Giving celebs their privacy — Page 3

Here's another good one - After the play "Freud's Last Session," the two actors enthusiastically greeted all the audience members outside the theater. One night, Richard Gere attended the play. He was standing around amongst the crowd, when all of a sudden, some rabid Gere fan ran over to him and started gushing. Gere said, "uh, this isn't about me, it's about this play, and there are the two actors, right over there."

Loved him for that.

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Hey GavestonPS Ms. Farrell was very gracious. I would think telling any woman you love her work for DECADES wouldn't go over too well.

Jane2, reading your story about Linda Hunt, I would hope maybe she was just still in character. I would never make an excuse for anyone's bad behavior but you know some actors take it to a different level in their process. Hooper was a very unhappy lady, but I'm sure you being on set many times you could tell the difference.
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When the actors came out for Act 2 of The Fantasticks to the piano and swinging around the poles, bill Murray said to his son, "You can do that!" then he turned to me and said, "You can do that!". His son looked so embarrassed.

Hysterical. I doubt I could have held it together.

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"Hey GavestonPS Ms. Farrell was very gracious. I would think telling any woman you love her work for DECADES wouldn't go over too well."

Point taken, but

(a) I didn't use the word "decades" with Miss Ferrell. LOL. I simply said I am a big fan and have been following her work since I first saw her in HOT L BALTIMORE. She knows when that ran.

(b) Given that I'm 60 myself and have a full head of white hair, remarks about longevity are accepted somewhat differently. It's not like I'm saying, "I've loved you since I was 3!"

P.S. The misunderstanding here is my fault: in my original post I did seem to imply that I had told Ferrell I'd enjoyed her work for "decades". I was paraphrasing what I actually said; no duration of years was mentioned. I apologize for my lack of clarity.

Updated On: 4/22/14 at 04:21 PM

Hi Jane...Oh no, please don't misunderstand me, I meant no offense. I was merely repeating the typical instructions extras get, for the benefit of any readers who may not know, but in no way was I telling you what to do. When I read your post about the actress being mean to you, I was just differentiating between the general clear distinction made on set between principle actors (including guests like you), and non-speaking extras. She should have treated you on her level, was all I meant. Fortunately, I can't really recall a situation in which there's a lot of condescension or discrimination to extras, though I know it used to be more rampant years ago (or maybe it's more like that in LA or NY?). I've experienced pretty pleasant sets, I have to say, including on "Man of Steel" a couple years ago. Can't say enough good things about that prod team and crew, from Snyder to the AD's on down. (I realize how that sentence just sounded, but truly, they were just super respectful, realistic, and nice.)

Sorry you and Marianne were bored. I suggest to some of my performer friends to submit for background gigs if they have flexible schedules and to make a few extra bucks on occasion. (There have been lots of TV and movies filmed in Chicago in recent years.) But a handful who are constantly the flitting-to-this-flitting-to that types are like, "nah, I can't sit still that long." I bring books or magazines too, of course, or people bring their phones and ipads, now, for downtime. Often it will be nice to see a few folks you've worked with before, whether background or crew, and there are always new people to meet and chat with. Unless, that is, you've been moved from holding to set and you're instructed to be quiet while they're shooting over a nearby wall or something, until you're needed. These days I have to hit the phones for work, so instead of working from home on quieter weeks, I'll take a gig one day here or there, and I'll try make use of the time that way while still getting paid for the gig! I'm rarely bored doing these, thankfully!

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Got it. Cool! :)

Oh yes, you learn fairly quickly that if your face is seen clearly on camera, you likely won't be called back (if it's episodic TV). That happened to me on an ep of "Boss." But at least I was literally right across from Amy Morton for the entire scene! (Love, love, love her. They should have gotten her for the film version of "August: Osage County" since she pioneered the local and Broadway stage versions, instead of Julia. But I digress.) I did 3 episodes of "Chicago Code" a few years back because I wasn't seen much, so I could re-submit. The 3 eps of "Chicago Fire" I did this season were because a) my face was not seen in the bar scene, the first one I did all season, so I could submit for others, and b) most recent other 2 I did were driving scenes so we were in our cars, anyway. I'd rather take the seen-less-cast-and-paid-more route, for now. :)

But yeah, you always run into a newbie extra who is anxious about being seen or not, or where to stand or whatnot, and you have to say, "hey, if you want to get more work, it's quite ok if your face isn't seen that much today!" I never heard that if you're an extra too much, you will never be a principle. I mean, Brad Pitt started out as an extra... :) Guess it depends on your agent, your location, and if you get auditions and pass them. (I don't feel I'm a good auditioner unless it's musical theatre anyway, sadly, so on the rare occasions when the agent calls, I always try to go, to get past the nerves and have the experience. Usually they're for commercials or odd projects, not shows or film, here. Good thing I have a full-time job that's somewhat flexible, because in Chicago, it's rare to make a living as an on-camera "actor." At least in LA or NY, a union performer can make a decent living by doing background work pretty frequently. I'm a union performer due to a long broadcast career, but the contract doesn't cover TV and movies for background, here. So, anyone can do it, and you all get non-union rates. Unless upgraded or cast as principle.)

How did you come to be a "regular" extra on SATC...then it sounds like you also have gotten speaking roles elsewhere?

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Updated On: 4/22/14 at 11:57 PM

I did the stage door thing for the first time after seeing MATILDA. I was surprised and delighted to hear several cast members mention how much they enjoy and look forward to seeing fans after a performance praising and thanking them for their work. Made me glad I took the time to do so. I found the other few occasions I've spoken to celebrities (and only because our paths crossed) and mentioned a work of theirs I was truly fond of, how touched and genuinely appreciative they were that I took the time out to voice my feelings. One suggestion, make it brief unless they then engage you in conversation.

Thanks Jane and Lovepuppy for the insight. I have seen in casting notices I get in emails that you can't have worked in a certain amount of weeks depending on the show. I didn't realize though that it could affect getting more jobs for the season if you are seen very well. But, I have been on 1 show where I have gotten regular work because of the nature of it. Like because it takes place in a very specific location where people would be around it for a long time, they did reuse people all season long. Except because I was in the role I did, I was not allowed to apply for any other extra role for that show. But, it was okay because I got to work more than 1 day, which the people hired for the other stuff were only 1 or 2 day gigs.

It's funny, I never actually thought I would get into doing extra work. I signed up with Central Casting in New York because I saw it listed in an article about making extra money and I was like, "why not?" I have always had an interest in acting, but am not really pursuing it as my ultimate career. For that reason, I am not in a union, but that's fine. I do like the work most of the time, but kind of do it more for fun, when I am available.

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Oh believe me, I have heard stories from people. Fortunately, I haven't been involved or witnessed much that was really horrible. Actually, I have a couple of semi-bad stories. 1 was weather related and not production's fault, so I'm not pissed at them for it. But, the other 1 was really annoying for a few things. Like making us all walk up from the lower 60s on the east side of Central Park to the 80s on the west side to get to a 2nd filming location. Not fun when you have a lot of clothing and stuff to carry and are wearing a party dress that ended up not being needed to be changed into at the 1st location, but we were told to.

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