The answer to that question is a big, fat "NO!" haha. I miss my friends, but I could do without the whole study in a library for 14 hours part. As I see people post pictures on facebook of the parties and get togethers, it makes me really wish I was there. Sometimes I think to myself, "I need to hang out with them next weekend". Then I have to remind myself I'm 2500 miles away and so that wouldn't be so easy. At least not until I'm making enough money to just hop on a plane at the last minute and jet to Ohio. It's great to see everyone having fun though. Med 2 is going to be intense, so I say try to actually have a life and fun any chance you get.
As for me, it's been a week since my last post (sorry Claudine, lol), but I actually have been really busy. I worked close to 60 hours this week and I was just dead tired by the end of the week. That's just the Jamaican in me though. Once I start working, I can't seem to stop. I've always been that way, and hopefully it is that very characteristic in me that will bring me the highest level of success possible.
Nothing overly exciting happened this week, so I've decided I will list a few of the shows I've been on and what scenes I'm in so people know when to watch. I'm only listing the shows in which I know I got some good camera time, although it still may be a bit like playing Where's Waldo. After they do all the editing and put the scenes together, you just never know what's thrown out and what's kept. Keep in mind I'm in the background in all these shows, no speaking parts yet. Hopefully that comes soon. I will do another post about these shows again closer to the time they air to remind everyone to be on the lookout.
1. Dexter -- this show premieres October 1 on Showtime. It's a new show. I'm in the first episode, I think. Maybe 2nd episode, and I play a detective. I'm wearing a blue shirt and tie and I'm on camera for a few quick seconds I think.
2. ER -- this show airs October 5th and I'm also in the first episode. All throughout the episode you may be able to make me out in the background, but pay close attention to a scene in the hospital with a Latina nurse and a hefty black woman (patient). In the background, behind a glass door, you should be able to see a cop yelling at a kid. I am that kid. Kind of corny, but whatever. Oh yeah, this episode was shot over 3 days, and this was when I first started doing background work. Nobody told me to wear the same clothes since it was supposed to be the same day. So, you might see me in 3 different shirts in that one episode, lol.
3. Vanished -- this is a new show that premiered on Monday, August 21 on Fox. It's an FBI type show. I am in the 6th episode, so the one I'm in should air on September 25, at 9pm on Fox. This episode takes place in Washington D.C. There is a scene where the senator (main character) is coming out of the courthouse and all of the press and journalists are all around trying to talk to him. I play his FBI agent that escorts him out of the courthouse. I have on a gray suit. This is the show where I got the most camera time so far. So make sure to watch. Monday nights, 9pm, Fox.
4. CSI: New York -- I don't know when the 1st episode premieres this fall, but I'm in episode 4. So try and watch for commercials to see when it premieres, on what days and at what times. I play a CSI tech and I have on a green shirt and tie. There's a scene where the main characters in the AVS room (a small room) and I'm "working" right behind them. My back is to the camera, but I kept turning around so the camera could catch my face, lol. I'm not sure if it worked.
5. Help Me Help You -- this is Ted Danson's new comedy, and the mom from Malcolm in the Middle is on the show as well. Again, I don't know when this show premieres, but I'm in episode 2. I play a coffee shop worker (there are 2 of us). So, look for me walking around straightening things up and stuff like that. It's kind of like a Starbucks coffee shop. It's called the "Metro Bean" on the show.
For my med school buddies, I was on the set of Scrubs yesterday, but it sucked and what we did was so pointless that it's not even worth mentioning here. Hopefully I can get on there again and do something more worthwhile.
That's pretty much all I have for now. In my down time I've just been hanging out and going to eat sushi with friends. I love that stuff. And I need, need, need to start working out. It's been 2 months since I last worked out, and with the endless amounts of food on these sets, I'm going to have to start auditioning for roles like Fat Albert if I don't get on the grind, haha. That is one good thing about doing background work (I'm kind of getting sick of it). They feed you so well. If I'm on set all day, somethimes I get breakfast lunch and dinner, not to mention the snacks that they have all throughtout the day as well. So, I'm making money and saving on groceries. it's great. I think I've spent about $30 in the last 2 weeks on groceries since the studios provide so much food. Oh, they also have candy and gum too. Those little packets of gum that come with 5 sticks in a pack. I've taken enough gum to last me a whole year, lol.
Ok, I'm done.
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Saturday, August 19, 2006
FYI
One thing I forgot to say earlier, to my med school peeps, is that I noticed that my picture is still in the Med 1 directory. Just to clear up ANY confusion, I PASSED Med 1 and I am technically a Med 2!!!! In my opinion, since I am on an LOA, they should remove my picture completely, or put it in with the med 2's. I know I talked about how much I was struggling at the end of last year as the result of a sheer lack of motivation since I knew I'd be moving to L.A. But I did indeed pass, and it was a big accomplishment for me. I was happy, and I need everyone to know that I did NOT fail Med 1 (SARA R.!!!!!)
Enjoy the weekend.
Enjoy the weekend.
My Worst Day in L.A. Thus Far!
This blogging every few days thing is going to really get to me sooner or later, but what the heck. I can write if people show an interest.
