Having a riot of a time in 1900 on The Knick

The Knick

Snuggled up in my car during the wee hours on a cold Autumn day a few months ago, I was nodding off after our "picture cars" were not going to be used in the Person Of Interest scene.  But my cell phone was a bit more active in the texting mode and I awoke to the admonitions of my casting agency that I would be late to my next gig... which was starting "an hour ago"!!!  The agent on the other side of the phone was accusing me of "double booking".  So I argued about it.

"I didn't double book..."

   "Yes you did... you double booked and you won't be able to get to your next gig on time!!!"

"What do you mean I double booked... What's 'double booked' mean anyway?"

And she continued to explain the definition of the "bad deed" in an exasperated tone as I listened "innocently" to the new concept.  

But there was nothing I could do about it.  Apparently I had booked POI thinking it was going to be wrapped after midnight and followed it by booking another show for the following day.  Unfortunately POI went very late with the single scene of the night (an ambulance careening around a corner at high speed). We were wrapped after the sun came up (and never paid for the use of our cars).  I was too tired to argue for the bump in pay and wanted desperately to get to my next gig, which was only a couple of miles away in Bedford Corners.

Resting between riots on The Knick

As I got close to the set area, I was taken aback by the seemingly white powder on the brownstoned streets, lined with hundreds of extras dressed up in 1900 period wardrobe. I was an hour late and worried that I would be sent home and miss out on this fantastic opportunity.  As I went over to the check in table, they already knew my name (thanks to my texting agent) and began to rib me about the late arrival.  But luckily there were others who were scheduled for this gig and were also stuck on the POI set with me.  I actually got special attention to get me through wardrobe, make-up (ruddy complexion with dirty hands) and hair (goopy slicked) as quickly as possible -just so I could stand on the line for another 30 minutes with the other extras in the frigid morning air!  But I didn't mind -I made it to The Knick.

Our excellent director

When I learned that Steven Soderbergh was the director and Clive Owen was the principal actor, I nearly added some more ruddy-brown tones to my woolen britches! How lucky can you get?  

Clive  was always "in character"

I was eventually placed on one side of the street and given direction to run toward what was now the set of a courtyard to the old Knickerbocker Hospital in Harlem, NY (except that we were in Bedford Corners of Brooklyn).  The set designers did an amazing job.  When you walked on the streets covered in white gravel, you were transported back to the year 1900.  Complete with horses and carriages, turn-of-the -century signage, remodeled store fronts, complete with fruit, vegetable and newspaper stands.  It felt absolutely real... especially to me, who loves to read about specific characters in the early 1900's. I had always dreamed about living in that time (similar to the Woody Allen movie, Midnight in Paris).  I had done gigs of the 1890's period in the upcoming Winter's Tale, as well as several episodes in the 1920's of Boardwalk Empire.  But this, THIS multi-block retro-conversion of Bedford Corners felt real (much like the holodeck concept in the Star Trek series). No matter where you walked or looked... it was 1900.

Morning sunrise on the set

I was part of a core group of extras designated as "rioters".  Later on I learned that this hospital was the first in NYC to care for black people.  They were also implementing new medical techniques to contend with the pre-antibiotic period of medical history.  However, there were political instabilities and one of these were in the form or "race riots".  In the next two days, our core group would be caught up in one of these riots and we would be flailing all sorts of threatening gestures along with pick axes, bats and bricks.  Stunt men were used to beat people up and break through the hospital's front door -all with way-too-real exuberance. We rioters would follow in their footsteps. The stunt coordinator would hold safety-meetings and reassert with strict seriousness the importance of the "safety first" mantra. 

Subsequent locations during my nine days on this project took me to Chinatown, Williamsburg and the Lower East Side.  LES was exciting and had the most paparazzi (I love those guys because I always find myself on their websites).

One of the best paparazzi shots I've ever had!

On the second day of the LES shoot I was paired with an older rioter and told to carry a bail of hay while walking in between a speeding horse-drawn ambulance on one side and Soderbergh's camera dolly speeding down on the other side.  Three takes later we were still alive! Soderbergh is an interesting director (for the most part he's quiet and lets his trusted guys, Greg and Jody do the verbalisms...he's also a great cameraman (he does all the camera work)... as well as an editor.  And from what I understand, he honors his parents by using their names for the credits on being the cameraman and editor.

