June gigs

I was almost sure that I'd be sitting June out.  Many of the recent extra gigs have been primarily doled out to SAG/AFTRA people.  And there doesn't seem to be any big demand for a "cast of thousands"... or even hundreds!  But I can't complain about auditions... I've had a couple this month; two of them with call-backs. Unfortunately none of them with a booking.  But I remain optimistic, after all, my call-back statistics have increased and my real-life job interviews have suddenly come back to life.  Looks like I might be getting back to a real-pay job for a couple of months soon.

During the first week of June, I got a call to go out to the tip of Long Island... to Montauk Point (a.k.a. "The End").  We were supposed to be vacationers on a ferry boat to Block Island while one of the principals ponders meeting her paramour there... hence the title of the show: The Affair.

Ruth Wilson in the foreground checks her iPhone while I hang back at the orange life-saver!

But the day turned out to be cold and rainy... and the boat was rocky.  Some people got wooozy even though the PA's were giving out Dramamine. I was in shorts and wearing a sandal as the wind blew the cold rain at us.  What fun.

A week later I managed to book The Nest.  A Tina Fey and Amy Poehler comedy about sisters who plan to throw one big party before selling their "nest" house. We extras were airport travelers in the old EAB building's atrium on Long Island. This was yet another rainy day but thankfully we were indoors.  Here the PA's were kept real busy as the building's worker-bees tried to sneak an iPhone snapshot of the two principals.  Shoo...Shooo. At one point,one of my old bosses whom I worked for back in the 1990's showed up from his local office.  We barely shook hands as he was quickly escorted from the set.  I got a real chuckle out of that!

Five days later I got the call to be a 1985-ish golfer for Red Oaks, a coming of age comedy for Amazon.  It starred Paul Riser in this scene, who drove up to the set's posh golf club in a late model Corvette.  I was assigned to drive around in a golf-cart. But I didn't mind.  It was the first time I had ever driven one of those electric do-hickeys.  At another point in the story, one of the PA's asked me if I could hit a golf ball!  I said "SURE!" (I was always pretty good at miniature golf.)  I was then taken to one of the tee-off areas where another extra was smashing the balls across the field.  The PA suddenly said to me, "If the director doesn't like the way that guy hits... you're up next!"  GULP!  I'd never hit a "real" golf ball like that... but I was ready to give it a try.  Trouble was, that everyone was focused on the golfer at the tee.  The cameramen, the director, the director's assistant... and their assistants.  I thought it was just a background kind of deal... where no one really cares what happens at the "deep end of the camera's horizon".  But luck was with me... they liked the guy and I was sent back to holding without ever having a go at it.  Perhaps that was a good thing?

Later as they placed us by the poolside, I was paired with a sunglassed guy named Josh.  Our direction was to chat it up as the pool activity (swimming, bikini girls going by, sunbathing, etc.) was going on.  And that's when I found out that Josh was actually the stand-in double for George Clooney! He'd been in a couple of his movies and became friends with the major star... to the point where they were tossing a baseball to each other.  And as I wondered just how close Josh really looked to Clooney, he took off the sunglasses. WHOA!  He really did resemble GC... a lot.  Now that's the kind of job that keeps you employed -at least as long as George makes movies. (I wonder if he'll get an invite to the upcoming rumored wedding?)

The following week kept me busy with commercial call-backs.  I got two of them.  For me that's a first.  Unfortunately... they didn't pan out.  But a quick Sunday call for a reality gig originating from England, called Taking New York, was shooting in DeWitt Clinton Park on the west side.  They needed a couple of "elderly chess players" in a hurry for a Sunday afternoon.  I love chess... and the chance to play a game (and get paid for it) was appealing a lot to me.  So I went.  As it turned out there were four of us in the background but only me and another chess player were used at the park's chess tables.  For the next three hours, my new chess-buddy and I played a couple of games.  I won one and he won one.  But just as our tie-breaker game was taking off, the cute PA came over and told us that "unfortunately we're wrapped" but getting paid for the whole day.  Excellent!

So I did a comparison of my last year's work-frequency record and the one for this year, and what do you know.  It was almost exact in the number of jobs and the money made.  So why does it seem like I'm hardly working?

Epilogue:  Got the real-life-with-real-pay job!  Guess I'll be going on showbiz hiatus for a while...