Hollywood really worked me the last 2 days. Thursday I was on a show that premiers this fall and it's called Vanished. Call time was 8 am and we didn't get out of there until 11 pm, which means I didn't get to bed until after midnight. I had to then get up at 4 am Friday morning to be at Universal Studios for another show called Re-Animated. This show contributed to my worst day ever here in L.A., but I'll get to that in a second.
There were 2 things I wanted to say about being on Vanished, but I can only remember one. I need to start writing stuff down so I don't forget anything. Anyways, this is going to seem kind of bad on my part, but yall know how I am. So, this episode of Vanished was filmed on location at City Hall dowtown. We were more than half way through the day, and everyone was sitting outside, under the tents they had set up for us. I'm there talking to some of the other people, and a few feet away from us is this fat man talking to some people. He was trying to be funny and tell jokes and stuff when all of a sudden his chair broke from underneath him and he went crashing to the ground. I did one of those things where you start laughing, then you pull yourself together real quick and hold it in. This is one of my biggest challenges in life: containing my laughter. Ask anyone who knows me well. I admit it's bad, but I can't help it. If something is funny, I laugh. It's like a reflex. So, I'm holding it in, make sure the man is not hurt, then I start laughing again. Then one of the production people come over to see what happens as the man is still on the ground, obviously embarrassed. The chair is completely demolished! Seriously, it's just like a chunk of metal and plastic. So the man starts explaining what happened, and that it has actually happened to him before. He admitted that he heard the chair giving way earlier and that he should have gotten another chair, but he didn't.
Now, I'm not trying to be mean, but the man had to be at least 350 pounds. You're gonna tell me that it's happened to him before, he knows he's big, AND he hears and feels the chair making sounds that it shouldn't make, and he didn't do anything about it?!?!?!?!! Give me a break. Big people have to watch out for those things just the same as I have to watch out for my laughter, because I know how I am. It reminds of the issue of airlines charging big people double if they take up 2 seats on the plane. It makes sense. That's another seat that the airline could have sold to another person. Does that make sense to anyone else? He could have so easily saved himself the embarrassment, but he chose not to. Oh well.
On to my worst day, which was yesterday. I had to go to Universal Studios for the new show Re-Animated. I just knew from the title of this show that it was going to be a bad day, but I wasn't quite sure how. I get there, and it is a kids show. The scene they were shooting took place at an amusement park. And you know what that means???? Yep, upwards of 300 little brats screaming, yelling, being hyper, etc., etc. It was terrible. There kids hitting us with balloons, popping balloons, punching and kicking the people in the furry costumes. And we were there for 10 hours. I was talking to people who have been doing background work for a long time and they said this was the worst show they'd EVER done. I agreed, and all we did was bitch about it the entire day. Don't get me wrong, I like kids, and I'm good with kids, but I can't take 300 of them unsupervised on set (most parents waited in the holding area). We heard kids cussing, talking about sex, and all kinds of other stuff. I have never been so annoyed in my life. Never again!!!!
Then you have the infamous stage mother. I'm sure you guys know what they are like. There was one scene where a few of the kids had to ride on a train that went through the park while all the other kids were just runnin around the park and stuff. We saw one mother harassing the director to put her son on the train because his best friend was on the train. The director told her they had enough kids on the train, and she told him to take one of the kids off so her son could go on!!! And the kid was just standing there. He couldn't have cared less to be on the train. And on top of that, this is BACKGROUND work. There were so many kids there that you won't be able to see their individual faces. I feel so sorry for kids whose parents are stage parents. The parents push them and push them and punish them if they don't do something right. And in reality, the kid probably just wants to be somewhere playing with his friends than being on a set all day. It's crazy. I had never been so happy for a day to end. I had worked 25 hours out of the last 32.
Hopefully within the next few weeks different things will start to manifest, if you know what I mean, so that I can post some really exciting stuff.
Hollywood really worked me the last 2 days. Thursday I was on a show that premiers this fall and it's called Vanished. Call time was 8 am and we didn't get out of there until 11 pm, which means I didn't get to bed until after midnight. I had to then get up at 4 am Friday morning to be at Universal Studios for another show called Re-Animated. This show contributed to my worst day ever here in L.A., but I'll get to that in a second.
There were 2 things I wanted to say about being on Vanished, but I can only remember one. I need to start writing stuff down so I don't forget anything. Anyways, this is going to seem kind of bad on my part, but yall know how I am. So, this episode of Vanished was filmed on location at City Hall dowtown. We were more than half way through the day, and everyone was sitting outside, under the tents they had set up for us. I'm there talking to some of the other people, and a few feet away from us is this fat man talking to some people. He was trying to be funny and tell jokes and stuff when all of a sudden his chair broke from underneath him and he went crashing to the ground. I did one of those things where you start laughing, then you pull yourself together real quick and hold it in. This is one of my biggest challenges in life: containing my laughter. Ask anyone who knows me well. I admit it's bad, but I can't help it. If something is funny, I laugh. It's like a reflex. So, I'm holding it in, make sure the man is not hurt, then I start laughing again. Then one of the production people come over to see what happens as the man is still on the ground, obviously embarrassed. The chair is completely demolished! Seriously, it's just like a chunk of metal and plastic. So the man starts explaining what happened, and that it has actually happened to him before. He admitted that he heard the chair giving way earlier and that he should have gotten another chair, but he didn't.
