Sons of Anarchy and the Day the Earth Shook

I was working Sons of Anarchy up in Sun Valley about 15 miles north of where I live. I was a student at a fair of some sort that they were filming at a high school. My friend Kate was in town visiting, and if I weren't desperate for money, I would have stayed home, but c'est la vie, I was stuck in high school all day.  Fairs, for the clown phobic, are potentially dangerous and I did see a man in half make up, but before I was able to show my fear, the ground started shaking.  In fact I was in mid text to Kate telling her about said clown when the ground started shaking.  It was the most violent earthquake thus far that I had felt and would feel for some time and all of us extras were evacuated to the football field for a good 2 hours which of course disrupted filming for the day.  I tried calling Kate to make sure everything was okay but of course the phones were busy for a good hour after the quake.  When I finally got a hold of her, I was glad to find out that she was okay, and that the only damage done was a few crooked pictures and books off my bookshelf.  I survived my first big quake!

Middleman - I'm Surrounded by Idiots

For some reason I was really short tempered this day. The smallest thing would annoy me. So, the fact that random people who I'd met on My Boys decided to talk to me was not a good thing because I was less tolerant than usual. One girl decided to talk to me during lunch...apparently eating yogurt cures lactose intolerance according to her. I seriously had to use all my power to not belittle her. Nice Mary...Nice Mary...not Mean Mary. I just told her that I think she may be thinking about intestinal disease or UTIs rather than lactose intolerance...I mean..there is a reason I'm known as Doogie Howser on some sets..don't cross me and my medical knowledge. There was a random guy on set who got a flat tire driving around in circles. He asked to leave early to get his car taken care of and they got mad at him even though it was production's fault. I really don't know who to side with in cases like this because he was annoying and they needed him for the next shot, but still...he's just an extra and its not like they're going to buy him a new tire. Ever since I'm now paranoid when I drive around on studio lots...especially LA Center Studios.

Monk and My Starring Role

Last Friday and today I got to work on the 100th episode of Monk. 100th episodes are great because they are treated a little more special, like celebratory cake and ice cream for dessert. I don't know how I got to be this lucky. I was one of 3 non-union extras and was playing a makeup person at an after party. On day one, I wore a red sweater and some slacks, however, on the 2nd day, the wardrobe people decided I wasn't festive enough and changed me into a black flowery blouse. I guess continuity wasn't a big concern for them, though I was pretty much in the frame directly behind Tony Shalloub the entire episode. You can see ME during the pivotal ending when Eric McCormack draws a gun in the crowded party and I cower in the background. Eric McCormack is an ass man by the way. One of the extras had quite the derrier and he kept staring at it and when he walked by as if to squeeze between her and another person, instead of going between them, he almost grabbed her ass. It was hilarious. Only I, of course, saw this gesture. How I love body language. The extras on the show were all pretty cool. I met a guy from Scotland who was in a band called Trashcan Sinatras. He married a groupie. Then there was Marco, my grey haired 37 year old surfer dude. I still hear from him occasionally and he has tried to help me find a set job. He was a sweetie. There was also a really young hot producer on the show who was doing extra work so that he could join the union. Marco convinced me to talk to him and inquire how he got to be a producer. His answer? He knew Tony Shalloub and was his assistant for a while before Tony made him a producer. Man...don't we all wish we had connections like that. So not fair! He can't be that hot AND have connections...it should be one or the other. It was a really fun set overall, and I still can't believe how well you can see me at that party the ENTIRE episode. Try to check it out if you can. It is duly titled Monk's 100th episode. (Creative I know.)

Cold Case - I Look Like My Grandma

I love dressing up in costumes and putting on a wig and fancy makeup. So I pretty much loved working on Cold Case. We were 1950's ladies being swooned by navy and marines on leave. They are really authentic on that show down to the underwear. Seriously. I had to wear a bra from the 1950's. It was pointy and very uncomfortable. I'm guessing elastic or spandex or whatever wasn't popular or invented yet because those things had no stretch to them. After being done up, I took a look in the mirror. The image was frightening. I looked like my Grandma Lucille when she was in her 20's. Granted, I've never seen her or a picture of her in her 20s...or really any age other than 70's, but still, I was vintage. It's actually a very becoming look for me. Maybe I was born in the wrong decade. Though after seeing my figure on film, I looked about as large as a hippopotamus. Maybe not so becoming after all.

Chuck and the New Crush

Last night (3.09.09) I had a dream about C.J. aka Collin Jeremy..or was it Jeffrey? I find it fitting now to talk about him and how I often consider him to be the one that got away. Why, bathrooms? Why? C.J. and I had been working together it seems for 2 weeks straight on various shows. He was always very quiet, sitting alone reading his comic books. I, a comic book fan, approached him and talked to him. We became set friends, but on this particular day, it seemed we could be more than that. This was the last time I saw him.