But that 2nd day on LES was cloudy and rainy.  I developed a bad cold and a nasty cough that kept me from doing the following day's Fulton Fish Market scene. I should have crawled out of bed to get there!!!

Zen moments on the set

It's funny how watching one show can create a certain kind of subjective-inertia. It all started with me receiving an offer to view free TV shows via my iPad.  One of them was about the Buddha -narrated by Richard Gere (who else?). I selected it and learned quite a bit more than I knew before over the course of a couple of days as I concluded my viewing.

Shortly after, I met an actress who told me that she was getting married in a month... and that it was going to be a Buddhist wedding!  Because of my previous nights' viewing of the Buddha's life, I was able to chat for an extended time with her and I made a new friend on the extras' circuit.

A few days later, while doing a "walk-away-lunch" from the set of GIRLS, I passed a monk... yes, a Buddhist monk, who was peddling "lucky amulets" to passers-by on 5th Avenue.  I had seen him before but this time I wanted to know how much he wanted for the "interesting" paper lamination of a Chinese figure. He pressed it into my hand and I grabbed some change in my pocket and put it into his hand.  He looked at the paltry amount and wanted more -but it was too late!  I had pocketed my "booty".  He then offered a bead-bracelet for $10... I was out of money and told him so.  His friendly insistence proved unprofitable and he was losing money with every second he was "devoting to me".  We parted company.  I never knew that Buddhists were so tenacious.

The camera catches Bebe looking at my balding pate.

Shortly after this incident, on the set of Blue Bloods near Battery Park, Tom Selleck entertained us extras between takes by posing what he called "a Zen question"... which went something like this:
"If you're stuck in a deep hole filled with pig-shit up to your lips and a man comes along with a bucket of cow-shit and throws it at your head... Do you duck???"
Raising a studious index finger, Tom told us to think about this "Zen question"... and then walked away to his chair where he continued a conversation with Bebe Neuwirth in a nonchalant manner.  (Tom must be a great guy to go out with for a 'few drinks'.)

Michael Schiavello interviewing Steven Seagal

And the last Zen-related episode (in this personal series of mine) occurred while I was channel-surfing on my TV. Steven Seagal was being interviewed at length and during this interview he mentioned that he was an avowed Buddhist since it's the only religion he knew. He grew up in the Orient while learning martial arts. Strangely though, he confessed that he didn't understand the mystical aspects of the teachings -although he did experience short bouts of "higher awareness", but without any means of being able to repeat them at will.

Acting Strange

All these "Zen occurrences" happened within the span of a week.  And lately I tend to peek at a page of the Tao Te Ting every now and then... it helps to fan the fires of my own pseudo-enlightenment -or at least to rekindle them.  Yet, in spite of all these latest impressions, I think the best trek to take involves the idea of Wei Wu Wei...DO WITHOUT DOING.

Interesting faces on The Blacklist

Episode aired 10/14/2013

It was a great day in Yonkers, NY when we did our background gigs at the courthouse.  Only a couple of us were picked to be part of the lawyerish scene wherein the two FBI agents react to a commotion in one of the courtrooms.  The episode with a body-cleanup villain was called The Stewmaker -but we didn't know that at the time.  As extras, we're usually kept minimally informed about the plot for... DUH, obvious reasons (not that I'd ever give away any spoiler secrets here).  I've always intended this blog to be a kind of cathartic experience on my part: sharing my impressions about what it's like to be in the background as an extra -in both adulation and venting modes. And judging by the number of visitors to this blog (other than an occasional "anonymous" spammer), I have no problem with writing into the void.  In fact the older I get, the more I void.