Now, I'm not trying to be mean, but the man had to be at least 350 pounds. You're gonna tell me that it's happened to him before, he knows he's big, AND he hears and feels the chair making sounds that it shouldn't make, and he didn't do anything about it?!?!?!?!! Give me a break. Big people have to watch out for those things just the same as I have to watch out for my laughter, because I know how I am. It reminds of the issue of airlines charging big people double if they take up 2 seats on the plane. It makes sense. That's another seat that the airline could have sold to another person. Does that make sense to anyone else? He could have so easily saved himself the embarrassment, but he chose not to. Oh well.
On to my worst day, which was yesterday. I had to go to Universal Studios for the new show Re-Animated. I just knew from the title of this show that it was going to be a bad day, but I wasn't quite sure how. I get there, and it is a kids show. The scene they were shooting took place at an amusement park. And you know what that means???? Yep, upwards of 300 little brats screaming, yelling, being hyper, etc., etc. It was terrible. There kids hitting us with balloons, popping balloons, punching and kicking the people in the furry costumes. And we were there for 10 hours. I was talking to people who have been doing background work for a long time and they said this was the worst show they'd EVER done. I agreed, and all we did was bitch about it the entire day. Don't get me wrong, I like kids, and I'm good with kids, but I can't take 300 of them unsupervised on set (most parents waited in the holding area). We heard kids cussing, talking about sex, and all kinds of other stuff. I have never been so annoyed in my life. Never again!!!!
Then you have the infamous stage mother. I'm sure you guys know what they are like. There was one scene where a few of the kids had to ride on a train that went through the park while all the other kids were just runnin around the park and stuff. We saw one mother harassing the director to put her son on the train because his best friend was on the train. The director told her they had enough kids on the train, and she told him to take one of the kids off so her son could go on!!! And the kid was just standing there. He couldn't have cared less to be on the train. And on top of that, this is BACKGROUND work. There were so many kids there that you won't be able to see their individual faces. I feel so sorry for kids whose parents are stage parents. The parents push them and push them and punish them if they don't do something right. And in reality, the kid probably just wants to be somewhere playing with his friends than being on a set all day. It's crazy. I had never been so happy for a day to end. I had worked 25 hours out of the last 32.
Hopefully within the next few weeks different things will start to manifest, if you know what I mean, so that I can post some really exciting stuff.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Beware of the Great and Powerful Claudine!!!!
Does everyone know CLAUDINE?? She's such a wondeful person, and she scolded me the other day for not posting blogs frequently enough. So, this is why I'm posting mid-week. I definitely DON'T wanna feel the WRATH OF CLAUDINE!! LOL That sounds like a good movie title. Anyways, CLAUDINE says I have to write at least 2 blogs per week, and that was reduced from 4!!!! ALL because she loves to read blogs. Sounds like someone trying real hard not to study if you ask me.
Now, onto what I've been up to the last few days. I've decided that most of my blogs are going to be about all the interesting (crazy) people I meet out here since I'm just doing background work and you guys know the deal with that. Different show almost everyday, blah blah blah.
Today I met 2 funny people. Everyone should know by now that I LOVE to laugh. Anyone could see it in class, lol. Anyone that makes me laugh will definitely get my attention, whether I'm laughing at them, or with them. So, I'm on the set today waiting to start work and this man comes and sits next to me. Now, I don't know if I just give off some vibe that says, "Tell me your life story", but people seem to like to do that around me. I mean, ever since I can remember, I will meet someone, and in our first conversation they're telling me their whole life story. I guess it's a compliment in some sorts, but sometimes i hear the most boring crap when I'm not in the mood for it. So this man (who looked weird anyway) starts tellin me about all the background work he's done over the last year and how Rebecca Romijn is mean and so is the lead actress on Gilmore Girls, etc., etc. Then he switches topics and starts talking about Miss Teen USA. Yes, Teen USA. I knew he looked like a chester. He tells me he's shocked that Miss Montana won and Miss South Dakota was runner up because it's usually between Miss Florida, California and Texas, or some crap like that. But in his opinion Miss Virginia was the hottest. Whatever. THEN, he proceeds to tell me that ALL the girls on there are dumb, and he doesn't even know why they ask them questions. Here are his words: "I don't even know why they ask those girls questions. They're all dumb. They don't need to waste their time asking those girls about world peace. They don't know anything about that. They asked one girl about young girls and anorexics. She doesn't know anything about that." Then he imitated her answer in a girlie voice that sounded ridiculous. Keep in mind that this is a completely one sided conversation with me just nodding my head, looking away, dying for the assistant director to come get us. And he just kept talking, and talking, and talking.
