My Life as a Hollywood Moive Extra

My Life as a Hollywood Movie Extra
Or
15 Days of Hurry Up and Wait

The shaking and the increasing noise…..my mobile alarm was going off! 5:30AM….is the sun even up? NO! This was going to be my first day on the set of Shanghai. And my first day as a Hollywood movie extra on a big budget movie and with big name stars!

I was lucky that Moon Star Studios was only 4 kilometers from my home here in Bangkok…just 10 minutes in a taxi and then I’d be a STAR!!

Arriving just past 6am with about 300 to 400 other would-be extras! I did not know anyone as was the case for most of us. I had met Carl several weeks ago at an audition for a TV commercial and so we kink-of stuck together.

Breakfast! Well….Thai breakfast….at least that was something. We settled in and talked about the up-coming adventure. No one knew what was going to happen or what we are going to do but we were there and that’s all that mattered. We finished our breakfast and sat around chatting waiting to be called to the wardrobe tent to get our costumes on. I had been there the day before to be fitted to a wool, black tuxedo. Please let us be on a cool sound stage!

With so many others to be dressed and fitted, it took about an hour or so to get dressed. There were a number of wardrobe assistants who made sure we were properly attired and looking smashing! Then off to hair and make-up. Well…just hair for the men. Women spent hours getting their hair set in the latest 1939 style and proper make-up.

The wardrobe tent was huge and had 1000’s of costumes for the period of the movie….Shanghai, late 1939/40. There were costumes for non Asians and Asians. Not to mention the different costumes needed to dress a 1000 extras and the characters in the extra cast.

After getting dressed, we were sent to a large sound stage to wait our time to be in front of the camera. We waited there for several hours! THEN off we went to the “set”!

WOW…it was a huge casino in a huge sound stage! It was several different levels and areas. It looked so real and it was in many degrees. I was assigned a poker table with other customers and told to wait here. There was an Asian man who was the “dealer” at our table. So we played poker….for a long time. Then the director arrived and began to tell us what were going to do. Where was the star, John Cusack? Surely he would be there and Gong Li….a well know Chinese actress.

After an hour or so, we were giving the cue… Action and we had our first rehearsal! Then another one…and another one! The “second” team stood in for John and Li. Then John Cusack entered. MY GOD he is big….at least 6’3” and not skinny at all. Well…that’s how I saw him.

Again, we were give ACTION and this time with cameras rolling!! Now it was getting warm. With about 400 extras, 100 to 150 crew members on the set and the lights on the set and the wool tux…I was sweating like hell! This was just the beginning! If I only knew.

Again and again, ACTION and again and again we filmed. Then they moved the cameras to get the next angel. I was beginning to understand how this was going to be. This was my first time on a movie set and my first time to do anything like this. I was about to learn a lot!

Then she arrived! Gong Li was beautiful! I had seen several of her movies…both Western and Chinese and she was even more beautiful in person. Many of the men on the set were all straining to get a glimpse of her! Who wouldn’t…even the women were all staring at her!

The day progressed and we did things over and over and over and over! This was becoming dull. The crew brought us water and snacks to the set and we were able to eat and drink. Also, the make-up and costume crew were always coming around to fix anything that they felt needed to be fixed! I’ve never been so “cared for” in my entire life! My hair has never been combed so much….EVER!

The first day on the set was to become a usual event….15 to 16 hour days! The good news was that they fed us well…there was always water and snacks coming. The bad news was that the main meal was at least 6 to 7 hours after we had started filming.

For those who have been an extra on any movie, you will know that it is not easy and sometimes not fun at all. You do this for the love of movies and because you want to know more about the industry. You spend HOURS on your feet and waiting and waiting and waiting! And you may only be seen for a few seconds…if at all.

My first day ended at 10pm….I’m completely exhausted! Our call for the next day is 6am!

Day 2….here we go again. But at least we know that our costumes are there with our names on them and all we need to do is put them on! I needed to change my shoes. The first day the shoes nearly killed me. OH MY GOD….no shoes to choose from. I’ll die!

Today we had a Western breakfast….scrambled eggs and hot dogs and vegetables. NOT BAD! And back to the casino set….it was still hot! Another day of take after take after take! This is getting to be the usual thing. But today I’m standing up a lot and with the shoes that are killing my feet….I’m dying! OH but I get to cross up some stairs in the casino just as Gong Li comes down them. I’LL BE ON CAMERA!! We do this over and over and over. BUT that’s ok…Gong Li is doing it also…and she is the famous movie star and I can keep up with her…and she is beautiful!

