Wednesday, May 11, 2005

I'm tired, and wired

It is 2 am and I am just returning home from a night at work. I've been working in wardrobe on a film called Take the Lead. It stars Antonio Banderas, whom I have yet to meet thanks to our scheduling conflicts (read: I am not yet important enough to work on his scenes). I have however met Yaya Dacosta, who is also in the film. This name will only be meaningful to "reality TV-sluts" like myself who enjoy watching "America's Next Top Model" a show that is basically a chance for model Tyra Banks to show her acting range. She can act Happy (with tears) :
"...you are still in the (whimper) running to becoming America’s next (pause) top (pause) model (sniff sniff)"
and Sad:
"...you are still in the (whimper) running to becoming America’s (pause) next (pause) top (pause) model (sniff sniff)"
Anyway, those of you who watch the show know that Yaya was the last seasons' runner-up. She is gorgeous in person, so you can only imagine how it feels to stand next to her (I felt much like an ogre; a charming ogre, but an ogre none the less). She was also really nice, which for some reason is still a trait that continues to shock me in "famous" people. I have worked on films for a few summers now and have met my share of famous and semi-famous people. I, for some reason, always expect them to be miserable. This is probably the reason that I rarely get star-struck; low expectations. In fact, the only time that I felt at a loss for words was when I met James Avery (Uncle Phil on "Fresh prince of Bel-air"). I'm not sure why, but I was so star-struck by him that I continuously stopped dead in my tracks each time our paths crossed, and then after a moment of pure embarrassment, I would run away. (Not the best course of action when you're trying to work with someone.) Luckily, after a few hours of this behaviour and before he could get "the weird, skittish girl" fired, I calmed down. It turned out that he was really down to earth and extremely funny (he had me laughing so hard that at times we would end up interrupting filming). I suppose, however, that I am still a little bit jaded because of stories like the following: A friend of mine, who works as a script supervisor, was working with William Shatner. As a script supervisor, one of her jobs is to correct, or help an actor with any lines that they may be forgetting during a scene. On this particular day Mr. Shatner seemed to be taking longer, more drawn out pauses than usual between all of his words (picture Captain Kirk on tranquilizers and you'll get an idea). During one of these pauses, my friend thought that it might be prudent to give Mr. Shatner his lines. When she proceeded to do so, he cut her off, and with great dramatic flair said:
"I have NOT forgotten my lines. I am merely ACTING SHMMMMMACTING!!!!!"
He's quite the diva, if you ask me. All in all, I love what I do. I hope to be able to work in films for awhile or at least for the summer; when hundreds of movies get made here in Toronto. If I'm lucky enough to be able to do that, then I'm sure I will have alot of tales for you all to read about. Wish me luck!

6 comments:

begins with v said...

First of all--Whatever (with a capital W) on the "feeling like an ogre next to a model" You are gorgeous and you know it! Second of all--that is so cool that you work with wardrobe in movies! What a great job...I hope you bump into Antonio...what a hottie!

Chesterfield McFisticuffs III said...

i think what you need to do is watch a couple fresh prince episodes and memorize the fat jokes that will smith uses. see if you can get him to smile :).

kyle

Chesterfield McFisticuffs III said...

i think referring to him as uncle phil would be hilarious!! please do it!! :)

Anonymous said...

Your movie experiences all always so much fun! As a confederate reality tv slut I do know who Yaya is. She seemed to have her own issues, so as for your ogre feeling, girl, its not worth it... We allll saw Yaya's breakdowns on tv and your charm would not allow you do that that publicly, privately, now thats another matter! Loving the blog! Can't wait for more celeb dirt and an invite to the set ;)

Anonymous said...

Hey Trish,

I LOVE reading your blogs, they are the sunshine in my day when I get bored at my desk. I get to imagine what fun it would be to talk to Antonio Banderas instead of a 9-5 job. I live vicariously through you! I love it!!!

Kary

Anonymous said...

ur experiences with antonio reminded me that in an upcoming issue of US weekly, lauren collins (from degrassi) is going to be featured as having an apparent affair with Mr. Bandaras - therefore stealing him away from Melanie Griffith! We had a good laugh about it!

Don't feel bad for your akward moments with Uncle Phil! While standing backstage at a CTV Fall Launch, I heard mumblings in the corner, I turned and saw some sketchy characters - upon looking closer I found it was the whole cast of mobsters from The Sopranos. THEY WERE PRACTICING THEIR LINES and I was about ready to call security. As creepy as they were, they were really sweet guys.

Ciao bella!