But I digress.  So, getting back to the shoot inside the courthouse... I was paired up with an attractive young actress who was telling me about her upcoming marriage when the AD's and PA's began shouting their "QUIET PLEASE!" mantras.  And as we kept our chatter down, one of the main characters, Lizzie, played by Megan Boone decided to entertain us with one of her aloof moments.  She'd been gazing at the tee-shirt of one of the stand-ins, which had a Star Wars print on it stating: "When you think about it, all galaxies are far, far, away."  Megan decided to repeat that sentence several times while asking the poor stand-in "but what does that REALLY mean???"  The stand-in, feeling uneasy, cleverly changed the topic and Megan was sidetracked with a call to rehearse the scene.  After rehearsals, there was another break of silence and Megan began again by giving us all a once-over look after which she exhorted with wonder-filled tones (and Betty Davis intonations): "Look at all these...." (she almost created an uncomfortable silence as she searched for the word)..."interesting faces!  It's so great to work with such...  (pause)... interesting people."  Our silence to her mini-soliloquy was deafening. We didn't know what to make of it.  Was she trying to make a connection with us (we extras are not allowed to talk to the principals) or just channeling her inner-philosopher? It's worth noting that in the first episode, her character is asked to "profile herself" by her FBI boss. She answers with descriptions befitting herself in real life.

Nonetheless, Megan was excellent with her lines... her acting... her character persona.  In fact both my wife and I got hooked on the show -it's really good!!!

Pigeon droppings in the park

The set was at Washington Square Park on a sultry hot summer day in NYC.  My partner and I were slated to be chess player extras but the scene was changed and we were recast as bystanders and walk-by people. We were walking back and forth by the fountain sucking on water bottles between takes and watching the scene repeat a number of times:

...the two principals sit on a bench with the Washington Arch behind them; a man approaches a group of pigeons feeding nearby.  He suspiciously picks up one of the pigeons to check for a message on its feet as he notices one of the principals giving him chase.  He tosses the pigeon down and books it through the park...as Shirlock chases him (and Watson does the capture).

That's me with the maroon shirt and green cap in the background!

The day wore on and the temperature got hotter and some of the "trained pigeons" started to stumble, fall and eventually have seizures -dropping all over the place.  Their keepers were rounding them up from under the shade-providing benches, when suddenly the unexpected happens.  A red-tailed hawk swooped down and snatched one of the weak pigeons.  Someone should call CUT!

Nonetheless, the scene was completed by the end of the day.  The running culprit was handily caught by the chasing principals in classic martial arts fashion down a lane that did not include any chess players.  And OH HOW MUCH WE ALL WANTED TO PLAY CHESS (mostly because it would have been a nice cushy sitting gig)!!!

But we did get a chance to sit on the park benches occasionally and watch the park's activities.  On one of these occasions as an impromptu actor was putting on his Shakespeare soliloquies nearby, a resident celebrity happened to walk by.

It was Arsenio Hall -dressed "not to be recognized" with a blue backpack slung over his shoulders.  I said hello to Arsenio -and he gave a low-key wave towards me as though not wanting any further recognition. Not a problem -I didn't want to be recognized either. Other park "celebrities" included a regular entity sitting on the benches, who was repeatedly covered by trusting pigeons while kids were asking the penultimate question from their onlooking parents: "What's an extra?"

And so July finished up with a number of gigs under my belt.  Among them Bird man, American Hustle, Spiderman 2 (London Calling), Elementary and a Verizon commercial.  All of them excellent experiences that make me long for more when my submissions to new cast-calls go unanswered. But that's part of the deal -there are no guarantees of long-term employment in this business... not for extras, nor pigeons.

What if 142 million people "disappeared"?

Or, as the vivacious mayor of the fictional town might have put it: WTF DID THEY GO?

The premise for this HBO movie is that 2% of the people vanish from the face of the earth -no one knows where they went! But let's focus on how life goes on in a small village 3 years after the fact!??  The director's (Peter Berg) motivation speech to us extras was to make us think about 9/11.

 Peter Berg (possible resemblance to Jack Nicholson?)

Well... from my background-extra perspective at this production: there will be a Main Street parade in honor of those who disappeared, with cheerleaders, hippies, a uni-cycling clown, cult people, a couple of  bagpipers, barking dogs, crying babies, a gang of karate kiddies, and some townspeople.  If it gets picked up... it will become a TV series most likely continuing with its present title of The Leftovers.

