Yellow Rain on the Graduation Parade

The circus--where all the extras wait...and wait...and wait...

I got called last week for a job this Tuesday for background-acting again. This time it was for the movie, I Love You, Beth Cooper, starring, Hayden Panettiere. It was pretty exciting.
On Tuesday, I woke up with a knot in my throat. On such a special day of mine, why must I have a sore throat?! I immediately popped Cepacols like a mad man. The location was actually quite close to my house. But of course, without confidence, I decided to follow random people on the streets, just like last time. A girl came on the bus with a small travel-sized luggage (which 90% of all extras use to carry their clothing options). My stop came and she was also getting off. After following her for 3 blocks, I asked if she was also an extra. She was. We arrived together at holding (where all the extras wait). Filled out forms and it was time for wardrobe. Usually, for a teeny bopper movie like this, they almost always want you to dress in spring/summer clothing. After being checked for wardrobe, I went to get my graduation robe (that was the scene they were filming for the day). We waited a few minutes and it was finally time to head to set. The set was a block and a half away at ANOTHER school's gymnasium (why?). All 200 "graduation student" extras (there were 450 extras in total) walked to the other school. People on the streets were staring, honking and congratulating us.

We arrived on set. They added huge lights outside of the gymnasium windows to create a sunlight effect (which was in dire need) since it was black outside from the gloomy clouds. They added a smoke machine to create a misty/dusty/humid effect. Although being in the gym was 10x better than being in the holding tent, the gym was still pretty horrible. The smoke machine was making everyone hack up their breakfast. I was already sick, so being in a tiny gym that was dusty with recirculating air of 500 people...I was about to pass out. Hayden finally showed up and sat right beside me--well, two feet away from me. She's a tiny girl, but looked exactly like the way she does in magazines. The whole time we were shooting, she would be on her BlackBerry, drinking her damn minestrone soup, getting fed watermelon by her assistant and chatting (loudly) with other cast members. Even when we were supposed to be quiet, she would be laughing, giggling and making these obnoxious sounds like any other stupid teenager would. Another one of those Young Hollywood types.

It was a 13 hour day of filming of the same scene in 10 different angles. I did talk to Hayden BRIEFLY though. I wouldn't even call it "talking" actually. So, before Hayden came back from her millionth break, we did a lot of rehearsals with the cameras. I was right beside the dolly which held the camera and saw exactly how each angle was filmed. The whole time, we rehearsed a certain part of the movie in which you could only see Hayden's face. So Hayden finally arrived back onto set. She asked the director, "Is this shot on me?". I said, "Yep!". I don't know why I answered especially since us, low-life extras, aren't supposed to talk to the stars or else we'd be kicked off set. The director then said, "No, we're not shooting on you" to Hayden. She said, "Well, then who said, 'yup'?". I turned around and said, "Oh, it was me...sorry". She replied, "Don't deceive me". What the hell does that mean? I also overheard her talking to another one of her cast mates, Jack Carpenter (who sat in front of me). They were chatting and he said "vanity comes first". Hayden then said, "what does 'vanity' mean?". Funny, since she did a whole spread for Vanity Fair once.

Working 13 hours in that stupid graduation robe was ridiculous. I do drink my 8-10 glasses of water on a daily basis. Before I left my house that day, I drank a whole litre of water. Throughout the day I was sipping water and juice (more so than usual since I was sick). Lots of liquid = lots of bathroom time. Every time I went pee, I'd have to unzip that ridiculous gown from top to bottom (I'm not going to go into details). So at the end of the day, I had to pee again. They have the shittiest crap for the extras. Cast and crew get to use trailer bathrooms. Extras have portapotties. I waited in line for almost 10 minutes--which is odd since men's washroom don't usually have lines. When the portapottie wobbles from side to side and is occupied for over 10 minutes, it only means one thing. The man was taking dump. I ventured off to try and find a less smelly toilet. I came across a trailer saying, "Washrooms" at the door. I asked a few of the crew members that were standing by if I was allowed to use it. They shrugged their shoulders. I went in even though our supervisor said extras aren't allowed to use trailer bathrooms. I took a leak and I guess I didn't fully unzip my graduation gown...and a few dribbles of pee dribbled onto the gown. I could care less. I patted it dry with a paper towel and returned it back to wardrobe at the end of the night and called it a day.

[picture courtesy of Vanity Fair]