Poseidon Trailer

The Poseidon Trailer is out!! www.apple.com/trailers/wb/poseidon/
I can't wait to see the movie! =)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Well, ok it's already the week after Thanksgiving but I'm still in the thankful mood!! Thanksgiving was great here in South Carolina with my parents. It's nice to be experiencing weather again. I got here just in time to see all the colors of the leaves before they finished falling off the trees.

I was worried about working right before I took all this time off and fortunately I was able to work as a casting assistant on Fast and Furious 3. It was 9 days in a row of craziness, but all in all, I enjoy working in casting. It's a lot of fun.

Anyway, it's nice to be taking it easy here in SC ... hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving!!

The Gifties are on ...

So I taped Desperate Housewives Sunday night, since I was working on that rush call. As I watched it last night, I started to fast forward through the commercials and realized ... there it was. The Old Navy "Gifties" commercial that I worked on. That was fast! You can't see me. But when they do a wide crowd shot in the beginning you can see a red blob where I'm standing. I'm wearing a red jacket. I'M FAMOUS!!! haha ;)

Americanizing Shelly

Americanizing Shelly is a low budget film that doesn't have too much info on imdb. It took me little over an hour to drive up to Thousand Oaks ... for some reason there is always this "rush hour" on Sundays around 5 and 6 and it always screws up my travel time because I always forget about it. Anyway, I got there and basically sat around and read for about and hour or 2. The bar was open and some bar patrons were there, so, all in all, it felt pretty laid back. I met this guy, who was also a paid extra, that was the spitting image of Vince Vaughn out of Swingers, and just as loud and obnoxious as you might imagine. He was a lot of fun to talk to. They finally broke for lunch around 9, and the burrito buffet was pretty good. They had an electric slide lesson on the dance floor right after. I had suspected there might be dancing, since it was a country western bar with a good size dance floor and thought I might get to two step. =) I was right. Well ... sort of. An AD asked me if I could two step and I said yes a little. I'd been fortunate to do it some while I was in Austin. =) Then, they picked out a guy and told me to teach him. Now, out of all the dances I know, I know very little about leading two step, so teaching a guy was not something I was confident about. They found 3 other couples that were regulars at the club that could two step, so once I showed the guy they paired me with what I came up with as a basic and an underarm turn, it helped to see them and get a better feel for it. I have to say that my partner had no dance experience, but he did awesome. He really picked it up quickly and for a guy to learn a traveling dance like that and not only have to maneuver a dance floor right away, but a dance floor packed with camera and crew, he really pulled it off and made it look like he'd done it before. And he wasn't even a paid extra ... he was just there with some co-workers. We had to go around the line dancing electric sliders in the middle, somewhat like you see on a normal dance floor. However, the first few takes we did, they had us going the wrong way ... against the line of dance ... which even messed up the real two steppers. Then we finally got to go the right way, but we also had to maneuver through the line dancers, which is not typical, and needless to say, there were a few bumps here and there. All in all, though, that was the most fun of the evening and the most interesting to write about. After the dance scenes, there were just your normal bar scenes with pool playing and what not in the background. We didn't get out of there until 2:30, and they were still filming,, but they couldn't afford to pay us OT, so they got rid of us. I got home about 3:30ish and fell fast asleep. =)

Rush Call ... Americanizing Shelly

Just got a call for a rush call on a movie called Americanizing Shelly. It's tonight from 6pm - 1am. Should be fun and easy money. It's at a country western bar. Hopefully it won't go past 1am. ;)

It's Official

I'm heading home for the holidays ... but my dad and I worked up a scheme. I'm surprising my mom for thanksgiving. I haven't had thanksgiving with my parents in 6 or 7 years, so I'm excited. My mom has no idea so this should be fun. =)
And since it's somewhat of a long trip I will be in good ole Colatown, SC (that's Columbia for all you folk not from the carolinas) for all of the holidays. It will be a long stay, but since work is slim in december, I might as well take advantage of hangin' with family. =) I plan on coming back in January fully refreshed and ready to work, work, work!!

Not much to report...

Not much going on. Haven't worked on anything because I'm trying to get my big list of "things to do" narrowed down. Signed up with LACasting 2 days ago under my new agent and am in the process of getting my 300 copies of my headshot. I hope to work more next week. I hope to get everything I need to get finished this week.

