out of the blue

Finally got a call. Out of the blue. From an agency that I hadn't heard from in like a year. For BG work on The Good Wife. It would mean getting out of the day job for the day. What was interesting was I had never submitted to it.

Transportation was provided for the ride to set for the established gig, there was a number to call to get information, and I soon found myself on a nice comfy bus riding to Long Island. We shot in a real correctional facility, and the scene was about a woman who was being held in an immigration jail. We went through at least three sets of clanging metal jail bar doors, with officers manning each section with a bunch of keys in their hand as they glanced at us and checked for our in-jail ID that separated us from the population. Those extras who had to wear prison garb were warned not to wander anywhere off-set as they could be mistaken for real prisoners and would be taken away.

I was playing one of the correctional officers, standing behind the star of the show. I refrained from taking any photos on set, just to not annoy anybody. The fact I wore lipstick threw one of the makeup people into a mini uproar, and I quietly and amiably took off the lipstick. The makeup person had brought another over, and they briefly debated over how a correctional officer would look. The second makeup person found it amusing that the first one seemed so huffy about it and said correctional officers had a life outside the building so why not wear lipstick, no big deal. I said nothing. In the end, I went to the bathroom and took it off. After that, though, I heard the crew refer to me as the lipstick girl.

Guess they must've gotten a good laugh over that.

Before we had even gotten into the prison, we had to leave a proper ID card with the security post out front. Luckily I had brought two ID's, my state ID and my US passport. I gave my state ID at the gate and had to leave my passport when I had to go to the Props department to get the fake walkie-talkie, keys and badges to complete the 'look'. The makeup girl told me to make a messy ponitail which I quickly accomplished and she actually loved. I heard one of the crew stating how they seemed to assemble a bunch of people so quickly, and apparently all had the right look for them, and the director said that everyone was very good.

When we went to get our uniforms, and it was fairly quick and easy to pick out my size (lucky I remembered what size I was in men's shirts because I was dressed in a man's uniform!) and had to leave my voucher for that.

The shoot went pretty quickly. The star, Julianna Margulies, was professional, joked with the crew, and went in and out with these really high Frankenstein platform heeled shoes that added inches to her height. In the shoes she was eye level to me. Without, she was about by my neck. What was funny is her profile on IMDB lists her at 5 foot 6. I'm 5 foot 7, so I found that a bit interesting. She looked at me and I nodded slightly then looked away.

That rule about not interacting with the stars unless they address you -- I kept to it. I knew quite a few who couldn't wrap their egos around that and wouldn't hesitate to break that rule almost every chance they got in some convoluted home to be 'remembered' for 'something next time'. And to have something to brag about later with other BGers.

About four to six takes for each angle, and we were done. The guest star was impressed with how quickly the scene was done. About 3 or 4 angles in all, and I was saved for the final set before they announced that non-union was wrapped. I was asked to relax my stance, but it wasn't that easy -- my body wanted to go rigid and be 'on guard' as soon as I was fully in uniform. It is true what they say, the uniform can really make your mind 'go there' and it was easy to act.

They initally were going to hold on to me as I was in full get up still but decided to let me go. Darn! The ride back was relaxing, as I made sure I had room this time on the way home. It was a beautiful day and we were dropped off in midtown by Lexington Avenue. I thanked the driver and quickly found the subway and took the short ride home in a crowded train as we had just hit rush hour.

Overall a pleasant experience. Four hours, not including traffic. Nice weather. A good day.