A-Musings

Free Will, God’s Will, Written-in-the-Stars Destiny, Mathematical Scientific Probability, Newtonian Cause-and-Effect, There-Are-No-Accidents-or-Coincidences/Everything-Happens-for-a-Reason, Utter Randomness, Mind Manifesting a la "The Secret", Pure Consciousness, Dumb Luck, or Some Combination Thereof Recently, on the set of the season finale of “Blue Bloods,” I won the background actor’s Jackpot.   Nabbed the brass ring, seized the Holy Grail, scored the pot of gold at then end of the rainbow:  I was given not a featured extra spot, not even an “under 5” (less than 5 words of dialogue).  No, I was asked, by the director , to open the scene by ad libbing a few lines on camera. Bingo. First, a little context:  April 2012, Friday the 13 th .  The show was nearly ready to wrap for the season, just one more day of shooting after this one.  I was in Scenes 1 and 3, meaning I had to arrive early and would leave late, change locations a...

The 1st rule of background work:  whenever possible, sit; you could be standing for a long, long time 2 nd rule of background work:  no matter what happened, it’s always your fault 3 rd rule of background work:  the waiting is the hardest part; bring something to read, something to do, and/or someone to talk to 4 th rule of background work:  it could always be worse Worse than melting out in the July midday Sahara-like sun for hour after hour, in full period costume, hair and make-up, unable to sit or seek shelter in the shade? Worse than being dressed for spring in November, buffeted by an icy rain and a relentless winter wind?  Or, for several long 14-hr. consecutive overnights, having to stand on the street or on rooftops in a driving rain wearing highly absorbent winter city attire - wool coats, hats and scarves - but no umbrellas? Worse than coming up out of the subway at 4:45am onto the dark, fog-shrouded pre-dawn streets of...