He was the only other person I knew on set that day (besides Zac who of course did not recognize me as usual...very unattractive in a man.....but he was made attractive again when I saw him playing with a baby). We partnered up and I started to get to know him better. I found out that he plays the drums and is from the midwest. He asked me if I could have a party in any store in the world what would it be. The answer: The Toys R' Us in Times Square. He was floored by my answer since it afterall, is the perfect answer. We talked about Twilight books and how he wants to read them because he noticed how much I liked them. We were totally flirting and if I were any other extra listening to our conversation, I would have been grossed out, but since I was involved, I was smitten. We talked about Dark Knight since it was coming out in a week and we were thinking of seeing it together. He was starring in a show at the time where he played Superman when he wasn't working. I told him I'd come and see him in it. That's when he got up to go to the bathroom. And then we were wrapped...I thought about waiting around for him, but figured that I'd see him soon enough since we'd worked together on almost every show the past 2 weeks. Not the case. And this is why my New Year's resolution is to take more chances. I should have waited. Taken a chance on love?

Chuck and My Dream Man

A three day call as a shopper on Chuck - proof that there is a God. These three days may be the best three days I have ever had on set. This was my first time working on the show and my first opportunity to talk to Zac Levi who I met previously in March 2007 when Alex was in town. He got me hooked to Guitar Hero and I also visited him filming the pilot of Chuck at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel Downtown. I remember him running through the fountains and proclaiming that he loved his job. Now I got to see him in action once again and get paid for it. I didn't have the balls to approach him on the first day and regretted it. I would not wuss out on the 2nd day. I just had to do it! That first day, he was so adorable. I was busy texting my friends how adorable he was acting. He would break out into song singing "Jump on it" and "All you need is Love". He was always entertaining and I felt like the crew loved it. There was such a light happy atmosphere on set. The 2nd 2nd named Spoon who set us background players also gave me quite the amazing nickname, or should I say nicksong? Whenever he needed me he'd sing "Mary Mary why you buggin?" I loved Spoon. The next day I wrote my own rap song for him called "Spoon Spoon where is the restroom. I gotta knowz where it is cause I gotta take a whiz".

Okay....so I know you're all dying to know what I said to Zac when I finally approached him. My heart was beating so fast I felt like I was going into cardiac arrest. He was standing at the nerd herd desk, finally alone for once, doing the crossword puzzle. (side note: one of my criteria for my perfect man is that he does the morning crossword....heart beating faster). I went up and introduced myself and said I was a friend of Ann and Jeremy's and that I met him last St. Patrick's Day and how he got me addicted to Guitar Hero and how I visited him on the set of Chuck and how I knew Ann, etc. I repeat these facts every time I see him and he still never really remembers me. Maybe he would if my boobs were bigger. He says he remembers me though and is acting all too cool for school for the first time ever on set. I like to think he was trying to impress me with his coolness. Then somebody came up to me and he told me he'd see me later. Yay! It's a good thing I talked to him then because he was done for the day and left like 5 minutes later and was not back the next day. Luck was on my side.

The day only got better because there was this NFL player on set, Michael Strahan. Big whoop, I know, except that since he was there, all these guys from EA games were there also. And they brought an X-BOX 360 with them...and Rock Band and Madden NFL 2008. I ended up getting overtime for playing video games for the rest of the day. I was the only one playing them for some reason and befriended some of the video game peeps. They were impressed with my NFL knowledge and one of them offered me a job as a tester because I don't think there are many avid female video gamers. I didn't take it seriously though. One of the guys gave me a card and said he'd send me Madden 09 early, but only if I got a better system than a PS2. I ended up emailing him, but never heard back. Besides the EA Sports guys, I played some video games with the stand ins and also this extra named Jesse Heiman. Jesse is probably the most famous of all extras. I guarantee that you have seen him. Here is a picture of Jesse. He is like 30 years old and is one of the mos funny looking people I've ever seen. The last time I was on Chuck, Jesse was telling people that we had to move holding and one extra told him he was a wealth of information. He replied, "I know a lot about a lot of things.....except sex." Classic.

Also on set, I met C.J. for the first time. He is a part time comic book editor and we talked briefly about X-Men and how amazing Wolverine is. He wasn't there on the 3rd day however. I'm not sure why I was there on the 3rd day either. I was never used and basically got paid to play video games for 4 hours. By far the sweetest gig I have ever had and am positive that nothing can ever top this.

Good Behavior and the Dead Snake

I worked this pilot called Good Behavior last Thursday and Friday and then on Wednesday up in Valencia. It was quite a nuisance because I was planning on going to Berkeley to visit Kate on Friday morning, but instead I got recalled for Friday and didn't wrap Friday until like 2 am. I woke up on Saturday at around 5 am to head out. Yeah...I'm crazy. We were filming a funeral in the desert and we were supposed to be kind of white trash and from the wrong sides of the track. I have no idea how I managed to be booked on this. I didn't exactly fit in. There was a really funny girl on set though who dated Buddha from I Love New York. On Thursday she went over to a cooler to get some water, and inside there was a dead snake. Apparently one of the crew guys wanted to keep it or something so they stuck it in a cooler out of the way. It got run over by one of the trucks that morning. I'm just glad it wasn't a rattle snake. We had a snake wrangler on set for that reason. Needless to say, I was terrified the whole day, watching my every step. On Wednesday we got "drunk" at a memorial in the main house. Catherine O'Hara asked me if I was having fun. I told her that I wished every party I went to had watered down fake beer. She laughed. I made Catherine O'Hara laugh. Boo yah.