Prison Break and the Bubble Gum

For some reason, I believe that I can get ready in exactly 15 minutes in the morning. This, obviously, is not accurate if I wish to do my hair and put makeup on. However, I continue to wake up 15 minutes before I need to leave to make it to set on time. It takes me 22 minutes to get ready, like always, and like always, I am running 7 minutes behind which I have to make up in my commute by going slightly (15 mph) over the speed limit.

For some political reason concerning his age I assume, Charlie was not there this morning. The day just got a little longer. I would have to find other ways to entertain myself which turned out to be no problem with my new accomplice, Amber. Amber was there on Wednesday and also I worked with her Thursday on Bones. She was young like me and normal and just as highly entertained and annoyed by the crazy people...perfect set friend. I spent the early part of the morning writing a poem for Charlie, longing for his presence in my life.

I once met a man, a retiree turned actor.

His name was Charlie and he filled me with laughter

He told me about his days in the navy

And how he slept with more than 150 a lady

Now a married man, to his wife he'll be true

So now his caring friendship will have to do

Charlie and I, we were quite the pair

Over 40 years older, but I didn't care

He was funny and charming and never boring

He kept me on set from sleeping and snoring

Yes Charlie and I were two peas in a pod

For I was his Harold and he was my Maude.

Cheesy, I know, but that's how I roll. At 11 o'clock sharp, Amber tapped me on the shoulder so that we could go to craft service for some Coke. She is already getting to know me so well. Those 6:30 AM call times really kill me. Down at crafty, they also had mac & cheese. It became my quest to retrieve some without getting noticed, since that scrumptious delicacy was for the crew only. I'm a girl, so I probably didn't have to tread so sneakily, but still, where's the fun in that, and in the end I won my cheesy prize. Amber was not as courageous, but lunch was in an hour so the stakes weren't too high. During lunch, we eavesdropped on an interesting pair next to us and talked about our distaste for this one woman who was quite obnoxious and since she was sick, was afraid to call her guy friends because she feared that they were going to find her voice too sexy. Trust me, I can't ever imagine that being an issue....EVER. She'd be lucky to bed any guy, if they're her friends first?..More power to her. That means they can stand her. After lunch, I went to the bathroom. There was a bulimic in the stall next to me. So awkward. I never saw her face.

After lunch, Amber and I were told to be deep background outside along with about 15 others. We went over to crafty to get some blow pops. I got a cherry and she got a sour apple. When was the last time you had a blow pop? Years, right? They are nasty yet sugary delight. We spent the next few moments trying to blow the biggest bubble. Onlookers seemed disinterested, like walking zombies, but still amused enough to watch. The gum continued to get sticker, making each burst bubble more difficult to scrape off my lips and skin. Just then a guy walked by eating a Peanut Butter Cup. I had an epiphany. When I was a little kid, I once blew a bubble sooooo big that it blew up and got in my hair. My mom used peanut butter to disintegrate the gum. Amber's mom used lighter fluid...eeks. I decided to make my sticky lips a little worse in order for optimum results. Then I went to get a slightly melted Peanut Butter Cup and started dabbing the peanut butter all over and around my lips. It worked like a charm, and also softened my skin. I think they should start making peanut butter lotions in fact..au naturel.

Jack, the hilarious extra's coordinator who reminisced all day about his craziest days on set, decided to wrap most of the background. I was one of 15 chosen to stay. An hour later, they cut those 15 down to 7. I was still one of the lucky ones. Yes...lucky. We were in overtime so I was getting paid $16/hr to read a book and the longer I stayed, the less traffic I would have to fight on my way home. I was never used those extra 2 hours. Sweet victory.

Prison Break and the Truth About My Charlie

I was running late again this morning, but you cannot judge me because unlike running late at 12 in the afternoon, I was running late at 5:30 AM and about to travel 35 miles to Long Beach (aka Miami, Fl). I got there in time because of my tactful driving just so I could wait in line for half an hour to check in and watch the sunrise. I grabbed some scrambled eggs for breakfast that I drowned in ketchup in order to make them edible (a trick of the trade) and sat down ready for action. After hours of waiting and doing the infamous nod nod...JERK, I decided that today's shoot qualified me for a Coke. You see, I gave up caffeine many years ago, but sometimes the early calls require a little boost of energy. I made rules: I can only have caffeine if I wake before 6 AM, and if I do, I can only drink said caffeinated beverage between the hours of 11 AM and 3 PM. Needless to say, that can of Coke was opened at 11 AM on the dot. I was pretty wired until 6 PM...so it did its job.

I was playing a convention goer at an Energy conference, and the head speaker gets assassinated. Pretty exciting stuff. You wouldn't believe how difficult it is to try and act like someone is shooting at you. I'm rather well practiced since it happens all the time in TV, but can't say that I can draw from experience. My friend Charlie can, however. Charlie, if you recall, is my 70 year old protector from Race to Witch Mountain. The second he saw me today he said, "You looked better in the wig." Thanks Charlie. Always one to compliment. Now, Charlie is one of the most entertaining people that one could be blessed to know in one's life. His mother was in burlesque and worked with Danny Thomas, he ran off with his wife because her dad was in the KKK and did not care for Charlie's Judaism, and according to him, he slept with over 150 women between 1955 and 1959. He was in the Navy, apparently women couldn't resist a man in uniform back then. But sleeping with all those women got him into trouble because one night his ladyfriend's husband decided to check up on her. Charlie hid under the bed before running off down Bourbon Street in his underwear while rounds went whizzing by. Silly Charlie, such a ladies man. "Man, if only I were 30 years younger," he said. "But Charlie, last time you said that it was 40 years younger!" "I'm going to go drain my dragon, though my doctor told me not to do any heavy lifting." That Charlie...one in a million. (Don't even get me started on the orgy he told me about...eeeek!) Here is a picture of Charlie on the set of Angels and Demons...as a Cardinal...ironic, isn't it? He is and ever shall be my protector and friend, and Damn...set is never boring with him there.