Jump ahead a few hours and I hear this same guy talking to some other people about Star Trek. Do you know what this man said?? He said that Star Trek Voyager was HIS idea!!! WTF?!?!?! Seriously, he said he had an idea of a space ship coming back or something like that, but someone came up with the same idea he had and beat him to it as far as making a movie out of it. PSYCHO, is all I have to say. That guy was loony.
A little later on I'm walking to the cafeteria from lunch, and I see something moving toward me out of the corner of my eye. I look up, and its a lady (she had to be at least 40), with some headphones on really getting into her music. I mean, think about how crazy you look when you dance in the mirror at home. Everybody does it so stop frontin!! She was doing that AND playing her air guitar at the same time, lol!!! And this is all happening outside in broad daylight in front of everyone. She did NOT care. So, I caught eyes with her, and she gives me this cheesy smile that says, "I know, I'm crazy, and I love it". Strange, strange people here in L.A., which brings me to another point that I've noticed. MAKE-UP artists. It's so funny how these make-up artists are there to make the actors look perfect, yet 90% of them (the make-up artists) look atrocious. I'm talkin about lookin like they rolled straight outta bed and came to work. Hair not brushed, etc. It's just ironic to me. Maybe its just me though, I dunno.
That's pretty much it for the last 5 minutes CLAUDINE. Haha. Here's what I've done this week.
Monday: New Ted Danson show called "Help Me Help You". You may have seen previews.
The mom from "Malcolm in the Middle" is on this show as well. I played a coffee shop
worker. Woopty doo, lol.
Tuesday: A show called "Heartland". Don't worry, you've never heard of it and you'll never
watch it! It's a medical show, however, and I played an EMT.
Wednesday: "Close to Home". Don't know what this show is about other than the fact that it's a cop show and the lady from "Diary of A Mad Black Woman" was there today. I'm
not sure if she is a regular or if she was just doing a guest appearance. But, you
know, the mad black woman in the movie, the main character. That's her.
Celeb encounters this week:
Now, onto what I've been up to the last few days. I've decided that most of my blogs are going to be about all the interesting (crazy) people I meet out here since I'm just doing background work and you guys know the deal with that. Different show almost everyday, blah blah blah.
Today I met 2 funny people. Everyone should know by now that I LOVE to laugh. Anyone could see it in class, lol. Anyone that makes me laugh will definitely get my attention, whether I'm laughing at them, or with them. So, I'm on the set today waiting to start work and this man comes and sits next to me. Now, I don't know if I just give off some vibe that says, "Tell me your life story", but people seem to like to do that around me. I mean, ever since I can remember, I will meet someone, and in our first conversation they're telling me their whole life story. I guess it's a compliment in some sorts, but sometimes i hear the most boring crap when I'm not in the mood for it. So this man (who looked weird anyway) starts tellin me about all the background work he's done over the last year and how Rebecca Romijn is mean and so is the lead actress on Gilmore Girls, etc., etc. Then he switches topics and starts talking about Miss Teen USA. Yes, Teen USA. I knew he looked like a chester. He tells me he's shocked that Miss Montana won and Miss South Dakota was runner up because it's usually between Miss Florida, California and Texas, or some crap like that. But in his opinion Miss Virginia was the hottest. Whatever. THEN, he proceeds to tell me that ALL the girls on there are dumb, and he doesn't even know why they ask them questions. Here are his words: "I don't even know why they ask those girls questions. They're all dumb. They don't need to waste their time asking those girls about world peace. They don't know anything about that. They asked one girl about young girls and anorexics. She doesn't know anything about that." Then he imitated her answer in a girlie voice that sounded ridiculous. Keep in mind that this is a completely one sided conversation with me just nodding my head, looking away, dying for the assistant director to come get us. And he just kept talking, and talking, and talking.
Jump ahead a few hours and I hear this same guy talking to some other people about Star Trek. Do you know what this man said?? He said that Star Trek Voyager was HIS idea!!! WTF?!?!?! Seriously, he said he had an idea of a space ship coming back or something like that, but someone came up with the same idea he had and beat him to it as far as making a movie out of it. PSYCHO, is all I have to say. That guy was loony.
A little later on I'm walking to the cafeteria from lunch, and I see something moving toward me out of the corner of my eye. I look up, and its a lady (she had to be at least 40), with some headphones on really getting into her music. I mean, think about how crazy you look when you dance in the mirror at home. Everybody does it so stop frontin!! She was doing that AND playing her air guitar at the same time, lol!!! And this is all happening outside in broad daylight in front of everyone. She did NOT care. So, I caught eyes with her, and she gives me this cheesy smile that says, "I know, I'm crazy, and I love it". Strange, strange people here in L.A., which brings me to another point that I've noticed. MAKE-UP artists. It's so funny how these make-up artists are there to make the actors look perfect, yet 90% of them (the make-up artists) look atrocious. I'm talkin about lookin like they rolled straight outta bed and came to work. Hair not brushed, etc. It's just ironic to me. Maybe its just me though, I dunno.
That's pretty much it for the last 5 minutes CLAUDINE. Haha. Here's what I've done this week.
Monday: New Ted Danson show called "Help Me Help You". You may have seen previews.
The mom from "Malcolm in the Middle" is on this show as well. I played a coffee shop
worker. Woopty doo, lol.
