House - The Obsession Begins!

This might be the single most important day of my extra career because this day changed me.

I was working on House again, which meant nothing to me because I didn't watch the show. I was playing a PA. Perfect casting! We started the scene, and I made my cross over to where the trash can was before we cut. I stayed over there till the chaos halted and that is when Hugh Laurie came toward me. I had thought that he was pretty attractive for a 49 year old, but the hot factor went down quite a bit when I saw him light a cigarette outside. My friend Kate texted me that I should tell him to stop being a stereotype. I guess this might have been my chance. My eyes were most likely bugging out of their sockets as I awaited his next move. That is when he threw away a gum or candy wrapper, but instead of getting a nice 2 pointer, it bounced off the backboard...ME. "Sorry sorry," he quickly muttered, but he looked genuinely apologetic as he bent down to pick his trash off the floor. But I really didn't care. He spoke to me.

I made friends with the 2nd 2nd Assistant Michelle...well not really friends, but she was only a few years older and we talked film school and bonded a bit. This was important I suppose because she let me shadow her awhile and didn't seem annoyed by my close proximity. So, instead of going back to holding for a break, I stood by her side, and that is when I heard it. It was the most beautiful sound in the world. Somebody was playing the piano...and extremely well. The "Flight of the Bumblebee" is no simple task, and it was being played perfectly. "Who is playing?" I asked Michelle. "Oh, that is Hugh. He sometimes plays during breaks." My heart melted. Hugh Laurie can play the piano. When he came back in view I started looking at him differently. Suddenly, he was drop dead gorgeous, the hottest and sexiest man ever. So much more attractive in person, and that is not just the piano talking. He's tall and has great style and a sleek 5 o'clock shadow. Okay, now I realize that the style and whiskers is part of his character Dr. House, and not Hugh Laurie, but at the moment they were one and the same. I was in love.

This was the first episode of TV that I actually saw myself in as well, and after watching the episode, I fell in love with the show. If you care to find me...I'm in a maroon shirt crossing right to left in a wide shot in the episode "The Living Dream" when House visits the Soap Opera set.

Samantha Who and the Sugar Daddy

Samantha Who won't allow any blondes be background. I guess they don't want any confusion with its star. I adopted a friend on set, which is what you do on set. You don't really make lifelong friends, you make friends for the day. She was a photographer that was doing this part-time. She also lived in a nice loft downtown. You may be asking yourself, "wow, she must be successful?" No...no she is not. She has a sugar daddy. A married man from Texas or somewhere who comes to LA every once in awhile and helps her pay her rent. Apparently there is a website where you, yes you reading this, can find a sugar daddy of your very own. I considered it for maybe a second before realizing that I could never live with myself if I were to stoop so low. Ask me again in a few years.

Deal or No Deal

November 9th, 2007 was my first audience experience with Deal or No Deal. January 17th, 2008 was my second and March 18th, 2008 was my final encounter with Mr. Howie Mandel. My first experience was uneventful, except I learned a mighty good lesson: eat before coming. You're lucky to be given candy at those things to keep you from falling asleep. Also, pretty girls in sexy dresses get paid more. Don't ask. My 2nd experience was amazing because the American Gladiators were there. OMG!! Titan had huge thighs and Helga was a beast, but most importantly, Wolf was there. I liked to think that he was checking me out the whole time...but really, he was sitting across from me. I was a little star-struck. It was like meeting Superman. I was so exicted I texted my friend Kate immediately when I finished. She replied, "I'm escorting Alan Alda". And so are the days of our lives. My final day was the best because the episode was Star Wars themed. Now, I haven't seen all the Star Wars films, but this was pretty cool. Storm Troopers instead of models, Darth Vader instead of the banker, and special guest Carrie Fisher. The funniest part is that Carrie Fisher was doing a Play in Berkeley that Kate was assisting with and had no clue that Carrie Fisher was in LA doing Deal or No Deal. That means that Kate and I both saw Carrie Fisher the same day in two different cities. What other two friends on earth could possibly claim that? Oh Deal or No Deal...it was fun while it lasted, but you don't feed me and my ass is tired from sitting.

CSI: NY....Yummmmm

It had been quite a few months since my last extra gig. The money had run out and the interviews hadn't been going so well. So now I get to play a CSI tech and a cop. I was running a little bit late to set and though it had not been five minutes, I received a phone call from Central wondering where I was. I was afraid for what was to come. I made a friend on set who used to be a chemist and now he was an extra. That's quite the 180 if you ask me. We got a hold of some sides and acted out the scene together. It involved the CSI that Eddie Cahill plays interrogating some woman who stole her child from some unsuspecting parents way back or something like that. But before that scene played out, I got to go into the morgue for an intense quiet scene as two actors were looking at a burnt corpse deciding its gender. The director asked for one more take cause the actors had been on a role. I was crossing foreground in front of them..very quietly and headed over to put my folder on a metal table just as the actors finished their dialogue when BAM! I knocked into a metal cart which crashed into the glass wall. The Director yelled out CUT!... There goes the moment. All was fine though, and I actually made the director and the whole crew laugh. My face was turning bright red. Apparently I didn't kill the moment because we didn't have to do the take again, but also I opened myself up to ridicule and teasing from everyone on set.

