Being a Film Star for a Day

If you ever get a chance to work on a film set as an extra, especially if you've not done it  before, you should jump on the opportunity.

How's this for a nice day at the office.
- I get dressed up as a German officer circa 1888, fake scar, pointy helmet and all
- get a free haircut
- get treated like a star by all the film staff
- a really nice free lunch
- shaking hands and chatting with Burt Lancaster
- meeting a gorgeous girl and arrangeing a date for the following weekend
- mingle with a bunch of whacky characters listening to some great stories about other film  shoots.
- get paid for it all

This goes back quite a few years but the one day I spent as a very minor film star still brings  back great memories. Perhaps I wasn't a star in the final release but I sure felt like one on that  particular day.

I happened to notice an ad in our paper looking for film extras. At the time I was between jobs  and thought it might be fun. After meeting with the casting agency they told me to show up at so  and so location bright and early. By the way this agency charged nothing - they were already being  paid by the film to get all the extras. If a casting agency wants a fee from you I would not trust  them. So I show up for the shoot, this one happened to be in the City Hall building in Montreal,  along with a very diverse group of folks. I noticed a girl in her twenties giving everyone the  once over. She came over to me and asked if I would mind having my hair cut and that I would be  paid an extra $60.00 for doing it. They needed some soldiers with crew cuts. $60.00 was a lot of  beer money for me in those days so I didn't think twice. After the hair cut I find myself sitting  in a makeup artist's chair having a fake scar applied to my cheek. The whole time I'm feeling like  a kid in a candy store. An adult playing dressup can be quite entertaining.

A little later in the day a few of us soldiers are lined up on a bench waiting to listen to a  speech (they are supposed to be doing a series of close-ups while we focus on the speaker). There  ended up being a delay (there are lots of delays on film sets - if you're not the chatty type  bring a good pocket book) and while waiting the star came over and introduced himself. It was Burt  Lancaster himself. I have to tell you that I'm not the type to be star struck but meeting an  impressive figure like Mr. Lancaster was very memorable. You sometimes hear how certain folks (not  many) have a charisma that is magnetic, Mr. Lancaster certainly was one who possesed it. I can't  say if it was his physical stature, his charming smile, his very warm nature or just his confident  look that compelled you to listen to him. He shook my hand, said hello and asked me a few  questions about hockey. Our meeting was brief but I'll never forget it, I'll never forgot the powerful presence one man can have.

About that girl..We ll there is something about a beautiful brunette wearing one of those 19th century gowns, tight in the middle and a very low front! Wow. Julie was her name and we started chatting during one of the breaks. I'm only mentioning this to point out that a film set is a great place to meet people, especially if you are out of school and find meeting new folks isn't as easy as it used to be. Julie and I ended up dating that summer and had a hell of a good time.

Bruce writes and introduces you to people and places like The Philology Library in Berlin at his blog: The Big Desk.

If you've had the opportunity to work on a fim set why not write a short hub about it? Make sure you mention it below. Thanks for reading.