EXTRA! EXTRA! Read All About It! PART FOUR

"We decided to have an adventure," said Charlie.

"An adventure? We?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm a Cook County Sheriff. He's my son," Charlie said motioning to Dan, "Someone at work told me about it, and ..."

"Stand By," said Laurel, "Rolling."

We fell silent and stood still focused on Laurel.

"OK. You. ... and why don't you two go together this time," Laurel said to Wes and me.

As Wes and I walked down the street, I found out that he is studying acting at Act One, one of the more well-known acting schools in Chicago. We had fun the many times we walked together. By the end of the night, I was walking beside him and "blocking" for him; so he could get a better look at what was going on over at the diner.

"You're pretty good at this," Wes smiled while he looked out of the corner of his eye towards the diner, "OOoo. I see Winona Ryder. There's Vince Vaughn and Ron Howard. You wanna see?"

"No. I'm OK just walking. You enjoy."

For around eight hours we walked back and forth and waited around. During this time, I found out that Dan was Charlie's son; and that, Charlie's wife and daughter were on the other side of the street. I also found out that Dan is a huge Notre Dame fan and the first member of his family to go to school there. He literally bounced when he mentioned it. Notre Dame is a big deal if you come from a family of Notre Dame fans.

We were working "French Hours" which means there was no official break for our second meal. Box lunches, snacks and water were brought in. We were able to grab something to eat in-between takes. I'm not sure what I ate in my box lunch, but it was good. I picked something vegetarian with couscous. I like to try new things, so this was fantastic.

It was very endearing that every time Bob would walk by, he would say, "You all right?"

I always replied, "I'm fine. I just look a mess."

I did look a mess. Sweat poring down my bright red face, hair unbrushed in efforts to not slick it back, and well; I'm just fat and out of shape.

I also responded with a chipper, "Hey! I'm loving the work-out. I'm hoping to lose five or ten pounds tonight."

This seems to please Bob, and he encouraged me to go for my goal. Bob was very nice and very professional.

At one point in the evening, we saw that the Extras who had not been picked yet were sitting on folding chairs outside Extras Holding. Charlie and I thought we might procure a few chairs to set by us. Our plan was foiled by Bob. We didn't know that it would be a problem and promptly put the chairs back. I made sure that Bob knew that I wasn't trying to cause any problems.

The last thing I wanted to do was cause problems. We were shooting one block away from the Aragon and the Ween concert was starting to let out. Things were getting interesting, to say the least.

At first it was the drunken masses filtering into the shots because they just wouldn't listen to the PA's asking them to please wait for a minute. I was amazed that not only were the drunken masses pretty belligerent, but so were a few of the sober, regular folks. When people were asked not to walk through the shot, they simply backed up and found a way around the PA. This happened so often that we all finally gave up. I'd tried to politely block people with my overly large girth, but that didn't work, and it wasn't my job. Last thing I wanted to do was cause a commotion doing what I shouldn't be doing.

I will have to say that I heard the most vulgar comments that I've ever heard in my life from one big, fat, drunken bastard who walked into the shot and followed me down the sidewalk. Wow! I mean describing body parts and actions in their full glory for a full block while I just looked straight ahead, and when I was sure that I was out of the shot; I motioned to the PA and my fellow extras that the guy behind me was an asshole (and more). They all laughed. I turned around and saw the culprit. He was in sorry shape; fat with beer or some liquid all down his barely buttoned shirt. Sort of looked like an out-of-control John Belushi, but not as handsome. Yes, I think John Belushi had a certain bit of handsomeness.

More "crazies" came out as the night progressed. I don't usually used the word, "crazies", but since it is a part of our vernacular and fits so perfectly, I'll use it here. There was a very skinny man dressed in shorts, striped sweat socks, a tux jacket with tails, a red feather boa and black sparkling top hat who had a bit of a skip to his step. I don't know if he was on anything or had some sort of mental health issues or both. I just know that his fashion sense won the evening. There was one big guy who growled and was allowed to go wherever he wanted. Thank goodness he only wanted to walk down the street and on his way. He smelled bad, too.

The saddest person that I saw was an older woman who was completely disoriented who wandered all over the background set yelling at people and buildings. Officer Gary and his partner did a brilliant job of rounding her up. It took a good twenty minutes for them to calmly corral her. I was so impressed with their efforts. I mean really impressed. They offered to give her a ride home, but she refused and eventually wandered back the way she had came still yelling at everyone and everything around her. It looked as though she had broken a leg that hadn't been treated once upon a time. She was in sorry shape, and my heart went out to her and most of the others.

That's it for now. Stay Tuned for PART FIVE where I see what Vince Vaughn does between takes and how Ron Howard directs - both from afar and at extremely close range.

Thanks for your continued reading, Folks. Take care! If your interested in reading the four part series in its entirety, just type in EXTRA in the Search box on the blog page. It should bring up all the stories about my extra experiences, including the first two about the open extras casting call.