An enginerd – in an actor’s world.
Something really, really exciting happened to me this weekend.
(And no, I didn’t win a million dollars.)
For those of you that I haven’t told, one of my best friends seriously hooked me up (thanks, bro) – as an extra on a relatively popular ABC television series. Since I moonlight as an enginerd during the day, I wasn’t about to let this experience pass me by. Who wouldn’t want to experience the wonderful world of Hollywood?
And let me tell you, what an experience it was.
The day started early; at 6:45 am – all the extras needed to be on set. Even though I had crawled into bed at 10 the previous night, my nerves allowed for a sleepless night. After checking in and getting approved by makeup and wardrobe – off they shuttled us to the ‘undisclosed, secret set location’. Since I was to partake in an Asian funeral scene, all the males were outfitted in a black suit and tie. Additionally, since my family has been in Hawai`i for the better part of four generations, I decided to wear my black wired-rim glasses to appear more ‘Asian.’
Upon first arriving on the ‘secret set’, I immediately noticed that there were some really attractive extras, both male and female alike. Yeah, these extras were ‘the beautiful people, the beautiful people‘… Of course, this made me even more nervous since I’m not exactly your Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise Ken Watanabe. My fears were mollified when I caught a glimpse of all the extras – it was quite apparent that even Hollywood needed ‘normal-looking’ people.
Since it was a funeral scene, all the extras were guests at the funeral. I was given various background ‘action’ roles that consisted of walking as though I had just arrived. All in all, we filmed for the better part of 5 and 1/2 hours – all for a glorious, 2 minute scene on television.
Based on the experience, I can tell you that I’m amazed at the director’s strive for perfection. We must’ve shot the same scene at least a dozen times, maybe even more, and this isn’t even including all the different angles. Being an enginerd, I can relate to the feeling of always trying to produce that ‘perfect product.’ Second, I now have the utmost respect for extras. In my wildest imaginations, I would never have guessed the amount of work that the job entailed. Albeit, the experience wasn’t exactly a stimulation of the mind, but it does require long hours, quite a bit of standing around looking ‘pretty’ (mind you – in the grueling, mid-day Hawaiian heat), and really, just enduring the madness of scene repetition. I know that doesn’t sound like much, but I can tell you first hand, I’m not so sure being an extra is all that it’s cracked up to be.
Overall, I can tell you that partaking as an extra was an amazing experience. I know, I know – I sure didn’t make it sound like one, but being trapped at a keyboard for 9 hours a day, it was something ‘so fresh and so clean clean’. Even as a kid, growing up in Mililani, I’ve always dreamed of what it would be like in front of a camera. And after everything’s been all said and done, I’ve come to realize that I love being an enginerd.
I’ll do the thinking and let Hollywood and the pretty people worry about the acting.
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