The Gifties

I got to work on my first commercial this past week. Just as a non union extra but the pay was decent. 2 days on Old Navy ... I'm guessing it's one of their new holiday commercials. Mostly it was boring work, especially the first day because they barely used us. I was a "fan" and it was set up to be like the red carpet outstide the oscars or grammies (get it? ... gifties =P). So we were standing in some bleachers pretending to cheer for the celebrities that were coming out of the limo onto the red carpet ... and the celebrities were the boycut jeans. ;) All in all it was cool to get my first taste of what it's like to work on a commercial.

The Nanny and other stuff...

Well, I haven't worked as an extra in a while. Worked as a nanny for my cousin's 1 1/2 year old for a month ... then got sick for 2 weeks ... then my mom visited for 2 weeks ... so it's been a bit crazy for me. In the meantime, I got a commercial agent and got new headshots. Hopefully I will get more work soon!

17 Days

Well the whole experience was great! It was great working on a film for such a long time and I made a few friends along the way. I'm really looking forward to seeing Poseidon when it comes out, if nothing else the special effects will be fun to watch. The sets of the 2 ballrooms were breathtaking and although it was a bit tiring wearing the same strapless dress the whole time, I'd do it again.

I've posted a few pictures. Mostly of the people I saw and hung out with on a daily basis.

Shannon and Donna 

lots of extras with a lot of time to wait and pose for the occasional "illegal" picture... 

donna and lisa 

Before the ship flips ... waiting around in holding... 

you can barely see me, but I'm there ;) just standing around and waiting for the balloon drop... 

balloon drop 

first day after flip ;) I ended up getting bloodier and dirtier with every day :P

Well ... here it is Monday ... call time 4:30 am ...
Last week was long, tiring and fun. Along with the cast, I spotted 2 other miscellaneous celebrities around the set ... Salma Hayek, who was checking out the set and holding hands with Josh Lucas ... and I saw Rob Reiner pull up in a golf cart and go into the set ...
Well, it's time to go to work. I'm trying to get my hands on some pictures ,,, my digital camera decided to quit working, but I should have some soon. =)

On The Flip Side ...

*YAWN* It's too early ... =P
Yesterday was fun went by surprisingly fast, but after having less than 3 hours sleep Sunday night, I feel extra sleepy this morning ...
We began filming on the upside down set yesterday, and from what I understand, yesterday was the most complicated. We did the part right after the flip, when everyone is coming to and the emergency lights are starting to come on. They had water dripping from the ceiling (from the "ship's busted water pipes") and fires in various locations and tons of stunt people falling from the balcony and catching on fire. Everyone starts out in various locations on the floor (ceiling) and slowly gets up (if they can or aren't dead =P). I started out on an upside down table on top of a dead guy (fake dead guy ;)). Then as I was "coming to" the chandaliers start sparking and a man catches on fire next to me. It was pretty cool to see it all, but I do have to say I am already waking up with bruises. =P
The make up on everyone is amazing and really cool. But I'll go into that tomorrow. Need to get ready to go. =) Got to be there at 5am today ...

Poseidon - Round 2

Well, I start on Poseidon again tomorrow when they'll begin filming after the flip. Central Casting just called me with my info. My call time is at 5:30am (a little better than last time. =P And my category is Injured ... the girl told me they have healthy, injured and dead ... should be fun. =)

1 week down ... 1 to go ...

WOW! Last week was just a blur. I'd have to say the most fun was Friday. We did the countdown to midnight and they had a balloon drop and streamers shooting and the whole shabang ... we had to rehearse it a couple of times before they released everything ... basically, while we are singing Aulds Lang Sine (or however you spell it =P), the "alarm" goes off and we "hear a rushing sound" and everyone panics, etc ... when we did it for real finally, it was actually quite chilling to be in the middle of all of that ... I was near the back of the dance floor kinda in the middle and when people started screaming and running, I literally could not make it to my table ... My hands were still shaking by the time we did it again ... this time of course we just picked up a few balloons and threw them in the air ;)
Anyway ... I can't wait to see how it all turns out on film!
I get to go back on July 12th for the upside down scene. I'll get pics of my dress "after the flip" and post 'em when I can. =)

I'm not wearing the pointy toe shoes that I'm supposed to but you can just imagine how silly it looks with that dress! 

can you tell I'm tired!!?? =P 

Lisa and me 

Poseidon - Day 3

Call time was still 4:30am ... oh joy ;)

