Extra! Extra! Read All About It! PART THREE

Arriving back at Extras Holding, I saw the woman, who had been sitting next to me at lunch, having a cigarette.

"Smoking?" I thought and noticed two more people smoking outside, "Yay! I'm going for it."

One cigarette later, I went back into Extras Holding to wait. I was still a sweaty mess, so I spent a lot of time by the A/C. I didn't spend all of my time by the A/C, though.

I went outside to have another cigarette and soon heard a guy in shorts, a t-shirt and baseball cap, "I can't believe I caught him! Whew! Probably because I'm not wearing my vest. Thirty-five pounds lighter must be why. I'm an off-duty police officer," he continued and lifted up his t-shirt to reveal his gun.

"What happened?" I asked the woman I'd been smoking with.

"They caught a shoplifter."

"What?"

"Yeah," the off-duty cop went on, "How stupid do you have to be ..."

"You'd think with all these cop cars around ...," a uniformed officer joined in.

We all looked from cop car to cop car and from cop to cop. It was mind-boggling. Why would someone do that? Maybe he needed a place to sleep. Maybe he really is stupid. Honestly though, why would someone shoplift in the middle of a movie location with so many law enforcement and security personnel around? We shook our heads. A few chuckled. We stood and watched the real-life drama unfold as two female officers showed up in a sqaud car.

"They'll be taking him in," said the uniformed officer.

We continued to watch. Sure enough, in no time at all, the suspect walked out, handcuffed behind his back with a patrolwoman on either arm. I almost felt sorry for the guy, but that didn't last long. We all just stared in disbelief. Little did we know what we would witness this evening.

I went back inside because Bob and Tyler told us to. Everybody moved into the room and towards their seats.

Bob stood by the door and announced, "OK, I'd like all the people who are going to be inside to stand over here," Bob said, "... and who here is a pedestrian?"

In almost all cases, while someone was making an announcement, they would have to stop what they were saying to listen to their headset and maybe respond. In all cases, a polite, "Just a minute" or "Excuse me" smoothly inserted.

Soon the people who were going to be inside and pedestrians were gone. I saw the redhead and brunette women leave dressed in their waitress outfits. I saw the guy who was playing a busboy leave wearing a dirtier t-shirt than the one he had shown up in. I'd watched the Wardrobe Master teach him how to tie his apron while he was being set up. I saw the woman I had lunch and a cigarette with leave with the group going inside. I watched the woman who had the fantastic costume on ahead of me in line head out with the group going inside. I watched others in brighter costumes leave knowing that they would be pedestrians across the street.

I started to settle down and considered what I was going to do to keep myself busy. I didn't have time to decide before Bob returned.

"We're going to use some of our drivers as pedestrians. When I call your name, please go stand over there."

As he called each name, I sat in my corner hoping that he wouldn't call my name.

"Michelle," Bob said.

"Shit," I thought, "OK. Here we go."

I stood up, headed to the other side of the room, got in line and waited. People started talking a bit, and I went to the bathroom, again. Dang nerves.

Soon enough, Bob returned and more instructions were given. We were to be split up into groups. I was placed in a grop of five closest to Extras Holding. Our group was assigned to Laurel, one of the many PA's on the set.

The whole lot of us moved outside and waited. I looked around at the people noting that the one guy who really wanted to be in the movie hadn't been picked. I heard another guy tell his buddy not to join the "chosen ones" and not to worry because they'd get picked, too. I just waited. I didn't really listen to what was being said. Mainly, I listened to tone of voice and observed body language.

There was a young woman who looked amazingly like Winona Ryder. It was uncanny. I saw her talking to Bob and another gentleman. I would later learn that the other man was Jon, the Atmosphere Casting Casting Director.

Soon boredom crept in, and I saw the police officer that I'd been noticing for about a half hour. He looked very much like an officer that I'd met back in the fall when BB was shooting a Buick commercial. It had been a memorable occasion for me, and I was pretty sure that he was the one who had spontaneously posed for me while I hid and tried to take pics of BB without being noticed or in the shot.

I walked up to the officer, "Excuse me. Did you work a Buick commercial last fall?"

The officer looked at me and told me that he had.

"I was there taking pictures of my son."

"Who's your son?"

"BB"

"Oh yeah, I remember," he said, "I remember you taking the picture, "How is he?"

"He's good. He's working on his own project, but maybe when he gets done, he'll be called in here, or..."

"Good," said Gary, "Nice to see you, again. Opes. Gotta go. Thanks for remembering. See you." Gary left towards Extra Casting, and I returned to my group.

Again, the groups moved, and we were finally split into the groups we would be in until further notice. Laurel introduced herself, and we waited some more. People started loosening up. People started talking. Well, actually, Lauren, the woman who was a dead-ringer for Winona Ryder kept talking. She was very excited.

"They said that I look exactly like Winona; and that, they wished they'd seen me before they cast her double. They were talking about using me. Do you think they will?" Lauren went on and on.

I was glad to listen and not offer any opinions. I was happy to observe and listen. I was getting more and more comfortable. My feet felt good. My back didn't hurt. I was sweating in my hoodie, but there was a really nice breeze.
Standing with Laurel and the other four Extras in my group, I kept my mouth shut and listened.

"OK," Laurel said, "Here's what we're going to do. Ping-Ponging...."

I looked at her completely confused. Everyone must've because she continued, "I'll be sending you by ones and twos. All you have to do is walk to the other corner. OK. Rolling."

With Laurel at one end and another wonderful, female PA at the other; ten of us walked from corner to corner. We stood and waited, and while we did we started to talk. We got to know each other a bit more.

My group consisted of the aforementioned Winona Ryder Look Alike, Lauren; Wesley; Charlie; Dan and me. Lauren talked non-stop. That was OK. It kept things lively. Nobody was required to join in. She mainly talked with Laurel, but sometimes just threw a random story out there. For the first part of the evening, the stories centered around her desire to act and experiences on sets.

"He was really nice. Let me stand there and watch the monitors with his hand on my back...." Lauren continued on.

Charlie and I looked at each other. Laurel drew back a centimeter. Wes and Dan perked up. Lauren noticed. She wasn't a stupid woman; just a bit naive.

"You don't think ..."

The Extras looked at each other, looked at Laurel, the PA, and looked down at the sidewalk.

"Yeah," Laurel grimaced, "That's a bit much."

Charlie kinda snorted and added, "Yeah."

Dan, Wesley, and I joined in with a "yeah", too.

Poor Lauren saw a bit her naivity land in a puddle at her feet. An awkward silence insued. No one spoke. No one spoke for a few minutes. By this time in the evening, we had walked a good couple of times. We had stopped and started over. We had "reset." We were tired and a bit sore.

As we continued to stand or lean on the planter and wait, I started a conversation with Charlie.

"So what brings you here tonight?