Tuesday: A show called "Heartland". Don't worry, you've never heard of it and you'll never
watch it! It's a medical show, however, and I played an EMT.
Wednesday: "Close to Home". Don't know what this show is about other than the fact that it's a cop show and the lady from "Diary of A Mad Black Woman" was there today. I'm
not sure if she is a regular or if she was just doing a guest appearance. But, you
know, the mad black woman in the movie, the main character. That's her.
Celeb encounters this week:
- Essence Atkins from the tv show "Half & Half" and the film "How High"
- The big, blonde shaggy haired guy from Celebrity Fit Club and "Hairspray"
- Orlando Jones from MAD TV
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Is There A Doctor In The House?
Man, have I been busy this week! I had no idea doing background work was going to be so grueling. I got called again to work on "ER" and that's where I've been the last 3 days. The days on ER average 14 hours on set. I guess I should be used to it. Not much different from med school, lol. It was fun though.
The first day I worked on ER was Tuesday the 8th, and lucky me. When I was done with school last year, I honestly thought to myself that I was really going to miss all the free food that I got from all the interest groups at school. I couldn't have been more wrong. I don't miss that stuff at all!! The stuff they feed you on these Hollywood sets makes the pizza and subs from med school seem like rubbish. My first day on ER (they're second day of filming for the season) they had a "welcome back lunch" celebrating the start of the 13th season of ER (which start October 5th by the way). Man oh man, they had a live Mariachi band playing and all the food you could think of. They had salad, shrimp, chicken, steak, salmon, brownies, cake, apple pie, ice cream and it was all FREE and all you could eat. I was in heaven!!! I lucked out in another way by working on ER too. I've heard some horror stories from some of the other people about how rude and mean some of the crew members and even the actors can be on some of the other shows. Everyone on ER was pretty nice. It was a good experience.
Anyways, my call time for that day was 6:45 am and we didn't wrap until 10 pm that night. Looooong day, but it was fun. I played a hospital visitor in the background, yet I got to work right next to the actors. Mekhi Pfeifer is on the show as you know, so is Shane West and John Stamos. There are some other people, but I don't them because I've never watched ER before, EVER!!! Haha. I guess I'll start now. So, me and a bunch of other people had to walk up and don the halls and in the waiting room to make the hospital look busy. I was amazed at how real everything looks. I mean, I thought it would look really fake and stuff, but with lighting and camera angles it would look real on tv, but it looks really real in person. They even have all the WelchAllyn tools and instruments and everything. They have X-rays up on the wall, which I was of course analyzing, and they were all healthy x-rays, lol. There is one scene we shot where in the background you can see a kis getting yelled at by a cop through a glass door. I am that kid, and it should be in the first episode, lol. There isn't much to doing background work, and anyone off the street can sign up to do it, but all the people you see in the background in movies and tv shows aren't people just waling around. It's actually really choreographed. I hadn't realized that.
My 3rd day on ER was the most fun, for 2 reasons. 1). I had seen some of the same people for 3 days now and gotten to know some of them, and 2). I was asked to be a stand-in for one of the actors and thus got paid double what I was getting. By this time I was telling some of the people that I was a med student. I LOVE doing this. Not because it makes me feel all important or for any other egotistical reasons, but because I just plain love grossing people it. I'm sure most of my classmates know what I'm talking about. I was talking to one of the other extras, this lady, and I was telling her I can't be grossed out and that I've literally seen everything, including STD's and even STD's of the mouth and throat. And she thought that you could only get herpes in your mouth and nothing else. Isn't that amazing??? That people don't realize that you can get anything in your mouth!! So, I told her that I'd seen gonorrhea of the throat, etc., etc., and she got so grossed out and started grabbing her throat and almost gagging as if STD's were just floating through the air waiting to get her. It was sooooo funny. I was cracking up. Then that starts a whole chain of questions about bodily functions and what not. Then a few hours later while we were waiting for filming to start again, there was a extra piece of polyurethane skin laying next to us on a tray. (They made a fake chest for one of the scenes where they had a bunch of electrodes hooked up to the patient). Some girls picks it up and is playing with it, and touches it to the face of the STD lady. Now, earlier I had noticed that the STD lady had like 4 fanny packs on and this why. She freaks out and starts pullin stuff out of her fanny packs. She sprayed her face with disinfectant, broke out some lip disinfectant stuff, etc. I mean, talk about a germaphobe. Then she comes and says to the girl, "Ever since he told me about STD's, I'm afraid of germs now". WTF!!!!!!!! She tried to blame her obsessive compulsiveness on me?!?!?! LOL She brought all that damn stuff way before I told her about some STD's. I just knew she was a little weird.
So, that was my week on ER. I may or may not go back. It's fun, but in terms of just being a background worker for right now, I need some variety. It gets too monotonous going to the same studio every day doing the same thing for 14 hours. Plus, there is so much waiting around between takes and stuff that it gets boring. So, for Monday I'm going to work on a show at Paramount Studios. I've never heard of it though, so we'll see how that goes. I had to take yesterday (Friday) off and the rest of the weekend because I couldn't get anything done. Being on set from 6 am to 10 pm, I get get to places like the photo lab and the post office because they're closed before and after I leave the set. That's the good thing about background work. They book jobs day to day, not for days or weeks at a time. So, I determine my own schedule. If I want to take a day or 2 or 14 off, I can. So yesterday I finally got all my pictures put together, packaged and mailed out to some agencies. Now I can relax a little and wait for some agents to call. Wish me luck!!