May gigs

It's 1931 in the Boardwalk Empire saga

May was kind of a slow month also... but then Boardwalk Empire began to pick up steam and I was on board once again.  I was cast as a Shriner inside a burlesque joint -enjoying the voluptuous exposure of the dancing girls.  All the while throwing pop corn ...and acting like the boisterous guy I really am! Lots of fun on this shoot.  But the interesting part was the meeting between Nucky and Joe Kennedy.  Can't wait to see this episode.  Wonder what the story line will be between them?

My only other gig was yet another scene in The Leftovers. It was a night shoot but I got picked with another guy to act as "father and son returning to the party inside the school".  This allowed us to pass in front of the town sheriff played by Justin Thoreaux.

Justin Thoreaux and GR victim

There was also a strange scene with the "GRs"... a cult made up of silent people clad in white who chain-smoke.  Their presence upsets the peace so that the sheriff and his men begin a mass arrest. Oh so mysterioso!  This show is starting to air in the summer.

That's me at the fundraiser party scene where the mayor and the chief announce the recovery of the missing doll

I almost got onto White Noise but the production company reduced the number of extras needed.  I hear this happening more and more from the other background extras also.  Seems that cutbacks are starting to affect even our lowest-paying jobs. And I always thought that when the economy gets bad, the movie industry gets better. Oh well, at least they feed us... most of the time.

April gig

I was traveling to California in April and couldn't really work much this month until I got back to NY.  So the only show I worked was Royal Pains.  Luckily it was a very colorful (when is RP not colorful?) presentation: a Indian baby-naming party at Oheca Castle on the North Shore (yet another scene at Oheca!) of Long Island.

The gig lasted for 2 glorious days... although I've been told by my Indian friends that these parties can last much, much longer. Lots of people dressed in beautiful saris and sherwanis with a couple of turbans here and there -not me, I wish I did but I was told to wear a light suit during the affair.  Which reminds me... one of the "guests" was played by a former Seinfeld character, "Babu Bhatt" -aka Brian George (really!).

Everyone in the crowd recognized him as the "You are very bad man!" Pakistani character.  Even here, he put on a bit of a show as he argued a minor point with the director regarding where he should be looking as the camera rolled.  It was quite comical.  Especially since he spoke perfect English...in fact a perfect British Queen's English.

On the second day, we continued "the party" at the Sands Point Castle location.  A large estate, The Hempstead House was utilized for the "Rock 'N Roll" scene of the ongoing baby-naming party.  One of the band members started to look awfully familiar as the "takes" kept repeating on and on, until it was pretty clear that it was Kevin Eubanks.  His faking of the base-guitar playing over the dubbed-in music was done just too well!!!

The following day, I drove back to the Hempstead House to show my son where the show was staged. Unfortunately, all the colorful props, curtains, and festive regalia were... gone.  Only the hammering of the film's construction crew was heard throughout the house.  Regretfully, there wasn't much to show, other than the beautiful view over the sound toward the Connecticut shore.  But he enjoyed that nonetheless. I took him out for breakfast at a nearby health-food eatery.  Even though I couldn't get the satisfaction of showing him "my workplace", we had a great time catching up on father-and-son quality time.  Even SAG-pay couldn't equal that thrill.

March gigs

A very busy month...that included a zombie-series!
It doesn't get any better than this... It's the reason I do this work.

Other gigs this month included:

• The Good Wife- got to see Jule's acting up-close in a courtroom scene, where I was a juror candidate.  Unfortunately, all I got featured was the back of my balding pate. 

• The Leftovers- What a fiasco!  There was a real fire near the holding area.  Then later on the rain caused some problems.  One of which included me falling on the dark-lit grass in pouring rain and dropping my iPhone.  I returned later and found it by pure ESP-luck-in-the-dark!
• Babylon Fields - The "dead" come back to life in a small town.  It was a cold day but the activity was great.  I had one of the zombies in the back of my car and was "accosted" by a HAZMAT guard!!

My overacting is trully under-rated...

• Blue Bloods- provided an opportunity to blab away with the core group of cops... a very funny bunch.  Made the slow day go quickly at the Brooklyn set.
• The Following- I was a "hostage" in the final episodes of the season. One out of 200 extras doing a crouching submission as "Joe's cultists" were pointing guns at us inside a church.  Exciting!!!