Call time to holding was for 7:30 AM on this blistering hot day at Hastings-on-the-Hudson.  Wardrobe was nice to us, they did away with my blazer and told us drivers to remain in our polo shirts.  Makeup barely gave a glance to me but advised all of us to slather up with lots of sunscreen.  (Oh boy... I started to flashback on my second stint a month ago in the Amazing Spiderman 2 at the outside graduation scene: hundreds of extras sitting outside at a park-amphitheater in 90 degree direct sunshine while Peter Parker smooches with his girlfriend on stage after accepting his diploma. But the inspiring moment of that day was to see Sally Fields get a standing-O as she sat among us.)

I got lucky on sunny Main Street, since I was selected to be one of the parade vehicle drivers, most of my day was spent inside a hot van (the AC wasn't working) with one of my extra buddies.  We chatted it up throughout the day which made the heat bearable... along with the occasional breaks into the street-trees' shadows and the ever-present water bottles.  In one of the scenes, the police chief of the town, played by Justin Theroux, kept passing by our vehicle.

Justin Theroux

My buddy would razz him with "How come you guys have to walk in this weather?".  To which, Justin would crack up with a smile. According to the tabloids, Justin and Jennifer Aniston are engaged and I couldn't help wondering what it must be like to be Jennifer's guy...  lucky dude.   But enough of that reverie.

Jennifer and Justin (JJ's)

And on to the next one... I was hoping that the other major name associated with this project, Liv Tyler, would be here.  Alas, t'was not to be.  She wasn't in this scene. The other disappointment was the food: one choice of noodles and cheese, some salad and a brownie for us non-unioners.  The crew was munching on wraps and other goodies that made our mouths water. Suddenly I realized what The Leftovers were about.

I really need to join up! Where's my third waiver???

Getting into trouble...

I got to set early in the morning at Brooklyn's courthouse district because I knew that parking here would be difficult.  Luckily I was able to squeeze into a small spot (thanks to my taxi driving experiences from college days) and get an OK on my interpretation of the confusing signs from a nearby patrolman.

I love this area of Brooklyn -it has an inspiring majesty to it.  So after my check-in and wardrobe approval, I walked around and snapped a few photos of the court buildings.  There was also a raised bust of Robert F. Kennedy in front of the State Supreme Court building, the internals of which was to double for the New York Times' offices that we would later be populating.  I was particularly impressed by the inscription on one of the four sides of RFK's pedestal:

The movie, for which I was cast as a New York Times reporter, was entitled The Normal Heart.  It was based on the Larry Kramer play from the 1980's which depicted the difficulties associated with publicizing the AIDS epidemic.  Larry himself appeared on the set later in the day. He wore a barrette and a colorful quilt-motif jacket.  The director, Ryan Murphy, immediately sat him down by his side.

Larry Kramer

Director Ryan Murphy

As reporters, we were mostly told to either stand around the cubicles and shuffle papers or walk at a hurried pace while Mark Ruffalo and Matt Bomer interact.  Mark was friendly and a regular guy -he said "hi" to those near him. His looks reminded me of a young Marlon Brando.  There were other big names associated with this production that included Julia Roberts.  Unfortunately she was not in this scene. To us extras, it wasn't a difficult set to negotiate but the air kept being inundated by "smoke" from the special effects side of the room.  This "smoke" had a certain kind of smell to it that was somewhat affecting us.

Mark Ruffalo

Matt Bomer

Later in the day I was paired up with my friend Joseph, the Russian, whose ongoing funny commentary, albeit in low tones, got the attention of one of the young female PA's.  Joseph asked the "special effects guy" what the smoke was made of.  He told us that it was one part water and four parts of some type of glycol.  I asked if glycol was a form of alcohol.  He acknowledged that it was -but that it was safe.  We took his word for it as the "smoke machine" was now in full force while the director called "picture's up!".  Joseph and I were in direct line of the smoke and started to get silly about it.  More comical comments from Joseph, to which I couldn't help but smile and suddenly the young PA was in front of us.

"You two are talking too much, you'll have to go back to holding..."
Joseph immediately agreed "We would love to go back to holding!"