The scenes we were doing last friday and yesterday (monday) were set during the New Year's Eve party between 11:30 pm and 11:40 pm ... today we went back a bit and did 10:00 pm. The captain, Andre Bauer (sp?), made a speach and introduced Gloria (played by Fergie). Kurt Russel and Kevin Dillon were on the set today for their scene at a poker table with Josh Lucas at 10pm.
Nothing really to chat about ... I am really tired. Good news, though ... I don't have to be there until 5am tomorrow. =) So instead of waking up at 2:30 ... I get to sleep in until 3am!! =P
Still no pictures. =(

it's just wrong ...

getting up this early =P
Can't find my batteries for my camera ... but I know other extras that are bringing cameras. =)

Poseidon - Day 2

I got to peek at the upside down ballroom set today ... they are still building it and won't be filming that part until July. It's pretty cool. In the ballroom there is a grand staircase that spits into 2 arms that go up to the casino floor. In the upside down set, one arm is still attached but the other is on the bottom all mangled ...
Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas was there today to "sing" her "last song" before the "wave" hits. Her dress is beautiful and full of sparkles.

Sleep is going to be a rare commodity this week ...

Good Morning Sunshine

It's 3:30 am and I have to be there at 4:30 am ... hopefully I will have pictures by tomorrow. =)

The Adventure has begun ...

Call Time = 4:30 am
I get up at 2:30am and get to Warner Bros on time ... to wait in line after line ...
First I get on the shuttle in the parking lot and wait ... then I get in line to get your WB lot pass ... then I walk across the street and get in line to go through security ... then it's the line to get checked in ... then there's the line for hair and make up ... then fortunately the line to wardrobe has diminished so I change into my dress ... then I have to wait to get body make up for my tan lines which aren't too too bad (my dress is strapless). Then finally I get to go to that wonderful spot called Extras Holding. They've set up huge tents between 2 stages with lots of chairs ... it looks like a church revival or something. By the time I get there, it's probably 6:30ish. After milling around a bit and partaking some of the craft service, they lead us to set.
WOW
Set is unbelievably huge and beautiful. It's hard to believe all the hard work and detail that goes into building it only to have it broken back down in a matter of weeks. It really looks and feels like you're on a luxury cruise liner.
The crew has a sense of humor, and often you hear jokes like ... "I have a bad feeling about this ...", "Did you bring your swim trunks?"
A couple of guys I worked with on Constantine are working on this, so it's cool to see familiar faces.
I will write more when I can ... next week will be hard ...

The Adventure begins tomorrow ...

Well ... got my call time for tomorrow ... 4:30AM ;) Have to call the hotline tonight after 6 to get all the info like parking, etc ... and then it's off to bed for me ...
Will post pics in the next day or 2 if I can get them ;) ...

Syriana

I was given a hotline number and told to call Friday night after 7pm to get all the info on location and call time (what time I'm supposed to be there) for Saturday. So I patiently waited until 7 pm ... and found out that everyone booked as embassy workers were also added to the funeral scene ... I had to come wearing an outfit appropriate for a funeral in the summer time and my call time was ... 4:45 AM ... so once I had the location address, I got off the phone and tried to find something appropriate for a funeral and set my alarm for 3am ... I think I finally got to bed around 9:30 ... so not too bad ...
The one thing about having a call that early is that it's much more fun to drive on LA's highways ;) ... it's almost eerie seeing so little traffic . I got to cast and crew parking right on time and we were bussed to base camp ... an old abandoned prison . It was kinda cool and creepy at the same time ... there were giant brick walls and barbwire everywhere ... I'm sure the location is used for lots of filming .
we were told to partner up with the actors that were booked for the funeral scene with their cars and that we would caravan to the cemetery ... so that's what we did and once we got there, the cars stayed in line and we just parked and waited in our cars ... basically all we did was get out of our cars and head toward the green tent out in the cemetery ... I would say it's one of the nicer background scenes I've done just because you got to sit in between takes ;) ... so we did that for a few hours ... when we got back to base camp (around 7:30ish) it looked like a different world ... all the other extras were now there and it was strange seeing the walls with barbwire and men dressed in army desert fatigues and middle eastern men and kids dressed in pakastani wardrobe ... if I didn't mention it before, the setting for the scene I was originally booked on was an american embassy in pakistan ... now there was an american flag and a pakastani flag flying ... It's always so cool to see how the set dresser's and decorators can magically turn one location into something else completely .
We finally get led to the set, which is a courtyard with a gated entrance complete with metal detector and the "entrance" to the embassy ... basically during the scene we all had to walk in different directions around the actors doing dialogue . I was partnered with this girl from australia (who is also booked on Poseidon) and we had to walk fast like we were late past the actors into the building ... I know, I know, it was a very challenging role, but I think I did ok (<-- sarcasm :P) ...
well, they finally broke the 4:45 people for lunch and since it was past time for lunch, that meant we got a meal penalty (that's extra money) ... and we got a whole hour for lunch ... but I was getting real sleepy by the time I finished stuffing myself.
after lunch, we did 1 more outside shot, and they had Sallie (the australian girl from earlier) and I just stand in place and carry on a conversation as people were walking in through the metal detector ... we just kept talking and it was funny, because all of a sudden we looked around and almost everyone was gone! But they weren't far ... they were just getting ready for an interior scene ...
Well ... to make this boring blog entry short ... they ended up cutting a lot of people, but keeping most of us (the embassy workers) for the interior hall scene ... my exciting part was standing in the hall having a conversation and then walking down the hall ...
Finally, we wrapped and I got signed out with 11 hours to my name ;) ... love that overtime ...

