Samantha Who and the Great Dane

Samantha Who has always been my least favorite show to work on because of the long hours, walk away lunches, and early early call times. Yet today might have been my favorite day of extra work ever. Why you ask? Because there was a Great Dane on set. His name was Bentley and everyone was going Ga-Ga over him. Yet, who did he like best on set? ME! I went up to his owner and befriended her immediately asking her questions and finding out what a great apartment dog he is (so reassuring). I got to hang out with him and pet him for 4 hours, and at the end, he gave me an endearing lick on the face. In one lap, his tongue went from chin to forehead. Onlookers grimaced and ewwwed, but I was in Heaven. I gave him a kiss on the nose, and he went on his way.

What also made this day great was the fact that I saw Charlie again. I hadn't seen him since Race to Witch Mountain. He didn't recognize me of course since he had never seen me out of costume, but after teasing him awhile, he figured it out. He told me I should work on True Blood, and he just happened to have worked in the scene that my friend Deborah worked on. He thought she was amazing, and that everyone else sucked. I had to call her and tell her. Jonathan Dillon was on set as well. I went to high school with him, and then also he transferred to USC film school when I started as well. It's always nice to see fellow Kansans, but he has to be one of the most awkward guys ever. We always end our conversations saying that we should hang out sometime, but we never do. Still, it was good to see him. Also on set I met this cool guy Dan (who looks like Mos Def) and also Rebecca (Becky) who I had met previously on The Amazing Miss Novak. We walked over to Trader Joes and McDonalds during our lunch and got food and a McFlurry. I usually don't eat during walk away lunches, but felt the need to be social. We became quite the trio, especially when we worked together again on Ghost Whisperer, but I'll get to that later.

There was a scene we did at a funeral later in the day. I was in a nice maroon sweater and dress pants and had my hair up. I feel the need to describe my appearance because of what happened during that scene. I was standing in my place as we were about to role when I heard the director shout, "What's the one who looks like one of us doing in the shot?" The 2nd Director came up to me quickly and told me to walk in to frame instead. I guess I look like a crew person. Which makes sense, I suppose since I went to film school. I just never knew that we had a "look". I glanced around the room trying to decipher what it was about me that differed from all the other extras. Besides the smile and happy disposition, I thought I fit in. Maybe it was the fact that I was young and happy and comfortable on set. Or maybe only crew people wear their hair up and extras are required to wear it down...who knows. But this is not the first time I have been confused with a crew person rather than an extra, and I'm sure it won't be the last.