  FEATURED! Although I barely missed out on being on The Sopranos a few years ago, I was now making up for it... big time.

The Minnesotan Norwegian family (snap, snap)

DAY 2- A traditional tourist costume was provided complete with strange buttoned pants, high socks, buckled shoes and a "poofy-shirt" (shades of Sinefeld).  A family unit was formed complete with wife and daughter and my bug-eyed son.  We were directed to board a tour bus across the street from our restaurant.  Village people kept asking us what we were shooting... one of our responses was "a Louis Vuitton commercial"!?  Completely accepted by the innocent village people.

An hour later, the bus was supposed to take us on a "tour" while one of the Norwegian actors would give us a bogus description of the city's Norwegian heritage (think My Big Fat Greek Wedding, except instead of Greek, substitute a Norwegian slant for historical connotations).  Unfortunately, the bus wasn't starting up and while we were sitting in it -night fell, and it was time to go home.  We were informed that we may have to return for a third day.  Excellent!

Suite-hopping through the halls of the Gansevoort Hotel

DAY 3-Holding was at the modern Gansevoort Hotel in the meatpacking district of the West Village -which was now one of the trendiest areas of NYC complete with the latest fashion clothiers, restaurants and the quaint cobble stoned streets of a bygone era.  One of them provided a scary spill for me as I stumbled to the ground.  No worries -I bounce.

Only a few of us were selected for this scene but getting us dressed into our traditional Norwegian duds was a back-and-forth deal from one hotel room for wardrobe to another hotel room for makeup, with rest stops along the way in the lobby... a kind of musical suites.  But eventually we were put into a van and driven over to Weehawken, New Jersey.  You just know you have to touch base with Jersey if you're in a mob movie -even if it's a Norwegian mob movie.  Here we were given lunch inside a sumptuous restaurant built on a restructured pier which jutted out into the Hudson River and providing a panoramic view of the NYC skyline.  Very elegant.

Entertaining each other on the Tour Bus

Once fed, we were now put into yet another van and told that we were going to La Guardia Airport!?  But it was close to rush hour now and the Lincoln Tunnel was full of traffic and carbon monoxide.  Our van didn't have air-conditioning and the temperature was increasing inside.  The windows had to be opened and we were all treated to the voluminous fumes of the surrounding buses...CAUGH!  CAUGH!  But we persevered and once we saw the light at the end of the tunnel, we just knew that oxygen was not far away.

Director and sound-man on bouncing bus

The director, Geir Henning Hopland, rode the bouncing bus with us along with the camera man, script lady and sound man.  He decided that he wasn't going to wait another hour to get to the airport and gave his crew the ok to start filming.  And so... as we slowly did a stop-and-go crawl down 42nd Street's congested traffic, the retakes went bouncily well.  Our "tour-guide" began his script and proceeded to point out where the Norwegian composer Ole Bull lived and played fiddle from his building's roof.  And that THIS was the inspiration for a Jew to compose the musical of "Fiddler On The Roof"!  Yah?  (Of course that was a lot of bull -Ole Bull lived from 1810 to 1880 and Jerry Bock, the composer of FOTR lived from 1928 to 2010. Not much of a chance of seeing each other.)  But we "gullible tourists" ate it all up with scripted Minnesotan expressions of "Don't you know?" (aka "I never knew that!).  And soon the filming ended... our "tour guide" and cameraman hopped off the bus in midtown (made me think of the Hop-On/Hop-Off tour buses that ran in every county in the world) and the rest of us continued on to the airport.  Truly an entertaining experience.

At the airport we were given back our original clothes and vouchers to fill out as we were wrapped. Someone mentioned that we would not be left stranded here but that we would be driven back to the Gansevoort Hotel.  Four of us took advantage of that offer and we were treated to some interesting anecdotes from our young driver about the movie-making attitudes of the Norwegians.  It would appear that they do not condone the rough yelling and inconsiderate treatment of the crew (including us extras) -as some other movie makers do.  Instead they prefer to use a gentle and more humane approach toward all.  And indeed, I can attest, that was the case here.  No one ever yelled "QUIET ON THE SET" at the top of their lungs or any other rude exclamations laced with expletives like "SHUT THE FUCK UP!".  No... the Norwegians were kind and considerate and did a successful job without any of the egotistic antics.  What a concept... to respect one another.  Who'd a thunk it?

And the best part: nothing was "lost in translation".


*http://www.fastcompany.com/1814701/lilyhammer-netflix-wants-destroy-traditional-tv-get-you-hooked-all-once-watching