STRICTLY ON BACKGROUND, PT. 33: "THE LOUDEST VOICE"

When Showtime started shooting the bioseries of Fox News' Minister of Propaganda Roger Ailes, I initially submitted for the part of "Fox News Employee". Not that I wanted the job in real life; I just figured it would be the closest I'd ever come to being part of a semi-criminal enterprise. 

More than that, however, was the actor playing the guy with the loudest voice. All you needed to see was the poster reading RUSSELL CROWE IS ROGER AILES, and you knew this would be a hell of a ride.

I mean, sharing the same scenes with  The Insider, Gladiator, Master & Commander, Cinderella Man -- one of the most versatile and entertaining performers around? Oh yeah, pin that Fox News pin on my lapel and let me luxuriate in the presence of a great actor, fat suit and all, for hours on end.   

Well, it didn't work out quite that way. Oh, I luxuriated in Crowe's presence alright, just not the way I expected. In fact, when it happened, it wound up being a surprise.

I had been hired as "BG Pedestrian" outside an office building on East 48th Street which was standing in for the real Fox News HQ located on 7th Avenue. I knew the drill -- crossing back and forth on the sidewalk and the immediate area outside the entrance -- while Seth McFarlane walked into the building. 

Figuring that would be the extent of my Loudest Voice work, I was pleasantly surprised when, later that afternoon, I was one of the people in the scene where Rupert Murdoch introduces Ailes to the press. Just who I was supposed to be -- unlike the "reporters", I wasn't wearing business clothing -- is still a mystery to me. But who cares? A few minutes after being placed, in walked Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch -- or, rather, Russell Crowe and Simon McBurney. 

It was one of those rare moments when I wasn't sure what was real and what wasn't. Those two actors had become their real-life counterparts. Crowe was essentially unrecognizable under the make-up and suit, and American accent; McBurney nailed not just Murdoch's Australian accent but his particular accent, rhythm and even voice. I do not lie when there were times I thought I was looking at the real thing. 

Several takes ensued, of course, with work broken up by a surprise appearance by Cuba Gooding, Jr., who dropped by to say hello to his pal Russell, with handshakes and bearhugs. It was at that moment I could see the actor beneath the make-up. 

When the episode aired, I knew I wasn't going to be the focus of the scene. But at least I knew where to look:

If I'm not immediately obvious, look for the photographer with the camera in front of his face, right of center in the lower part of the screenshot. Now look at the woman behind him... then look at the guy behind her... then look at the guy behind him. Ta-dah! (Long-time readers of the blog might recognize Eugene, my occasional colleague, as the photographer on the left side of the shot, looking at this camera. This was our first time together onscreen since the homeless shelter scene in Gotham in January.)

I figured December 6, 2018, would be my first and last day working on The Loudest Voice. Well, I might not have been a Fox News Employee, but at least I did see Russell Crowe in action. Little did I know that I would have one more chance, two months later, in a far juicier part than Some Guy In A Press Conference. But that story, like my second appearance, is for another day.

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