The first day I worked on ER was Tuesday the 8th, and lucky me. When I was done with school last year, I honestly thought to myself that I was really going to miss all the free food that I got from all the interest groups at school. I couldn't have been more wrong. I don't miss that stuff at all!! The stuff they feed you on these Hollywood sets makes the pizza and subs from med school seem like rubbish. My first day on ER (they're second day of filming for the season) they had a "welcome back lunch" celebrating the start of the 13th season of ER (which start October 5th by the way). Man oh man, they had a live Mariachi band playing and all the food you could think of. They had salad, shrimp, chicken, steak, salmon, brownies, cake, apple pie, ice cream and it was all FREE and all you could eat. I was in heaven!!! I lucked out in another way by working on ER too. I've heard some horror stories from some of the other people about how rude and mean some of the crew members and even the actors can be on some of the other shows. Everyone on ER was pretty nice. It was a good experience.
Anyways, my call time for that day was 6:45 am and we didn't wrap until 10 pm that night. Looooong day, but it was fun. I played a hospital visitor in the background, yet I got to work right next to the actors. Mekhi Pfeifer is on the show as you know, so is Shane West and John Stamos. There are some other people, but I don't them because I've never watched ER before, EVER!!! Haha. I guess I'll start now. So, me and a bunch of other people had to walk up and don the halls and in the waiting room to make the hospital look busy. I was amazed at how real everything looks. I mean, I thought it would look really fake and stuff, but with lighting and camera angles it would look real on tv, but it looks really real in person. They even have all the WelchAllyn tools and instruments and everything. They have X-rays up on the wall, which I was of course analyzing, and they were all healthy x-rays, lol. There is one scene we shot where in the background you can see a kis getting yelled at by a cop through a glass door. I am that kid, and it should be in the first episode, lol. There isn't much to doing background work, and anyone off the street can sign up to do it, but all the people you see in the background in movies and tv shows aren't people just waling around. It's actually really choreographed. I hadn't realized that.
My 3rd day on ER was the most fun, for 2 reasons. 1). I had seen some of the same people for 3 days now and gotten to know some of them, and 2). I was asked to be a stand-in for one of the actors and thus got paid double what I was getting. By this time I was telling some of the people that I was a med student. I LOVE doing this. Not because it makes me feel all important or for any other egotistical reasons, but because I just plain love grossing people it. I'm sure most of my classmates know what I'm talking about. I was talking to one of the other extras, this lady, and I was telling her I can't be grossed out and that I've literally seen everything, including STD's and even STD's of the mouth and throat. And she thought that you could only get herpes in your mouth and nothing else. Isn't that amazing??? That people don't realize that you can get anything in your mouth!! So, I told her that I'd seen gonorrhea of the throat, etc., etc., and she got so grossed out and started grabbing her throat and almost gagging as if STD's were just floating through the air waiting to get her. It was sooooo funny. I was cracking up. Then that starts a whole chain of questions about bodily functions and what not. Then a few hours later while we were waiting for filming to start again, there was a extra piece of polyurethane skin laying next to us on a tray. (They made a fake chest for one of the scenes where they had a bunch of electrodes hooked up to the patient). Some girls picks it up and is playing with it, and touches it to the face of the STD lady. Now, earlier I had noticed that the STD lady had like 4 fanny packs on and this why. She freaks out and starts pullin stuff out of her fanny packs. She sprayed her face with disinfectant, broke out some lip disinfectant stuff, etc. I mean, talk about a germaphobe. Then she comes and says to the girl, "Ever since he told me about STD's, I'm afraid of germs now". WTF!!!!!!!! She tried to blame her obsessive compulsiveness on me?!?!?! LOL She brought all that damn stuff way before I told her about some STD's. I just knew she was a little weird.
So, that was my week on ER. I may or may not go back. It's fun, but in terms of just being a background worker for right now, I need some variety. It gets too monotonous going to the same studio every day doing the same thing for 14 hours. Plus, there is so much waiting around between takes and stuff that it gets boring. So, for Monday I'm going to work on a show at Paramount Studios. I've never heard of it though, so we'll see how that goes. I had to take yesterday (Friday) off and the rest of the weekend because I couldn't get anything done. Being on set from 6 am to 10 pm, I get get to places like the photo lab and the post office because they're closed before and after I leave the set. That's the good thing about background work. They book jobs day to day, not for days or weeks at a time. So, I determine my own schedule. If I want to take a day or 2 or 14 off, I can. So yesterday I finally got all my pictures put together, packaged and mailed out to some agencies. Now I can relax a little and wait for some agents to call. Wish me luck!!
Saturday, August 05, 2006
My Frist Hollywood Paycheck!!!!