We spent 3 days on this "hostage" scene in The Following.

I also had a trip planned for California.  The birth of my grandson allowed for a 10 day hiatus from showbiz gigs.  Unfortunately, it also reduced my working momentum.  But it was well worth the experience.

February gigs

One of the most snowy settings on Park Avenue in NYC was during the first week of February.  It was an external shoot for Believe where the child-star of the show stops a posh Bentley in its tracks while we extras do various types of pedestrian moves. Luckily I was selected to wait for an SUV and enter it as the posh Bentley pulls out in front of us.  The poor woman inside the SUV was worried to death that her newly purchased "picturecar" would get into an accident in the slushy street.  I reassured her that the car would be ok because the PA's would guide her during each of the repeated takes.  Of course, she almost ran down one of the overly-helpful PA's trying to dodge both her car and that of the busy Park Avenue traffic.   As the afternoon progressed, large flakes of snow started to fall and we were taken to another address on Park Ave.  As we extras walked past the cross streets, we all started to marvel at the beautiful scenery that nature had provided for us... and whipped out our iPhone-cameras to capture a special NYC-moment.  In the next scene I was placed next to the child-star of the show along with her companion, as we did some more walk-by moves until the day ended.

Finally landed my first appearance on The Good Wife.  Ever since I had the occasion to chat with Julianna Margulies' father a couple of years ago, I wanted to see what she was like on set.  Her father was quite a success in his heyday of showbiz and advertising...as well as an interesting philosopher.  One of his most popular pieces of advertising work was the "Plop-Plop, Fizz-Fizz...Oh what a relilef it is!" jingle for Alka Seltzer.  At the time of our chat, he was very enthusiastic in recommending us to go and see his daughter's latest work.  Definitely a proud dad.

But my stint as a handshaking-extra in this particular episode on the external set in Brooklyn only allowed me to stand by as she and Chris Noth passed by us. This was one time I would have loved to have a chance to chat with a principal. But those moments remain rare... very rare. The other memorable moment at this gig was my difficulties with finding a parking spot in frozen ice on the streets of suburban Brooklyn.  After a half-hour of searching, I decided to shoehorn my car into a frozen dug-our spot, only to find that my front wheels were stuck and my car was somewhat angled into the street.  I left the car and prayed that the mid-day sun would somehow provide the thaw for my eventual release. When I returned to the frozen tundra, I made a few back and forth angled motions with the front-drive wheels and VOI LA!  I was free... FAITH... it's a powerful thing!  (Of course my driving instincts were pretty good too.)

The handshaking action was not kept in -but I did manage to be a 3/4 profile on the left side.

The third gig of the month was an indie production: Bad Hurt. The set was in Staten Island and it paid $8 per hour!? That's different.  Usually it's $85/10 hrs or $88/10 hrs... but $8 per hours??? So I star-searched my soul (via IMDB) for the reason to do this strange-paying gig and came up with "Karen Allen" -who interestingly enough, has a clothing store near where Julianna Margulies' father lives (my wife and I often buy from there when we visit that area). Karen Allen was cast as the central character in the role of a strong matriarch of an Irish family.  But as badly as I wanted her to be there... it was not to be.  She wasn't in this particular "bus ride" scene.  And a bus ride it was.  Our driver was none other than Theo Rossi, one of the main characters in the successful TV series called Sons Of Anarchy.  He was really friendly with us "older bus passengers" -entertaining us with some insights of his time on SOA and answering questions from the younger crowd (who were a lot more familiar with his SOA role than I was).  Theo had an action-packed fight scene with one of the other characters while driving us around!  Excellent!!! Loved it... want to come back -hopefully for a scene with Karen Allen.

My next gig was a commercial for a major drug company.  It was being shot in Williamsburg, Brooklyn at a loft and I was cast in the role of a father with a cancer-stricken wife and a zesty "16-year old daughter".  This was one of the most courteous cast and crew I had ever had the privilege to work with...

And just when I though February was done, a 7:30 AM rush-call got me into yet another episode of The Following -it was the season finale episodes where I play a hostage inside a church.  This turned out to be a three-day ordeal, part of which was filmed in the dark! A number of crazy things happened during the filming: 2 people got hit on the head with a small camera and one of the hostages threw up in front of us!? Throughout all this, my buddy Josef and I were having a grand old time with running commentary and some prayer so as not to be the next ones to get bopped.  I can hardly wait to see the finished product on this one!