Like two peas in a pod, I'm his Harold and he's my Maude.

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.

Race to Witch Mountain

This past week, I got to wake up at 4 am and drive 40 minutes to and from Pomona Fairgrounds in order to play a coveted Larper. A Larper is (for you non-geeks out there) a Live Action Roleplaying (LARP) Person (ER?). I'm not going to act like I understand their world, but you know...this was pretty fun. AND I had the BEST costume out of everyone there. AnnaSophia Robb (the young lead actress in it) told me that herself. She even filmed me for some behind the scenes coverage. Oh costume, how great you were. It was a one piece spandex suit that covered fingers and toes and went up to my neck. Over that, I wore what can only be described as a high tech trashbag. Add the 4 inch heels that matched my sparkly spandex skin and a big black wig and a sparkly star-decored headdress thing that weighted down my shoulders and you have a Larper costume like none other. Please see illegal pics below to appreciate full effect. Next came the makeup, and can I say, my makeup guy loved me. Apparently he can't handle it when people look at him when he puts lipstick on, and he would crack up laughing. On the last day, our relationship became so great that he tried to steal my nose like a 5 year old. He was the best, and all the hair people were jealous of our relationship and competed, I feel, to see who would be graced with the honor of putting on or taking off my wig. I had a different person each time which was crazy since there were 6 of them and I only had to wear the costume 3 days, but my makeup guy, I was all his. I really hope I see him again.

I couldn't fit through doorways. I had to duck down because with the head dress and heels I was about 7 feet tall. Needless to say, I'm in the deep background for a lot of the sci-fi convention scenes. Oh but so easily spottable. In fact, I'm pretty sure I talked to every single one of the 400 or so extras. They all had to come up to me and touch my costume. "You look like a hershey kiss", "You look like a mushroom", "You look like a bag of trash", I got them all. For some reason they were all fascinated by me. It did wonders for my confidence. And then there was Charlie. Charlie is a retired 69 year old who used to be in the Navy before making his millions in the pant industry. He was my protector and was desperate to see me out of my costume. He kept telling me I was a 10 and if only he were 40 years younger... He was a hoot and was always up to trouble. He went up to one black girl who thought she was all that and told her she was a 7. "That", he said as he pointed to me, "that is a 10". Of course he had no idea what I really looked like. The only real me that showed were my eyes. I think the mystery behind what I looked like was the real appeal, and some guys were getting a little too obsessive about all of us female larpers that a few were sent home for sexual harassment. I should have reported a few men, but I never felt really threatened as long as Charlie was there to scare them off.

My only real threat came on the 2nd day of filming towards the end of the day. My back was killing me as usual from carrying that heavy headdress on my shoulders. As I was rolling my shoulders during a break a guy offered to massage my shoulders. Apparently he took some classes, but I'm not sure I believe him. Don't get me wrong, it felt amazing and was greatly appreciated, but he had to go and ruin it when he said "You, me, a bottle of baby lotion, and a king size bed". I received no more back rubs after that...not that he didn't try. It became my goal for the rest of the week to avoid him and all of his hoots and hollers from across the room. He had a tattoo on his bicep. I have a theory about guys with tattoos...they're always up to no good.

My costume, though amazing, did prove to be quite the hassle. There was the back pain and sore bleeding feet (which I nursed back to health thanks to my new uggs I received a month before my birthday) and the fact that I couldn't go to the bathroom without taking off my trashbag and unzipping myself out of my costume. Now, the average person goes to the bathroom like 3 times a day, but a female during a certain week of a month goes to the bathroom a little more. It was always quite the event and took me about 10 minutes to get in and out and do my thing. It was pretty much the biggest pain in the ass imaginable.

I made a few friends on set which and we'd hang out and eat lunch together during breaks and what not. There was Ashley who was from Florida and was a pink Larper and Amy who was only there 2 days because she went to Disneyland to audition to be Snow White. She didn't get the part unfortunately but did make it past 3 cuts which is impressive. Arthur and Jonah balanced us out and we became quite the cool little bunch and made promises to hang out later which of course never materialized. On Friday, only Ashley and I returned from our group. They cut the call by a few hundred people, and neither of us had to wear our costumes which was bittersweet. Ashley got to return on a SAG voucher...I did not. Lady Luck has never been with me. At the end of the night I went up to the 2nd 2nd Assistant and asked him why Ashley got to return on a SAG voucher and I did not. Apparently there were only like 3 given out and they gave them to non-union people with crazy costumes like myself. He leaned back in his chair and put his arms behind his neck and smiled, "Mary-Ellen. She decides, and I had nothing to do with it". He wasn't trying to be mean and I found him empathetic because Mary-Ellen is crazy and he had to deal with her more than I did. She is the casting person from central who casts and handles background for most motion pictures. I smiled at him and nodded and walked away to head home, holding in my tears till I reached the cool refreshing night air.