And away we went as one of the extra women asked us in low tones "What evil sin did you two commit?"
I told her we were "talking... it helped us to survive the effects of the smoke...".  She nodded to us with a smirk.

Holding was nice and quiet... and full of oxygen that revived our sensibilities again.  Both of us felt a sense of relief from having to continue to breathe in the alcohol-laden "smoke".  We whiled away the last hour chatting about movies, chess, philosophy and family.  And as the rest of the extras started to return, we were among the first to be checked out.  Getting into trouble has its advantages.

The HBO show aired on 5/25/2014....and I managed to be a blur in the NYT scene with Mark's character Ned. I thought they did a terrific job with the historical presentation and education about this worldwide disease. Ned was an inspiration with his fighting spirit and the importance of fighting AIDS needs to be re-emphasized -especially to our future generations.

Boardwalk Empire is always a work of art

Although I didn't think I'd be used again this season because of my politician role earlier, I was pleasantly surprised by the cast-call to be a banker.  A slightly different hairstyle and a mustache... and VOILA!  My role was to escort a couple of bank customers across the floor as part of the ambiance that leads into a confrontational scene with two of the actors. 

The location was in Tarrytown at a former college building called Butler Hall.  Originally it was established by a nun to educate women at the turn of the last century.  So it was a very historic location with a large domed ceiling, vintage columns and a checkered floor design being its most striking feature.  I could understand and appreciate the location scout's selection... it definitely works for a 1924 period scene.  Unfortunately, the parking logistics for extras was baffling: we were told not to park where the crew parked and sent to park at the set location.  At the set location we were told that we could not park here either and should go back to the crew parking.  The two attendants eventually spoke to each other and neither could come to an agreement.  Luckily the campus police lady provided us with legal parking options.

The day was rather hot and my mustache kept coming loose.  This called for a bit of extra pasting sessions with the makeup crew.  I was placed in one of the lobby's leather chairs, got re-mustached and told to stay indoors for a while to prevent my lip-sweat from solving the glue that would loosen the fake hair again.  While I was waiting, I was able to watch the scenes get set up more intently and I became fascinated as the actors replayed their roles for the closeups.  But my reverie was broken by an approaching large man in period clothing who looked me over and thinking that I was the "bank manger", introduced himself to me.  

We shook hands vigorously and I watched him walk towards the director.  He was then redirected to be introduced to the actor portraying the real "bank manager" and given a seat across from me in one of the principal actors' chairs.  I realized that he was actually one of the principals himself and smiled at him across the room.  He looked askance -I didn't feel the love...

I wasn't picked to be in any of the other scenes for the rest of the day, but I did get to be in a couple of time-expanding conversations.  The first was with a fellow bg actor who had just joined SAG in April and was telling me that he got lucky by being selected for a two-week stint on a movie project that allowed him to make up for the $3000 union fee.  He was also a base player from Louisiana and we chatted for a long time about music theory and Ricky Minor's lead role on the Jay Leno show.

Pretty soon another unused elderly extra, looking very much like the artist Rene Magritte, was joining our conversation and shared his former bartender experiences with us... this naturally segued into the realms of philosophy, which pretty much ate up the rest of the day's "waiting-to-be-used" time.  We also took in the scenery of the Hudson River and the reflection of the setting sun.  Wrap time was inconsequential.

Discovered... maybe?

While in the role of a hot-dog man ("roll" pun intended) during one of my movie stints last week (in this case it was American Hustle), one of the bystanders came up to me and asked about the movie being shot on this particular street corner of NYC. He struck up a conversation with me and two of the female extras nearby -all the while we were waiting for the "ACTION" announcement from the crew filming down the block.  My instructions were to go "deep" (that's movie talk for "you'll never be seen in this shot because you're way too far away from the camera").

But our curious bystander was "curious and curiouser" as we filled him in on who the principals were and what the movie was about.  I was giving him the back-story on the plot and he was fascinated.  Our banter eventually turned to talk about Broadway and the fact that I had seen Frankie Valli on American Idol's fantastic finale.  He immediately perked up and mentioned that he was with Frankie the other night and that he was a producer.  In fact, he was the producer for the Broadway show of Jersey Boys, which I was lauding to the stars for it's high entertainment quality and story line.