January gigs

Blue Bloods broke the ice... in a manner of speaking, for my first gig in this icicled January of 2014.  The episode entitled "Manhattan Queens" made sense only when I saw it air tonight! I was cast as member of a posh club who is witnessing the arrest of one of its members.  As it happened, the member was doing a "Crying Game" relationship with a drag queen -and was in line for the suspicion of her demise.

Donnie Wahlberg was the director for this episode... on one of the coldest days in single digit weather history.  But there were some advantages to standing out on these glacials we call streets: free pizza from the 99 cent pizza store, free cup of chicken noodle soup from the roaming crafty, and the best was unlimited free cappuccino (or whatever type of coffee derivative you wanted) from the new Harley Davidson store's barista-bar across the street.  But I have to admit, this was one of the better episodes I've seen. Wahlberg's character showed some interesting development with regard to his sensitive handling of the unusual case.

Subsequent gigs this month included Law and Order SVU, The Knick, The Blacklist and a Chobani yogurt commercial. On SVU, I had to ride the escalator up and down a dozen times at Pier 80 on the West side of Manhattan's shipping terminals (it substituted as an airline terminal at the time).  At one point, Mariska was behind me and since she was initiating conversations with us extras, I asked her an impromptu question: "Do you still speak Hungarian?" .  She was a bit caught off guard with that but came back with a "Yes...yes... occasionally... I do."  But my conversation was cut short by the extra in front of me, who decided all of a sudden to awaken from his hour-long quiet zombie-like state to usurp my moment with the star!  He butted in and asked her "..and do you also read and write Hungarian?"... Mariska cordially entertained his queries with a short (albeit unconvincing) "Yes."  And suddenly we reached the top of the escalator only to repeat the Sisyfusian scene of riding it down again.  Oh well... so much for star-chatting.

On The Knick, I was given a large overcoat that completely clashed with my ocra-colored outfit -but I didn't care because the weather was turning cold.  This was one of the last scenes to be shot for the series and I was already missing it. I believe it's slated to air sometime in March this year. The Knick shtik provided me with yet another haircut -and just in time.  I was slated to do a black tie affair on The Blacklilst as a diplomat the following week.

That's me on top of the bottles!

The Blacklist was shot at one of the fancy 5th Avenue consulate buildings. I had attended a school just around the corner, and in those days whenever I passed this structure, I had always wondered what it was like inside.  Now I knew!  Marbled walls and floors all over the inside of the old building.  We were spread along the ballroom area near the front entrance.  I was teamed up with a couple of other "dignitaries" as James Spader and Megan Boone dance past us.  Later on there's even an alarm and gunfire for us to react to -as in: "Let's get the hell out of here!"  One of the more exciting scenes I've ever been in... at such a close range.  We were there for long hours but I didn't mind it -watching the principals rehearse right next to us was terrific... and the paycheck wasn't bad either!

The Chobani commercial was one long waiting affair.  About 250 of us were hired and kept in a large ball room... most of us for about seven hours.  Occasionally the PA's would take a few of us out to the "set" and they would never be heard from again!  Eventually, towards the end of the day, some people from our table were chosen and the rest sent home!?  We didn't know what to expect but were told to load into a van.  The van driver took us around the block, which included the snow covered Madison Square Park in the Flatiron District, and after about 20 minutes of heavy traffic, let us out.  For crying out loud -we could have walked it in less time!  But here we were at the side of a building and told to "just walk down the street and react naturally".

Bearfoot in the park... resting bear-impersonator between takes.

Suddenly a huge "bear-impersonator" appears and we scatter.  CUT!  WRAP! We are then told to go to one of the trailers on the side, fill out our tax papers and eventually expect our pay.  At least we were let go while it was still daylight. (Epilogue: This portion of the Chobani commercial only made it to the web. Only the "rampaging bear in the general store" was shown during the Olympics.  Bummer!)

Many of my bg-buddies have complained that they weren't getting too much work this month.  For many of them the last gig of the month was their first for the new year.  I guess my "I'll work in any weather!" attitude has paid off.  Selected because no body else wanted to do it?  I get that a lot these days.  It's a strange act... but I get it.

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.