Fitting, Fitting ...

I made it to both my fittings today ... had to bring choices for Syriana of conservative office wear ... and had to be in full hair and make up for Poseidon ... Syriana went quick ... they chose a skirt and blouse I had brought and had me try it on and liked it and that was it ... then I went down to the cages for my Poseidon fitting ... got there a little early and had about 4 women in front of me ... they were running a little behind ... the wardrobe is for a ballroom on a cruise liner on New Year's Eve, so the guys had tuxes and the women pretty dresses ... so of course it took longer picking things out for the women ... anyway, I finally got called back there and they put me in this really pretty Jessica McClintock dress ... it's black with 3 or 4 large bronze rectangles with white piping and it's strapless ... I like it a lot =) ... the shoes ... well, I don't like them at all, but oh well ... would rather like the dress and not the shoes than the other way around ... just can't get used to wearing extremely pointed to witch is dead shoes ... shooting is slated to begin June 24 so I'll try and snap a picture and post it ...

Submitting, submitting ... BOOKED!!

I've been mostly submitting online with Extras Casting Guild (Hollywood OS) and haven't really found to much, but today I thought, "Maybe I should check the Central Casting Hotline" ... the third message in I hear ballroom and descriptions that I acutally fit!! So i get the number and call right away ... 5 minutes of busy signals later I finally get a ring ... and before I know it I'm booked on The Poseidon Adventure (a remake of the 1972 film) ... and the best part is ... it's not just for 1 or 2 days, but ... 2 WEEKS!! =) While I'm getting the info I need for the fitting for tomorrow, my phone beeps and I just let it go to voice mail ... I finally get off the phone and listen to the message and it's another casting director for something I submitted for online at Extras Casting Guild ... so I call her back and get booked for Syriana as an embassy worker that films on Saturday ... the fitting is tomorrow at Warner Bros just like the fitting I have scheduled for Poseidon ... so she books me for 2:00 while my Poseidon fitting is at 3:00 ...
Isn't it great when things fit together like that!!??

Hit Me Baby ...

