"ONE/NINE" -that was just the "working title". Originally it was supposed to be the symbol of the subway line that ran the number 1 and the number 9 trains. But since 9/11, the number 9 has been eliminated. Lots of memories for me here since I was riding on those trains the day the World Trade Center was destroyed by arab terrorists. Had I arrived a few minutes earlier at my then-workplace in the World Financial Center, I could have been doused by burning jet fuel or various types of debris or... jumpers. My old stop was Cortland Street and each morning I walked through the WTC, out through Tobin Plaza and over the North Bridge to the palm-treed atrium of the WFC... (snap out of it man -that was then; this is NOW!)
Anyway, who knows what the final title of this full-length independent production will be? The interesting part was getting to see some big-name actors, and exchanging stories with some interesting extras. I arrived early at the location on West 67th Street, asked for "Zeke" and was told to go to the 3rd floor holding-area. Huffing up the steps, I was told to go to the 1st floor holding-area... once there, I was told to go to the lobby holding-area -Zeke was still not identified.
The holding-area was a conference room that had a small piece cordoned off for the safe sequestering of the two principal stars. I took off my coat and sat down in front of the "demilitarized zone". Soon others began to arrive and settle in, one tall bearded person was approaching the "safety zone" and I recognized him immediately as Billy Baldwin -instinctively I said "Hi", which was returned in a friendly, albeit non-plussed manner. Whoops... I realized that I had just violated the "non-intervention rule" -extras are not supposed to speak to the principals unless they speak to you first. Luckily, my friend Tom (from the earlier Guys and Dolls gig) just showed up and we began to converse like old friends. Hence, the feint of my non-chalant segue would prevent any undue attention to my innocuos "brash behavior" of my previous moment's "Billy-encounter". Oh the suppressed angst that we extras have to incur!I was chosen to be a lonely popcorn-eating matron in a "movie theater" scene. Lots of activity from the DP, John, and the spanish-accented director, Alfredo De Villa. The other extras were strategically seated and a couple of arguments between John and Alfredo broke out about "losing the location for the afternoon" and "lighting problems" and f#@%! this and f#@%! that... I just sat there as Selena, a production assistant whom I knew from previous shoots, brought me a leaking cup of soda as part of my props. It was soon replaced but my pants were rather damp! Then all of a sudden, "Team Two", a couple who sat a few rows in front of me would now be replaced by "Team-One".
Billy Baldwin and Heather Graham walked in and took the place of the original seat-fillers. I was pleasantly surprised by Heather's pretty looks and slim build. They quickly sat down... had their faces powdered and light measurements taken. Was the drama about to start? Not really.
All we had to do was to make believe that we were watching some old-time movie while the two stars were acting "uninterested" in each other. Apparently this was not working out as the director planned because he kept coming over to Billy and Heather and whispered something "private" to each one separately!? Strange. But I suppose he gave them their "motivation" for showing "disinterest"! As the camera-on-tracks panned across the audience, my face was four rows behind and right in-between the two majors. If the editing doesn't cut this scene out, and the producers get sufficient backing for distribution of the finished film -I just might be seen!
(Epilogue: The scene was left in... I'm the blur in the middle between Billy Baldwin and Heather Graham. But interestingly enough, they zoomed in on me since I was at the same visual level as Heather's young stalker nearby.)
The next setting was to be in a school a few blocks away. The crew packed up everything in a very short time along with the extras and literally packed us, like sardines, into an awaiting van. In order to fit into my seat, I had to crunch myself up so that my knee was up by my chin. As I looked out the window, Heather Graham was being escorted to her own transportation. My neck couldn't crane far enough to see what that was, but I bet she didn't have to have to contort herself to fit in (although if she had to, she probably could... her being a practicioner of yoga).
The holding area in the school was the lunchroom. We would be waiting there for a few hours while the crew set up their movie gear on the fourth floor. In the process of sharing lunch tables, more friendships were forged and numerous tales told. One woman was from Tobago/Trinidad and she provided some fascinating anecdotes about her link to this island and that of Africa. Another woman was a storywriter and producer in her own right who recently put on a successful off-Broadway play. A white-haired middle-aged man recounted his success story with beating stomach cancer and provided inspiration for us with his enthusiastic attitude about how he "looked at life completely differently now... since the operation". His big dream was to be in the Sopranos, so I provided him with the appropriate email for submitting: sopranosextras@gmail.com.
At 5:PM "lunch" arrived. Apparently I got on the wrong food-line because I was politely told that the extras are not allowed to eat from the multi-choice-meal area. Instead, I was directed to the table with fourteen boxes of multi-choice pizzas! This 2nd-class segregation is the only thing that bothers me in this industry. But then again, the crew and the principal actors do work much harder than the extras -and so, I suppose I can justify it in my mind that they do deserve the 1st-class treatment.
(Epilogue: This scene is toward the end -and I'm right up there with Heather.)The second scene of the day brought me closer to the action. It took place in a classroom where we acted like proud parents of our poetry-reading teenage kids. We needed to clap for a minute or so! During our clapping, Heather's role would come into the room and observe while Billy's role, as the teacher, would show approval of the poetry readers -all the while making some eye-contact with each other's character. This scene took about two hours to complete, but the two stars would be going closely past us on a regular basis after each take. Both were rather quiet at each passings-by. For some reason, during breaks, Billy would go into one of the other classrooms and constantly be on his cell phone -if he were smart, he'd be lining up the next gig (but I suspect that he was checking in with his wife, Chyna Phillips). It's a win-win either way!
We wrapped after 11:PM, signed our wavers and collected our $50-bill. Most of us were only told that the story revolved around three separate love stories which somehow intertwined as the movie came to a close. Personally, I didn't see any chemistry between the two majors and the story sounded wishy-washy. But then, I wasn't privy to the "big-picture". If it ever came out, I knew I would still want to see it... and of course tell all my friends about it. Got home after 1:00 AM. My MTV weekend-gig would prompt me to rise at 6:AM. Yaaaaaaawn.
Epilogue: The movie was screened at Sundance in 2007 under the title: Adrift in Manhattan. It's not in any of the mainstream movie theaters as of this writing (8/2007), so my best guess is that it will be an indi release.
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