A Colossal Waste of Time

To add insult to injury: my son literally bumped into Bruce Willis. There's another movie filming in town. Willis is the star. They are shooting on campus and my son actually crossed paths with the megastar...and bumped into him. There was an exchange of "Sorry, man." "No problem."
To rub salt into the wound: my friend Tim got a speaking role in the movie that wasted my day. The stars are not lining up for me an any sense here.----------------------

Joe and Darrell movie stars
Originally uploaded by Darrell

My movie career appears to be over after just one day. I spent twelve hours in the company of some fine, talented people. That's twelve hours of my life I'll never get back. My old buddy Joe here was called for the same film, so at least I had somebody to hang out with. I actually knew about five people there, which was good since all we did was sit on our rear ends all day and into the night.
We were to be professors in a dinner party scene. We dutifully reported at 7:30am, went through paperwork and wardrobe selection and the started our sit-a-thon.
There were some women there, too. They primped and made a fuss about make-up & hair. Then they sat there, much of the day in an outdoor tent where their well-styled hair went flat and their make-up couldn't hold back the sweat.
We did get to the place where The Big Scene was being filmed, but only about eight people from the herd of "background artists" actually got to go onto (or even see) the set. The rest of us, about forty people, sat and sat and sat in a "holding area." We never saw a movie star or a director.
They did feed us well: steak, shrimp, a chicken option, nice salad and sides, excellent dessert slection. So, there's that.
I got a $25.00 bonus because I drove my car on one outdoor scene. The film's star, Edward Norton, was driving a car that I had to pass. The assistant director or somebody told me my timing was excellent. I hope that counts for something.
After my moment as a stunt driver, I stood around and watched them film the next shot in the sequence, which involved moving the camera on a track. That was interesting to see, I suppose. The one star I caught a glimpse of was the one I sort of hadn't heard of when I got asked to work on the movie. Somewhere, Susan Sarandon and Richard Dreyfuss were lurking. I think I might have been in the same building with them. I think they were in the dinner scene I never got called for.
At the end of the day, I had earned the car bonus plus four hours' overtime. It wasn't worth the disappointment and frustration. There are at least 30 people I hung around with who seem to feel exactly the same way.

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