My partner in the scene is from Russia. And she has done other film projects. But she is continually complaining! It’s too much this, too much that. I finally got where I wouldn’t stand with her until we had to take our marks. OH…I also learned that I didn’t take my mark until the STARS took their mark. I saved my feet a lot of pain doing this.

Day 2 ended after 17 hours on the set. My feet were dead! I decided that I’d take a day off. With 30 hours on the set…I needed a rest and I took it.

A day later, I returned with a lot of rest and was ready to do my thing again. My costume was there and waiting for me….including those horrible shoes. I’ll die again!

But today we were on a different part of the casino set. This was the bar portion of the casino! WOW!! And it looks so real! The bar was fully furnished…classes, bottles of liquor….not real liquor…DAMN! If it was…all 400 of us would be drunk. The Thais love to drink! Not me of course!

There were some animals on set today…..a small monkey, 2 birds, a 12 foot snake and thank God a 5 foot rubber crocodile! All in the bar of the casino…..1939 must have been different in Shanghai!

Today Chow Yun Fat was on set! He has been one of my favorite Asian actors and to actually get to see him was a treat! I’ve enjoyed many of his movies and now I was on set with him! OH MY GOD!

The scene today was the beginning of an action scene and there was to be gun fire and a bomb! WOW…an action movie also!

Again…more hurry-up and wait. It takes a long time to set up the cameras and the special effects….hours and we just stand there and wait. This time was with a number of Thai extras who are there to be Chinese! Hey…you didn’t think they bring in real Chinese did you?

One young Thai man was the bartender! He was giving all the ladies the evil eye and so I asked if he was a bad boy. He said: “NOT bad boy……DEVIL”! We spent the next 4 days talking about him being a devil. It was just another fun time on the set.

OK…so the guns fire away and the bomb goes off…well…not like that but over the next 4 days…this all takes place. We are to “react” accordingly and be the terrified customers in the casino bar! But I’m next to Chow Yun Fat and that makes me happy. Gong Li nearly falls out of her dress and that makes so many men on the set happy! Everyone was HAPPY!! But not my feet!

Over the next day or so, we film more on the casino set. As they are preparing for the BIG bomb and get the extras ready, we are able to talk and eat the snacks that are brought to us. They are now ready for the first big bomb explosion and I am off set listening to this. BOOM! Pandemonium….screams, shouts…turmoil! It must be a Hollywood movie! Then I hear the director say: “He’s going to need a few stitches!” The next thing you see is 2 of the crew hauling some poor man out the big double doors of the sound stage and off to an ambulance! Our first injury!

It seems that this poor extra was only doing as instructed! But some water got on the stage and he slipped and fell face down onto a table. The blood was for real. We haven’t seen him since.

There is much more to talk about on the casino set but. you’ll have to wait for the book.

Julie Weiss is a two time Oscar nominee for costume design. She sure doesn’t look like anyone who would be a costume designer! Julie is a big woman and she knows what she wants. She is very approachable and on one occasion sat down with several of us at breakfast to chat. She needed our help to find handkerchief for the scene that was about to be filmed. She talked about her movies and how she knows when a movie is going to be a hit. You could see Julie coming on set but you sure don’t hear her! She is quite a woman and I will remember the time that she spent with us and was just like the rest of us!

On the 5 or 6th day we moved to the back lot! MY GOD…there’s Shanghai! We could see this from the studio but had never been allowed on the outdoor set! It contained several small streets or alleys and 2 large streets. As we filmed it became clear that the set was well designed and had taken a lot of thought and planning. We would see this area blown up and riddled with gun fire! WOW…more action!

HOT…the Thai sun is always hot…well…unless it is raining and it did both during our shooting on the back lot. The first 2 days we had plenty of sun. The make-up crew came by to put sun block on us. I will never forget when they got to me I was told…”Maybe too late for you!” DAMN! Burned!

The best day of the outdoor shooting was the day I spent with 3 Thai women. My Thai and their English made it a little difficult but we had so much fun trying to explain things to each other and answering each others questions. It was fun! At one point, one of the Thai men came over and wanted to know which of the 3 women I liked the most….well that’s what I think he was asking. I told him all 3! They all laughed and smiled and laughed some more!

