« Plagiarism! Damn, damn, damn! | The novel continues apace... »
June 20, 2003Homeless actors...
A quote from an L.A. Times article I read yesterday brought back some interesting memories. The article was about how folks who live in certain parts of Los Angeles have gotten mighty sick and tired of the incessant TV and movie shoots in their neighborhoods:
"I'd rather have the homeless than the film crews," said resident Tom Guiton, who compares the crews to street gangs and wants to see filming stopped. "The homeless don't keep you from getting sleep. They don't blow things up and set fire to adjacent buildings."
If only Mr. Guiton knew that you didn't have to pick one group or the other. I had an experience during my stint in L.A. that included the homeless and film crews. Being appropriately desperate for work, I'd replied to an ad in Backstage West and been cast in what was described to me as a short sci-fi movie about a plague that divides America as it spreads.
On the day of the shoot, I drove down to downtown L.A. where the filming was to take place. A fenced-off parking lot had been commandeered to double as an urban internment camp for the infected. A few of the younger guys--myself included--were culled from the crowd to play the soldiers keeping them contained.
"This one," the director said to one of her ADs, pointing at me. "He's cute. All-American looking."
As it would turn out, that was the highlight of my day.
First of all, the project had somehow morphed from a sci-fi movie into the trailer for a proposed sci-fi movie that would be shown to prospective investors. Slight but important difference there, folks. Also, before we actually started shooting, during those obligatory hours of preparation, it became clear to the director that she didn't have enough civilians for the internment camp scenes.
Believe it or not, she recruited the homeless in the area to appear in her movie. Seeing as how we were smack in the middle of downtown L.A., they were easy enough to find.
Don't get me wrong, now. I'm not one of these elitists who protests the building of a soup kitchen shelter because the proposed site is a mere 50,000 yards away from the Starbucks I frequent. The experience was as easy a source of a bit of spare cash for them as it was for me. However, when you're a poor wannabe actor in Los Angeles, with nothing but your pride and your craft (and, if you're lucky, your Kraft) to sustain you, you don't want to admit the unsettling possibility that a paranoid schizophrenic who hasn't showered this calendar year is just as viable of a casting choice as you are. That's to say nothing of the wisdom of taking somebody with a persecution complex and letting camouflage-clad young men herd him into a fenced-off parking lot.
All your stage experience and all the acting classes you've taken seem right superfluous once you've had the unique experience of hearing two of your "co-stars" bickering about whether or not the shoot will release them early enough to make it back to the shelter before it closes its doors for the night.
Posted by patrick at June 20, 2003 09:11 AM
CommentsIn an ideal world, people would be eager to help the homeless by bringing them food and clothing and taking them in off the street. However, people don't want to get involved in situations that do not affect them. For example, some people are not willing to help break up fights or to testify as a witness in a trial because they do not want to get involved even if their action would help another person.
Posted by: gifts at December 19, 2004 11:27 PM
Cialis
Levitra
Propecia
Tramadol
Viagra
Aldara
Nexium
Acyclovir
Bontril
Didrex
Tenuate
Cell Phone Accessories
Posted by: propecia at January 20, 2005 01:24 PM
Post a comment