That's right folks.........I am officially a working actor.........kind of. Let me break it down for you. This may be a long and intensive post, but should be more entertaining than the last ones (just warning)
So, Monday (7/31) I registered with a Casting Company that books people for background (extra) work on television shows and films. I knew this was going to happen. I was too freakin bored and I knew I would get a job out of boredome way before I would get a job because of financial issues. The good thing about doing background work is that while it doesn't pay a whole lot, it's some good pocket change while I'm looking for an agent, and it's also neat to get on the sets of these major motion pictures and television shows, all while making contacts with other actors, directors and producers. People average about $100 a day doing this work, and the average work day is 8-12 hours on the set. A funny thing that happened was that when I was registering with this company, I had to fill out a form with all my info, blah, blah, blah, and of course I circle African American for race. I take the form up to the lady so she can approve my form. She looks at my form, then looks at me, and without saying one word to me, RIGHT in front of my face, she scratches out "African American", and circles "Mixed" on my form!!!! Haha, I know Hollywood is all about looks and what you can "play", but the fact that she didn't say anything made it funny.
With all the stuff being made here in L.A., there is plenty of "extra" work" and this casting company has been working me everyday this week. Wednesday and Thursday (8/2 and 8/3), they called me to be a paid studio audience member on the set of Deal or No Deal. This was actually a fun show to do, and it was entertaining, but I only could have done it for 2 days, and no more. There is A LOT of clapping involved while sitting in a seat for over 8 hours. They tape about 3 or 4 contestants in a day. Obviously I can't say what the contestants won or anything, but I will say something else. The set is very entertaining on commercial breaks and in between takes. There is a comedian type guy that tells jokes, has singing contests, dance contests, etc. etc. to keep us entertained. This is some funny stuff. There was one singing contest he had, and some lady got up there and sang a Whitney Houston song. She completely butchered it, obviously. But then there was this younger girl, and guess what the hell she sang!!! "Kiss the Girl" from The Little Mermaid. You know that song that the crab sings??? WTF?!?!?! Who gets up there and does that. It was sooooo funny. I love seeing people make fools of themselves. Never gets old.
Howie Mandel is actually really cool. He interacted with audience in between takes, talked to people, and he's funny. And he did something really funny on accident on the show. The contestant (a woman), was about to open a case, and asked Howie if she could rub his head for good luck. He said she could, so she did and then she opened her case. It was a really small amount, so we all cheered and all that mess, to which Howie then says, "Ahhh.....a little head is good!" Of course everyone was dying from laughter and then Howie realzied what he had said and it was that much more funny. So, to open her next case, the contestant went over to rub her husband's head (who is also bald), and her husband goes, "Well, you know, my head is bigger than Howie's". Again, laughter for like 10 minutes straight. That was a funny show and I hope all that stuff gets aired. There was one time where I was sitting right in front of the big dollar board and got a lot of camera time, so I can probably be seen. However, I won't tell any of you to watch anything (for me) until I have a speaking part.
So yesterday I got called to do a show called Dexter. This is a police/detective show that will be premiering this fall on Showtime. I played a detective. Again, I'm just background, but I was in a scene where the camera was right up in my face, so I know I can be clearly seen. Anyways, the main characters on this show are a guy from Six Feet Under (never watched that show in my life, so I didn't know this guy), a guy from The Sopranos and the girl from New York Undercover. Remember her? She looks really good in person. She's really young looking, and she's nice too. The scene that I was in, I was standing right next to Dexter (guy from Six Feet Under) with my handcuffs and gun on my belt, since I was a detective. It was fun, but I am mad at one thing. The casting company called me to work on the set of ER on Monday, and I was all excited. Then a few hours later they called me back and said that the people from Dexter wanted me back, so I had to do that. Ahhhh....ER would've been so fun with my medical background and everything. I was only going to play a hospital visitor, but still. Some of the guys on the set of Dexter told me about this other casting director who casts people for Grey's Anatomy. They said if I contacted him and told him about my medical background, and the fact that I have a white coat, stethoscope and some other tools, I could probably get something good. You know I will be all over that on Monday. I'm going to use my medical experience for anything I can here. It'll be interesting to see what happens.
It is good that I got called back for Dexter though, because anything can happen on a set. Scripts are always getting re-written and revised and changes are always being made. If a director or producer likes you, and asks you to have a speaking part on the show, even if it is just a one word line, you automatically get paid $600 for that day. That is the minimum daily pay for speaking roles in films and t.v. Pretty nice huh? There have been people who have worked as extras on these sets, and were asked to have a speaking part, and then got written into the script as a recurring role!!! It happens. That's why so many people do this. There's no better way to come in contact with the directors and producers other than auditioning. And even in auditioning, you have to read for casting driectors first and then get called back before you read for the directors and producers. However, when I do get an agent, I'll probably have to stop the background work because agents can call you with an audition to go to that same day. And if you're on a set working as an extra, you aren't allowed to leave the set, so it conflicts in that way. I try not to think about what will happen though. It's up to the universe. Whatever is supposed to happen will happen, as long as I'm doing everything in my power to stay productive and move things along.
