And … Scene!

Song Lyric of the Day:

I could stick around and get along with you, hello / It doesn’t really mean that i’m into you, hello / You’re alright but I’m here, darling, to enjoy the party / Don’t get too excited ’cause thats all you get from me, hey

Martin Solveig (featuring Dragonette) / “Hello“

Monday afternoon I got a call from my talent agency about an acting job. You forgot I’m with an agency, didn’t you? It’s OK. I’d almost forgotten myself; the last job I had was a Ruby Tuesday commercial a couple of years ago. I’m also pretty sure my headshot is about four years old now (gotta get that updated). The job was for the Lifetime show Vanished With Beth Holloway and I’d be playing the mother of a couple of girls who get abducted. I ran into my boss’ office and excitedly told her about the gig; she agreed I could take the next day off to take the role (my boss is AWESOME). The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur since I was so excited and nervous about the job — the commercial was fairly recent, but the last time I did a docudrama was years ago. I spent Monday night packing what amounted to half my closet so I’d have more than enough outfits to choose from on set; I figured it was better to take too much clothes than not enough, because then I might end up having to wear something all wrong for a given scene.

After a last-minute cancellation for a late-night shoot Monday, I reported to UT Hospital at 8AM yesterday for my first scene of the day.

(I apologize for the photo quality — I only had my cell phone with me, not my camera. Added bonus: I sent these to Twitpic yesterday and it turns out they didn’t go through.)

Hospital scene setup

For the scene, I had to sit by my daughter’s hospital bedside, upset about what happened to her. A detective comes in the room and asks me to step into the hall to ask me some questions. That’s when the fun started. See, with docudramas like this where there’s narration playing over the re-creation scenes, you make up dialogue or just talk about whatever since what you say won’t actually be used on air. For some takes, we made up dialogue to go with the scene. Then there were the other scenes where Nick, the actor/producer playing the lead detective, was trying to make me laugh. He flashed his badge and introduced himself as “Detective Dirtbag.” He asked me if I realized he was missing The Price Is Right because of me, and that it only comes on once a day. The kicker was when he asked me if I knew why my boyfriend was wearing women’s underwear when he was arrested; I almost cracked up during that take, so I covered by pretending to cry even harder.

Me post-scene in my tired/crying mom makeup

Next we headed to a house in Oak Ridge to film the other scenes. There I was introduced to not only my evil ex-boyfriend (the one who kidnapped the girls), but three other boyfriends. Apparently that wasn’t enough, because later on our awesome makeup artist, Jason, was recruited to play a fourth boyfriend.  Oh, and I was introduced to my son. That’s right: four boyfriends, three kids, and one ex. Busy day.

I got made up in heavy, smudgy makeup since I was supposed to have been out barhopping/clubbing. My first scene at the house involved me stumbling into my bedroom drunk, crawling into bed fully clothed, and passing out. Next to the first of my many fake boyfriends. Can you say awkward? Actually, it was more surreal than anything. It was all I could do not to laugh during one take when I was pretending to be passed out and Xander turned over while he was “sleeping.” Too weird.

Then it was on to a scene where me and my second boyfriend had an encounter in the hallway and failed to notice my daughter standing nearby. My third boyfriend and I didn’t ever have a scene together. Then my fourth boyfriend (Jason) and I watched TV with all three of the kids. He was given a beer while I was given watered-down Gatorade that passed for White Zinfandel. I took a few sips of it during our takes; I’d be lying if I said it tasted good.

Me in my "clubbing" makeup between scenes

In between takes, I hung out with the kids’ moms (the kids enjoyed running around between takes) and had a nice chat with one of the production assistants. I also enjoyed talking with all my fake boyfriends — they were a really nice bunch of guys. It turns out that my evil ex is actually married to one of my coworkers. Small world and all. We all had fun talking about what TV shows we’re currently enjoying (Game of Thrones was at the top of the list), and how we’d all pretty much give anything to get a call to be a zombie on The Walking Dead.

After my scenes wrapped, I headed out to pick up Coraline from my parents’ house and headed home to try to nap. I never did manage to fall asleep, but I enjoyed the much-needed downtime after getting home at almost 1AM that morning, sleeping terribly, and then shooting all day.

At 10PM, I headed back out to meet the crew downtown, from where we’d caravan out to Ijams Nature Center to film my DUI arrest scene (mother of the year, I know). I grabbed Rich’s camera so I could get pics of everyone. It turned out to just be Jeff, the director, Nick, and myself. On the way to Ijams, I asked Jeff all about what it was like to be a director, how long he’s been in the business, etc.; he’s worked on some really neat projects and traveled the world, even going to Venice recently.

Once at Ijams, we met up with Bill, a cop who lives there for security (news to me), so Nick could get prepped for the scene, including receiving instruction on the proper way to cuff me.

While Nick was getting ready, Jeff and I sat in the living room talking with Bill. That’s when I remembered I had a camera with me this time, and I asked if they’d mind if I took some pictures since I blog everything.

Jeff, our intrepid director

Bill the cop

Bill makes sure Nick's uniform is up to par

Once Nick was ready, we headed outside to film the scene. It was a quick scene, where I got handcuffed and put in the back of the cop car. I have to say, the handcuffs were really uncomfortable, and having to get in the car while cuffed was not easy. Nick apologized every time he had to put me in the car; I think he was worried I was going to bonk my head. Which, me being me, was a very real possibility. Being cuffed and put in a cop car — even though it was all pretend — is all the motivation I need to avoid a life of crime. That and the bruise one of the cuffs left of my right wrist (to be fair, I bruise easily).

Nick, my arresting officer

Once we finished the scene, Jeff and Nick joked that the key for the handcuffs was broken. I hardy-har-harred and was then released on my own recognizance. We headed back to Bill’s, said our thanks and goodnights, and Nick drove me back to my car downtown; we talked about movies, actors, and directors on the drive back. I ended up getting home at almost midnight, and today it was back to my usual daily grind.

Nick and Jeff (who I think look like Bradley Cooper and Billy Squier, respectively)

And now you know what my day on set was like.