Glenn Close is a lovely lady... but I really didn't get to see more than the back of her head duing the filming of her new TV pilot: DAMAGES!
My newly unempoyed status from my real-life job of a consultant has released me from my daily 5:AM wakeup time and the nearly 5 hour round-trip drives to New Jersey for the past 11 months. The welcome call time for my return to the world of showbiz was a comfortable 2:PM in NYC's DUMBO -and holding was at the stylish Toro Restaurant near the set around the corner: Water Street Restaurant. We were instructed to bring 2 changes of clothes but ultimately were stuck in only one. I brought a suit and a sportcoat, which was stylishly coordinated by the costume department as a "mix" of my black suit-pants, the grey sports jacket, a glossy green shirt that was vehemently complemented with my solid maroon tie!? I would never have guessed to do this. But then, I'm not a fashionista!
During my stay on the second floor of the Toro, I made friends with a couple of the other extras and we shared our experiences... for 2 hours. At 4:PM we were taken to the set where three of us guys were strategically situated at a table for four. We were to mime our dinner conversations while Glenn Close and her "son" were having an argument a few tables away from us. There were numerous takes and the girl who played the waitress for their table later told us how nice Glenn was as she introduced herself -thereby breaking the ice barrier which prevents us extras from initiating direct contact with the stars. Our table had a "young waitress" assigned also, and during takes we found out that she had attended UMASS a while ago. Hmm?
As the takes ended, the extras were shuttled into the basement bar area of the set. One could only assume from the strange juxtaposition of the drum set on a single shelf, that only "raves" were occuring down here. At any rate, it was calmingly dim and we all found a place to perch. I sat next to our waitress and initiated a philosophical conversation. She was intelligent and expressed her beliefs in "helping all sentient beings"! Our conversation went haywire somewhere and she became adamant in her attitude toward "theoretically not helping someone in need" (e.g. an old lady falling in front of her). For some reason, her new attitude became very stubborn: "Are you crazy? I really don't know what I would do in a theoretical situation... It's not MY JOB to help someone... ". But I suspect it was all an act (DUH?). I say that because, in the beginning of our conversation, she interrupted our talk, politely excused herself, went over to a lampshade that had been precariously perched against a lit lightbulb, and fixed it..."to prevent a fire". ACTions spoke louder than all the smoke we'd been blowing in each others' face during the wait for the next shoot. Which was never to be for us non-union extras. We were dismissed for the day and the pay was a bit more than usual: $100. Nice surprise... even better, the time had disappeared very quickly with our bullsession.
Epilogue: That's me in the cirlce of the 3rd episode... (I'm feigning "obscurity").
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