After several name droppings and anecdote exchanges between us he mentioned that he was reviving a musical based on "The Honeymooners" TV show from the 1950's and he began to rattle off the names of the stars who were already being cast for the main parts.  As I listened to him in awe he became inspired and said I looked like I could be one of the types in the cast... that I would fit in.  And then the main question was put to me: "By the way... can you sing?"

Me and Ralph Cramden statue near Port Authority

I immediately responded in my usual dopey flabbergasted manner..."Uh... yeah...I do folk singing -with my guitar!?".  I felt like smacking myself for not being more aggressive about the response... but his question caught me off guard.  Still, he persisted and asked me for a card -indicating a possible audition.  And then I felt like kicking myself because I didn't have one of my showbiz-cards with me in one of my hot-dog man outfit's pockets!  So I quickly tore off a piece of paper from the nearby garbage can's contents and penned my name and cell number on it.  And as "ACTION" was suddenly called, I hurriedly pressed the scrap of paper into his hand and excused myself to "play my role" of "hot-dog man crossing the street".
To my surprise, after looking back from across the street, I saw that the principals, along with the camera entourage, were standing on my original spot.  I guess that was a pretty hot corner after all... "deepness counts"! But I was way too engrossed in my new showbiz buddy to really care.

When "CUT" was called, I returned to my "number 1 position" and saw that "the producer" was still waiting there to let me know that he appreciated chatting with us and put my paper into his pocket.  We shook hands and he left me with the faintest of impressions that there might be some follow up. The two female extras nearby overheard everything and were now commenting on my luck and were offering me some bits of friendly endorsements by saying "Wow...you're lucky!  See, that's how it happens sometimes... good for you!". Great!

Yeah...just great.  Had I been a good singer, I would have been a shoo-in for an audition.  My imagination soared at the remotest possibilities of ME ON BROADWAY!  And I enjoyed that for a while but logically brought myself into reality as the day ended.  And later at home, I checked the web for the guy's name, "Rick Garber", but just couldn't find it anywhere... not even the slightest association with either the Jersey Boys or The Honeymooners musical (which was cancelled earlier this year before it ever got a chance to get started).  But I did find a face that resembled him ....  and his height and build was very similar to that of David O. Russel -the director of this project!!!?

So at the thought of having been "played"... my ego balloon was released and I watched it fly away... high into showbiz heaven... accepting that I'll never know the truth about this encounter.

Epilogue: I found an interesting quote from David O. Russell...
"... That's why I start every day in the van. I have a van, like the van that they drove me to the set in, and I want the actors, I want the head of every department to come with me in the van at the very first moment I arrive there, and let's talk about what the day is, so that everybody has a very intimate feeling of what we're doing. Because the movie's not out there on the set with all those extras trying to look at the camera. ..."

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

Jamie Foxx Electro-fies Spiderman

Made up to look like the president of the NERD-fest club, Jamie Foxx was having a great time with us between takes. He flirted with the girls and danced a few steps between takes. Luckily there was an army of paparazzi around to capture us in the background.  And of course they posted their photos that same night -and since there were soooo many photos, I picked out only the ones that I was in.

The shoot itself went relatively fast.  Jamie walking down the street in a typical "disgruntled employee" style: huffing and puffing, gesticulating in the air and bumping into people who inadvertently knocked off his glasses.    He makes a sharp turn into the office building and slams his way through the doors.  THAT, basically was all there was to this scene in front of the Hearst Tower on NYC's 8th Avenue -which was now doubling as the fictitious OSCORP building in the story.

Hearst Tower on 57th Street

Unlike the last time I was in Spiderman, where director Sam Raimi updated us on all of the backstory -on this set, there was no such "intimate" interaction with the background people.  The PA's were nice to us and gave us whatever we needed -but that special (caring) Raimi-touch was missing. I had no idea who the director was supposed to be at this shoot.

There were a few other background extras recruited for a "rainy night" scene later on (apparently they were told to bring raincoats) but I was happy with my small bg-role and the fact that I was able to be part of this second coming of the Amazing Spider Man.