The day started early as I was instructed to report at 7:00 AM. Not as early as some though, to stagger the check in process some people had been told to report at 4:00 AM. Yes, in the morning. One lady whom I fear had to many morning Mimosas that accelerated her star worship had brought a picture to give to Sean Penn. I was expecting maybe a picture of Portland or something like that, but it was of a guy with his head in his hands. Literally. His head had been severed from his body. I didn't get it then, I don't get it now.
Wardrobe
A bus transported us from Fred Meyer Corporate Headquarters to Reed College for our start time. In the instructions they had asked that both men and women not have facial piercings, non-natural hair colors and that women have clean, dry hair in rollers. No kidding. Although most of them didn't, there were enough rollers around that in the pre-dawn hour when I arrived it looked like Night of the Living Dead meets Cosmetology Schoolgirls Gone Wild. How bizarre.
We were taken to the campus and got in line for wardrobe. They gave me back the clothes that I had left with them for the wardrobe appointment, and guided us out to changing tents. The California production company must have assumed that morning chill would overcome us as they had portable heaters blowing into the tent and I think it was about 80 degrees. There were several men who were cast as faculty members, and it was hilarious to watch them struggle with the robes -"can you zip me up"? Heh heh heh.
The Zoo
After wardrobe we were herded like cattle into an auditorium. Because the scene was a college graduation there were about 600 people that showed up. A guy came to the front and gave us a few pointers about the day that went something like this:
- "We'll go over to the set in approximately an hour and a half. Please be patient and try to have a good time."
- "Please do not approach the main actors. They are generally friendly but let them, if they desire; approach you first."
- "There will be a lot of waiting today. Be aware that long periods of time may go by as the set is being changed."
- "Always follow the A.D.'s (assistant director) instructions.
Then we sat. And sat. And sat some more.
Makeup
I had decided to eschew makeup as my natural good looks have taken me far in life, but because I became bored I thought why not do the whole enchilada. I reported to makeup and the first question they asked was would I be willing to shave my beard (I had about 2 weeks scraggly growth). Sure, no problem - except the shaving station had some little styrofoam bowls, bottled water, cheap Barbasol shaving cream and even cheaper disposable razors. I thought I was going to rip the skin off of my face. It took four of those cheap razors to get me to a satisfactory stubble, baby soft smooth was out of the question.
I then entered a corridor with 10-12 makeup stations lining the walls. Just like you would expect, mirrors with the light bulbs all around them. A really nice makeup artist looked at me and sighed, how could she improve on perfection? Well, she got some of those little wedgie makeup sponges and dabbed stuff on my forehead and nose and then smoothed it out. I mentioned that the cheap razors had really irritated my face and did she have any lotion? Oh yeah, she put some awesome stuff on my cheeks and neck that really helped.
Now, I was ready for filming - whooops, my agent's on the line, I'll have to finish this post later...
