Thank you for sharing your x-tra x-perience, ironically it is exactly or x-actly what I needed to read to get me back on track....have a great weekend!!!
Oh, c'mon "Anya," how do you not tell this story every day? I mean, I must tell my "I-was-an-extra-in-a-David-Bowie-video-when-he-did-Tin-Machine" story three or four times a day (more pre-pandemic when I could accost people on public transit).
Cherry pickers are way more dangerous than I ever realized. Gravity I tell ya. But there was certainly that moment when you think, “Oh shit we almost killed David Bowie.”
Now tell us why you didn't appear in the Scott Pilgrim movie. (My favourite anecdote of the making of the movie is that Michael Comeau who is a) a real person and comics artist and b) a character in the comic, auditioned to play himself in the film - and was NOT cast).
So you really are as cool as your I love NY author photo suggests, Chip.
Shame you aren’t in the X clip. That’s a great memory. Sometimes though, you have to listen to your gut and bail. Sorry Anya. As a Jew, I’m a-okay with your portrayal, so no Jewish guilt from me.
At the start of last year I was an extra for a shoot over in Glasgow. I thought "Ooh, a comic book film, this will be fun, and it's paying really well!" Turns out the reason it was paying so well is because it was a week of night shoots (6pm to 6am) in the pissing rain in the middle of Glasgow in January. Anyway, to add insult to injury, as well as getting a terrible fucking cold from standing about in freezing rain for a week and not seeing the sun at all, the film in question? Yeah, it was Batwoman, so it didn't even get a sodding release!
Oh no, we didn't get anything like that, we just had to get soaked through then stand about in a massive tent between takes trying to dry off next to enormous heaters. The funniest thing though, I heard about from a crew member when working as an extra a few months later. Apparently night one, they started filming, and first take set off the pyrotechnics for a stunt, only to have a guy come screaming out of a local bar cursing and yelling and refusing to shut up until he talked to someone in charge. Turns out that while local businesses had been informed of the filming, they hadn't been told it would involve explosives, and this guy ran a services bar, which was now half full of guys hiding under tables having PTSD flashbacks. After much back and forth, the producer on set apparently just asked "Well, how much do you make in an average week?" and wrote him a cheque for twice that, just so he could shut the bar for the duration of filming.
Wait, but are you visible onscreen?
I just rewatched the clip and see no sign of me!
Thank you for sharing your x-tra x-perience, ironically it is exactly or x-actly what I needed to read to get me back on track....have a great weekend!!!
Oh, c'mon "Anya," how do you not tell this story every day? I mean, I must tell my "I-was-an-extra-in-a-David-Bowie-video-when-he-did-Tin-Machine" story three or four times a day (more pre-pandemic when I could accost people on public transit).
Oh my GOD I would die if I was in a Bowie video
Right?! And you would tell the story two or three times a day. Because David Bowie. (Also because my then GF almost accidentally killed him.)
wait what
Cherry pickers are way more dangerous than I ever realized. Gravity I tell ya. But there was certainly that moment when you think, “Oh shit we almost killed David Bowie.”
At least you weren't paid in "exposure" and cold sandwiches alone -- right?!
I mean ... technically because I didn't come back the next day I also didn't collect my cheque...
Ha, my friend Greg was also an extra in that same scene!
It was the thing to do in 1999 Toronto!!!
Great story, Chip. One day Hollywood will charge $12 for an AI recreation of it with you as Kid Magneto.
a boy can dream!!
Now tell us why you didn't appear in the Scott Pilgrim movie. (My favourite anecdote of the making of the movie is that Michael Comeau who is a) a real person and comics artist and b) a character in the comic, auditioned to play himself in the film - and was NOT cast).
As sad as it is true: I tried to be an extra and they told me I was "too old"
So you really are as cool as your I love NY author photo suggests, Chip.
Shame you aren’t in the X clip. That’s a great memory. Sometimes though, you have to listen to your gut and bail. Sorry Anya. As a Jew, I’m a-okay with your portrayal, so no Jewish guilt from me.
Wishing you a terrific weekend, Chip.
dear chip,
this is great!
i accept your apology on behalf of the jewish community!
(a thing i am not x-actly qualified to do, so i at least accept it on behalf of me. ooh, i x-cept it!)
x-oxo,
myq
At the start of last year I was an extra for a shoot over in Glasgow. I thought "Ooh, a comic book film, this will be fun, and it's paying really well!" Turns out the reason it was paying so well is because it was a week of night shoots (6pm to 6am) in the pissing rain in the middle of Glasgow in January. Anyway, to add insult to injury, as well as getting a terrible fucking cold from standing about in freezing rain for a week and not seeing the sun at all, the film in question? Yeah, it was Batwoman, so it didn't even get a sodding release!
haha oh my GOD
did they make you wear the plastic suits as well??
Oh no, we didn't get anything like that, we just had to get soaked through then stand about in a massive tent between takes trying to dry off next to enormous heaters. The funniest thing though, I heard about from a crew member when working as an extra a few months later. Apparently night one, they started filming, and first take set off the pyrotechnics for a stunt, only to have a guy come screaming out of a local bar cursing and yelling and refusing to shut up until he talked to someone in charge. Turns out that while local businesses had been informed of the filming, they hadn't been told it would involve explosives, and this guy ran a services bar, which was now half full of guys hiding under tables having PTSD flashbacks. After much back and forth, the producer on set apparently just asked "Well, how much do you make in an average week?" and wrote him a cheque for twice that, just so he could shut the bar for the duration of filming.