Thais are very inquisitive. They will ask questions most Westerners would never ask….it’s their custom and nature to do this. They need to find out your status so they can treat you accordingly! The more money you make or the job you have makes all the difference in the world and they need to treat you with the due amount of respect. So I was asked how many children I have and if I was married and how old my kids were. This is not easy to answer with my lack of Thai language abilities. But I got the information across and gave them a lot more to talk about. This is one of the most memorable days I had working on Shanghai.

On Sunday, I was asked to return at 8am…wow…a late call. Not sure why I was picked but I was 1 of 8 Westerners and about 20 Thais. After breakfast we were given a new costume….another business suite….and comfortable shoes! Again, we sat around for some time and then we were walked to the back lot. We were here to do some still photos with Chow Yun Fat and Gong Li. WOW….what a surprise! Chow Yun Fat arrived in his van and immediately came over to all of us and said “Good Morning”. He talked to us and made us all feel very comfortable. Gong Li was not as forthcoming but she smiled and did say hello.

We worked on the back lot for about 30 minutes and then we were walked back to one of the sound stages. We were told that we would spend the day shooting on a blue screen.

This was going to be fun!

As we entered the studio, we were asked for our shoes! WONDERFUL…they were going to clean them up so we’d look good! WRONG! They were only cleaning the bottoms of the shoes so we would not get the blue screen dirty!! Anything on the blue screen will show-up on the film.

We were also sent to hair and make-up to be readied for the shoot. Again, we were combed and fluffed and made ready for the camera.

I feel so important!

The blue screen director told us what were going to do and even showed us clip of a shot of John Cusack with the “ship” in the background and how we would be superimposed onto the ship. EXCITING! We spent about 7 hours doing many different actions. Of course we had to take our shoes off as we left the blue screen.

I’ve always wanted to be in a rickshaw and get pulled around…well….I got the next best thing….a peddle cab! The poor Thai man was very small but he managed to get me around the blue screen several times. He would laugh and do his best to talk to me and I did my best to respond in my best Thai. We met several times on the back lot and he would always talk with me.

That Sunday was one of the best and easiest days I had on the Shanghai set. We worked only 8 hours…..my shortest day!

The last 4 days were night shoots. We were called at 3pm each day. Food was provided…breakfast…it was the first meal of the day for us….again into our costumes and the waiting…nothing new about that. Then after several hours we were lined up and walked to the back lot. There would be more gun fire and explosions on the set. This was the bombing of Shanghai by the Japanese and there were a lot of Japanese solders to do this….ok…Thai extras! This is the rainy season for Thailand and so it rained on us…often but never hard. We did not stop shooting. Hours would pass and we would just sit or stand and wait for our call. This went on for 15 to 19 hours each day. It was the most difficult part of the schedule and it was grueling.

Many of the extra cast became very upset and discontented with the waiting and long hours. We were provided with food and water but it didn’t help a lot.

My last day on the Shanghai set went from 3pm to 11am the next day. I was spent! We were asked to come back that afternoon for an additional day of shooting….NO WAY! I had had it and that was enough. Some of my friends did return…more power to them but I just couldn’t!

I have no regrets with the 15 days I spent working Shanghai. I learnt a lot and made some wonderful friends. I was always treated well in spite of the long hours. The food was good and plenty of it. I have never been so well groomed by so many people! My hair was combed more than I would ever do.

OH….I have a solution to erectile dysfunction…..the hair jell that they used on us would make anything stiff and hard! I took a motor bike to the main street that morning and my hair didn’t move! If I had an accident…my head was well protected! I need to get the name of that jell!

The difficult part of this film was the number of people you had to work with. When there are 1000 extras and 400 to 500 on the crew all in one place…even as big as the set was….it will be difficult. There were people from all over the glob. I have never met so many different nationalities in my entire life. A new experience for me!

Will I be seen on screen? God only knows! There were many times I was next to John Cusack, Gong Li and Chow Yun Fat as the camera rolled but that could all end up on the floor! In the big crowd scenes…..maybe if you have binoculars to look for me.

So do I recommend it? Only if you like to stand around a lot…put up with lots of people from many different places and get paid a small amount of money!

It was wonderful!!

I'm in a Movie!!

If all goes well..I will begin 2 days of filming in a new Hollywood movie called Shanghai. It is beeing filmed here in Bangkok at Moonstar Studios...not very far from my home. Should be fun!!