That's all I have for now. Hopefully this was a little more juicy than some of my previous posts!
Later
So, Monday (7/31) I registered with a Casting Company that books people for background (extra) work on television shows and films. I knew this was going to happen. I was too freakin bored and I knew I would get a job out of boredome way before I would get a job because of financial issues. The good thing about doing background work is that while it doesn't pay a whole lot, it's some good pocket change while I'm looking for an agent, and it's also neat to get on the sets of these major motion pictures and television shows, all while making contacts with other actors, directors and producers. People average about $100 a day doing this work, and the average work day is 8-12 hours on the set. A funny thing that happened was that when I was registering with this company, I had to fill out a form with all my info, blah, blah, blah, and of course I circle African American for race. I take the form up to the lady so she can approve my form. She looks at my form, then looks at me, and without saying one word to me, RIGHT in front of my face, she scratches out "African American", and circles "Mixed" on my form!!!! Haha, I know Hollywood is all about looks and what you can "play", but the fact that she didn't say anything made it funny.
With all the stuff being made here in L.A., there is plenty of "extra" work" and this casting company has been working me everyday this week. Wednesday and Thursday (8/2 and 8/3), they called me to be a paid studio audience member on the set of Deal or No Deal. This was actually a fun show to do, and it was entertaining, but I only could have done it for 2 days, and no more. There is A LOT of clapping involved while sitting in a seat for over 8 hours. They tape about 3 or 4 contestants in a day. Obviously I can't say what the contestants won or anything, but I will say something else. The set is very entertaining on commercial breaks and in between takes. There is a comedian type guy that tells jokes, has singing contests, dance contests, etc. etc. to keep us entertained. This is some funny stuff. There was one singing contest he had, and some lady got up there and sang a Whitney Houston song. She completely butchered it, obviously. But then there was this younger girl, and guess what the hell she sang!!! "Kiss the Girl" from The Little Mermaid. You know that song that the crab sings??? WTF?!?!?! Who gets up there and does that. It was sooooo funny. I love seeing people make fools of themselves. Never gets old.
Howie Mandel is actually really cool. He interacted with audience in between takes, talked to people, and he's funny. And he did something really funny on accident on the show. The contestant (a woman), was about to open a case, and asked Howie if she could rub his head for good luck. He said she could, so she did and then she opened her case. It was a really small amount, so we all cheered and all that mess, to which Howie then says, "Ahhh.....a little head is good!" Of course everyone was dying from laughter and then Howie realzied what he had said and it was that much more funny. So, to open her next case, the contestant went over to rub her husband's head (who is also bald), and her husband goes, "Well, you know, my head is bigger than Howie's". Again, laughter for like 10 minutes straight. That was a funny show and I hope all that stuff gets aired. There was one time where I was sitting right in front of the big dollar board and got a lot of camera time, so I can probably be seen. However, I won't tell any of you to watch anything (for me) until I have a speaking part.
So yesterday I got called to do a show called Dexter. This is a police/detective show that will be premiering this fall on Showtime. I played a detective. Again, I'm just background, but I was in a scene where the camera was right up in my face, so I know I can be clearly seen. Anyways, the main characters on this show are a guy from Six Feet Under (never watched that show in my life, so I didn't know this guy), a guy from The Sopranos and the girl from New York Undercover. Remember her? She looks really good in person. She's really young looking, and she's nice too. The scene that I was in, I was standing right next to Dexter (guy from Six Feet Under) with my handcuffs and gun on my belt, since I was a detective. It was fun, but I am mad at one thing. The casting company called me to work on the set of ER on Monday, and I was all excited. Then a few hours later they called me back and said that the people from Dexter wanted me back, so I had to do that. Ahhhh....ER would've been so fun with my medical background and everything. I was only going to play a hospital visitor, but still. Some of the guys on the set of Dexter told me about this other casting director who casts people for Grey's Anatomy. They said if I contacted him and told him about my medical background, and the fact that I have a white coat, stethoscope and some other tools, I could probably get something good. You know I will be all over that on Monday. I'm going to use my medical experience for anything I can here. It'll be interesting to see what happens.
It is good that I got called back for Dexter though, because anything can happen on a set. Scripts are always getting re-written and revised and changes are always being made. If a director or producer likes you, and asks you to have a speaking part on the show, even if it is just a one word line, you automatically get paid $600 for that day. That is the minimum daily pay for speaking roles in films and t.v. Pretty nice huh? There have been people who have worked as extras on these sets, and were asked to have a speaking part, and then got written into the script as a recurring role!!! It happens. That's why so many people do this. There's no better way to come in contact with the directors and producers other than auditioning. And even in auditioning, you have to read for casting driectors first and then get called back before you read for the directors and producers. However, when I do get an agent, I'll probably have to stop the background work because agents can call you with an audition to go to that same day. And if you're on a set working as an extra, you aren't allowed to leave the set, so it conflicts in that way. I try not to think about what will happen though. It's up to the universe. Whatever is supposed to happen will happen, as long as I'm doing everything in my power to stay productive and move things along.
That's all I have for now. Hopefully this was a little more juicy than some of my previous posts!
Later
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