Being teased and getting attention must be an attractive quality to have because as the scene ended, a fellow extra who used to be the naked dead body I was tagging decided to find out a little more about me. Note to all men reading this: When trying to guess a girl's age, never go up once you guess wrong. And boy..did he guess wrong...in fact he gave up before he even got to my age. "28? 29? 30? 27? 26? 25? 24? 23? Ok I give up..15?" In case you are all wondering, I was 22 at the time but apparently could pass for 30!! I felt so old at that moment and wanted to curl up in a ball and die. But not right away because I later found out the key to doing extra work...good food. There was grilled chicken and steak and crab legs and sushi, and the food was all brilliant. 5 star restaurant quality. How had I not known this before? People do extra work for the food. One of the PAs told me he gained 30 lbs while on set and then works it off when they are on hiatus. Too many cookies and cakes. I'd believe it. I couldn't remember the last time I had eaten so well. Who has chicken AND steak for lunch? Me....that's who.

After lunch I got to be a cop. The uniform was...well...interesting. When the costume lady asked my waist size, I replied with 28, which it is. So she gave me size 28 pants. Ten minutes later I come back down asking for a different size. I couldn't even get the pants on up to my knees. She gives me a 30 and a 32. Nope and Nope. I finally go back and grab the 34s. Snug, but I was too embarrassed to go back down for a bigger size. My escapade was witnessed by a stand-in doing yoga in the dressing room. "You better get a bigger size. You'll want to be comfortable." I didn't listen, but I don't think it mattered. Gun belts were not meant to be worn by women. I have never been so uncomfortable in my life. My back was killing me. I couldn't stand, I couldn't sit, I was pretty much resenting every single women's movement which called for equal jobs for both men and women. But seriously, if there was a burglar in your house...would you want a male cop or a female cop to show up and kill the bastard?......that's what I thought. What made matters worse is that the guest actress reading the part of the childnapper was dreadful. The whole crew was cringing and about to lose it. We were doing take after take of this woman's deadpan delivery. Move over Buster Keaton! Though obviously she could never pass it off as comedy...none of us were laughing at her, grinding our teeth, yes, laughing, no. My chemist friend came up to me later and told me that I was so much better in our little cold read. I was flattered, but wondered who couldn't have done better? Oh, there seemed hope for me yet. If she was getting work, I could too. And after a meal like the one I had on set, I was anxiously waiting for my next stint as an extra.

Heroes...Oh to be 18 again

I love the TV show Heroes, and was very excited about working on it. I also got to play a high school student which had the potential to give me quite a blast from the past. I wore a t-shirt that I bought at American Eagle my senior year and some khakis. I looked...well...let's just say I fit the part. I could have recreated photos from my youth. It was a short easy 4 hour day that required about 200 of us walking quickly out of a high school as if class was over. Easy enough. Hayden Panettiere ran through the crowd against the current. We did the take a few times, at the end she cursed "fuck" right at me. I felt that we connected. We were one. We could have been mind readers. They had pizza for a snack. There was a girl from some European country I can't remember eating pizza before a take. She took a bite, but then we started rolling, so she put her slice back in the box. The Craft Service guy saw it and threw a hissy fit telling her how disgusting she was. He then proceeded to throw the whole pizza box including 3/4ths a pizza away in the trash. It was hilarious.

If you are scratching your head wondering what this scene was and what episode it was in, do not fear....it never got past the cutting room floor.

House and the Penis Shoes

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows came out last weekend. Sure, I read it in 18 hours throughout the night and into the day, but I felt it deserved a 2nd read less than a week later. House gave me that opportunity because I was there for like 12 hours and used for maybe 10 minutes. I would have been used more, but I was supposed to be an administrative assistant and I did not have a suit yet to wear. They made me a kiosk person and hid me off camera the one time they felt I was appropriate for the scene. Cause a pink blur looks sooooo much different than a blue or grey one. Oh well, there was a lot of down time for everyone. One lady in particular was an aspiring inventor and with the help of another extra, they decided to design a shoe that could be both a heel and a flat. You see....the heel part would spring out from the bottom and there would be a compartment in the shoe for when you wanted them to be flats. They called it Cocoon and even designed the label. Amazing idea, no? Oh wait...you mean that these people have no clue about shoes or the differences in pressure points and arches in shoes? So this shoe would be inplausible? Huh..if only someone had the heart to tell them. Don't worry, I found them to be highly unmotivated and knew they would forget about this scheme long before I ever would. In fact I began to mock it by designing my own shoe using their concept except making it erotic, since the only way this shoe would work would be as art in a museum. I called it a penis shoe. You can use your imagination. I hate to say it, but they really shouldn't quit their day jobs.

Monk and the Curse of the Starving Extras

Okay, so I decided to give extra work another shot. I needed the money, and I'm sure you would do the same in my situation. It was a 2 PM call and would probably only last till dusk at 8 PM. We were to be San Fran people moseying around the Westwood area. I haven't seen the episode, but assume I made it in because Tony Shalloub ran into me quite a few times. My first physical contact with a somewhat famous person. Don't worry..I've washed the shirt since. Along came 8 PM and we still weren't wrapped and the complimentary donuts we recieved were wearing off. I didn't complain...cause I guess I didn't know better, but I found out that they are required to give us a meal break after 6 hours. And since it had been EXACTLY 6 hours, many people were complaining. We wrapped like 15 minutes later, but that didn't matter. A few middle-aged extras were going crazy demanding meal penalties and food and snipping at the PAs. I decided that those people give all extras and even actors in general a bad name. It also made me long for the other side of the camera since I often feel that I relate to the crew much more than the cattle. It's a fine line to walk on and one I will probably continue to walk on as long as I live in LA. Also I learned a new film set term today. They call vans and buses that transport people to and from set and base camp People Movers. Silly, huh? Well apparently people in the entertainment industry need to make up silly nicknames in order to..entertain themselves?