I haven't been doing much as far as extra work ... haven't really had much to submit for ... but I've seen postings for audience work for different shows ... so I finally decided to submit for one of those ... I figured it couldn't be too bad, if you're getting paid to watch a show ... so I submitted for the Late Late show with Craig Ferguson (i think that's who it is), and when I got the call for it, she said she could actually use me on a different show ... Hit Me Baby One More Time ... so i agreed to that ... I hadn't seen the show on TV, but I'd seen the previews and knew the general jist of it (for those of you that don't know: it's a show that brings back old bands from the 70' & 80's and whatnot, and has them do their big hit and then sing a song that's popular today ... and then the audience votes on the best performance) ... the pay is $40 cash right after the show ...
It takes me forever to get there with traffic and all (call time was 6:30) ... it's at Hollywood Center Studios, which means street parking and hard to find parking ... so I finally find a spot and walk up to the area where I'm supposed to be and ... there is this loooong line more than half the block ... so i go up to the last people in line and asked them what the line was for, and they say internet tickets ... so i pause and then ask for what? and they reply for Hit Me Baby, but if i already had a ticket to go up to a different line ... so i did and checked in with some girl with a clipboard and then went over to the entrance and they let me right in ... i felt kinda bad because there was a huge line of people that wanted in just to see the show, and I didn't even know who was on ... so they have us sit down on this long row of benches and tell us if we have to go to the bathroom we have to do it now, because we can't during the taping which lasts about 2 hours ... then they gathered us into one line and proceeded to do a headcount about 10 times ... so i finally turn to this group of asian guys with valley accents behind me and ask who was going to be on the show ... *please excuse my spelling* - Wang Chung, Sophie B Hawkins, Cameo, Howard Jones, and Irene Cara ... these guys were all wang chung fans ... they finally let us in and the seated audience was already sat so that meant we were the "lucky ones" that got to stand by the stage ... well, ummm, that was kinda cool, except that meant standing in a crowd by the stage for 2 hours ... AND only the seated audience got to do the voting! ... oh well ...
So, they continue to try to pack us in ... I got close to the edge stage left ... not anywhere you could actually see me on tv ... my watch was glowing in the black light though, so if you see clapping hands with a glowing yellow watch, that would probably be me =P
Anyway, this warm-up guy gets up on stage to ... well ... warm us up ... and well, he's ok funny ... a little annoying, but he had some moments up there ... his big thing is that we are not audience members but show enhancers ... so finally the host comes out to start the show ... he's a hottie ...
And well ... the rest of it you'll just have to see on TV =P ... I will have to say Wang Chung and Cameo were my favorites, but if I could have voted it would have been for either Cameo or Irene Cara ... it was pretty cool to see these artists perform these songs right in front of me ... Now I can say I saw Wang Chung perform Everybody Have Fun Tonight LIVE!! =)

The Nanny

No ... not the TV show ... I'm going to be working as a nanny for the next month or two for my cousin. So I don't think I'll have much to post here until I'm done with that. I'm excited about the job ... not only do I get to spend some time with such a cute baby, but it will give me a chance to save up a little money ...

Hollywood OS

Went down to Hollywood OS, aka Extras Casting Guild, today to subscribe. I had a free profile from before, but I hated the picture and wanted to upgrade to a subscription so I could submit myself for some of the cool casting notices I've received from them in my email. They took another picture of me which I like much better.

The OC - Redondo Pier - 18April05

Call Time = 8AM
Got to Manhatten Beach Studios on time and signed in and began to wait in the extras holding area which was part of the cafe for the the studio lot. They obviously had a funeral scene shooting that day as well because there were lots of extras dressed in black funeral attire. Kept to myself and read for a while until a make-up person asked me if I was pier atmosphere, which I was, and I got in line to have my make-up done. She was disappointed that I didn't have mascara on, but my eyes had yet another allergic reaction the night before and it showed because my make up looked terrible. She fixed it. =)
More waiting ... and then we all jumped in a van and headed to Redondo Pier.
The scenes they were filming were in a diner on the pier. Most of the day I was the atmosphere outside the diner walking by. My first outfit was a short khaki skirt with a camisol top. Let me just say that it was not summer weather. Cold and windy and overcast. So taking off my sweatshirt and pants was no fun. BRRRRR
I would take off my zippered hooded sweatshirt walk back and forth pretending it was not cold ;) and then as soon as they yelled cut, run back and put it back on.
Finally, we went to lunch and were told to change into a second outfit after lunch. Lunch was ok, I wasn't that hungry but just wanted some hot food and a place to warm up.
After lunch, I left my sweatpants on and put my khakie pants over them and got to wear yet another camisole top. I was a little warmer and the sun came out for a little bit, but the wind was still just as cold.
Being at the pier was cool though. There were lots of dolphins feeding and playing and even a seal or 2. They finally put me inside the diner, which was a bit warmer (no wind to deal with). Adam Brody "Seth Cohen" and Michael Cassidy "Zach" were sitting at a table for their scene with an actress I didn't recognize. I didn't get to talk to them, but it was fun watching them work with the director. I do keep up with the show, and it was fun seeing the "drama" unfold right in front of me.
They finally wrapped and we had to wait until they broke everything down and cleared out. Then lastly they brought the vans back to pick us up again. We were done at 9 PM
The episode should air in a few weeks.
Maybe you'll notice me in the background.