My Second Day Of The Shoot: A Star Is Born

Again, I wanted to write last night, but it was just another case of actually living life getting in the way of writing about life. Yesterday was awesome. It started with me waking up way too early, accidentally calling one of the producers instead of voicemail and watching some tv. I got pretty anxious watching the Florida-Arkansas game on tape, but SNL relieved that. It was the best episode of the season thus far, in my opinion. Don't hesitate to watch!

After that I got ready and ate some leftover craft service food from yesterday for breakfast. I left the house a little after 7 to meet the director and head to Sun Valley where the camera truck was. There wasn't much to do there, so the aforementioned producer and I went to get some water and head to the set. There was none of the kind we needed at the first place we went to, but luckily a new PA had already been charged with the responsibility of getting water, so we just headed to the set. I then did what I could to get what food we had prepared.

The PA and I went out to the store for more supplies, and there wasn't much to do after that until the bulk of craft service stuff showed up. At that point, we got it all together on a table outside.

Digressing for a moment, I have to comment on this house we were shooting at. As I said, it was in Sun Valley, and it is an amazing, sprawling compound with numerous buildings, a pool, tennis court and all kinds of things. It reminded me of the palatial estates lived in by silent-era film stars as described in Upton Sinclair's 'Oil!'.

Now, after the craft service stuff was done with, it was time for me to get into what was my chief duty most of the day: playing an adult film actor who portrays a peg-legged sailor in a pirate-themed production. I hasten to note that this is a comedic-send up which mostly satirizes and lampoons the adult film industry, and no explicit nudity took place. There were, however, a number of people in pretty skimpy costumes. I was not really one of them. My costume was originally designed for another, much larger actor, and so it was pretty loose and flowing on me. Thusly, my shoulders and upper chest frequently became exposed, but I maintained my modesty even so.

It was kind of frustrating to be ready in that before noon and not shoot a scene for some six hours, but I had no small amount of fun with the other actors and the crew. We came up with a lot of extra comic material which we will be shooting in mid week with the hope that it might serve as a closing credits sequence.

Once we started shooting my stuff, it really was neat. There was an excellent response to my performance, which always feels good. Those people are just wonderful, and not just because they like my acting. The crew and the cast that I had interactions with seemed like they could be good friends, and perhaps I could work with them many times in the future.

We finished late, but not too late. Tomorrow morning will be our little extracurricular shoot. Should be a ton of fun. Then there's next weekend's shoot. I'm not sure that I'll be acting then, but I hope so. If not, it will be more of the PA's life for me.