journal entry from 6.3.2006 - The Cookie Thief

Recently I was cast in The Cookie Thief, a short film (20 mins) by Adam Davis. It's a wonderful script and he has assembled a very talented cast including Academy Award Nominee Eric Roberts in one of the lead roles. Check my film gallery pages for news and pictures from the set. Also keep your eye on www.thecookiethief.com for updates on what's happening with the film.

We shot in a big studio in the San Fernando Valley. It's known as "Air Hollywood". If you see a scene that's set in a plane in a movie or a TV show (24 for example) odds are they shot the scene there. They have sets which represent all the different locations you could imagine in an airport or on a plane. Just like traveling movie shoots involve lots of waiting and delays, so it looks and feels like you are traveling while you are there.

Read on to find out what a day on the set is like.

I played a flight attendant, so it was fun to be in uniform for the shoot. We had a costume fitting at Universal Studios, and the wardrobe mistresses were delighted that I actually fit into the uniforms they had pulled, that I was actually the size I said I was ;-).

When I arrived at "Air Hollywood" at 8.00am, they threw me straight into hair and makeup which took 1 1/2 hours and so no time for breakfast. I have NEVER had so much hairspray in my hair. It was a helmet!!! The hairdo stayed intact for 14 hours!!!

The morning and early afternoon was lots of standing around in the background of a scene between the lead and Eric Roberts - for HOURS! Mr. Roberts is surprisingly charming and goofy and friendly to one and all on the set. It was cool to watch him work in the monitor when he did his monologue, he does the underplay thing to great effect. Star power really creates a dynamic on the set.

As far as my acting goes. I think it's a lot harder to come in with a small part and make it full since you have no flow but the one you can summon up at the time. Add into the mix that I auditioned for the lead and so knew all of her lines and had to stand there in the background thinking "Wow, that could have been me!" which kind of blew my mind. I was sort of in one scene with Eric Roberts - he left and I entered to deliver one line - so not really, in the scene, we just passed each other by a c-stand!

Then for my bigger scene I'd been waiting and standing around for hours by the time they got to it - it was the last thing they shot and we did one take that was kind of nowhere and then they (at this point the producer is directing me as well - trying to hustle things along!) gave me the direction "well have you flown lately? Flight attendants are not nice you know!" So I did it again and got spontaneous applause from the set (we had a lot of extra's and crew seeing as this scene takes place in a airport lounge), which was a big surprise and very cool. I made friends with the stills photographer Robert Earle and this is what he said:

"It was SO NICE to meet you. I don't think anyone got the kind of applause you did when you "nailed" the "Flight Attendant with attitude" thing. FANTASTIC! I will be reviewing all of my pics in the next couple of days, and will send you the best of what I have."

I was wrapped at 10.15pm stuck around to gobble some pizza and then got home at 12.30am! Marathon day.

Still from The Cookie Thief by Rodney Earle. Earle Photography