STRICTLY ON BACKGROUND, PART 39: ODDS AND ENDS

Escape at Dannemora. I wasn't in this scene, but I was in 
another one with Benicio del Toro and Paul Dano. 
I'm pretty sure couldn't see me in that one, either.

These background pieces haven't covered every production I've worked on. For some, like Billions, The Looming Tower, and Escape at Dannemora, I lacked the  cable or streaming access. For others, like the pilot episodes for Shelter and an untitled police show for ABC, the series weren't picked up. And then there are the shows I forgot to watch -- The Other Two, Daredevil and Happy!!! to name three. Still others haven't aired yet. 

Then there are the quick appearances that, for whatever reason, weren't necessarily worth solo entries, but might be OK for a fast perusal. Besides, I'm stuck at home while COVID-19 kills my fellow New Yorkers, and I've already cleaned the house, so what else is there to do? In no particular order, here are what networks would call "the lost episodes" of Strictly on Background.

Costume shots: before and after the SS got me.

THE SECOND SUN: Almost three years ago, I worked on my first movie, an independent feature titled The Second Sun. My scenes were black & white flashbacks to Nazi-occupied Poland. In the first scene, I was one of the farmers market dealers rounded up by German soldiers. In the second, I was a concentration camp prisoner.








I can't exactly remember where we worked, although it might have been in a former military camp in Queens. Nor did I see the movie; I only found out about its brief release after it closed. (It may have been part of the New York Film Festival.) But I did find the trailer online, featuring the farmers market scene. I'm on the far left, walking to my doom while German soldiers bark orders at me. I have to admit that, off-screen, the SS couldn't have been nicer.

 BULL: I always enjoy working on Bull, particularly when we're at the Brooklyn studio. But how many different ways can I talk about working as a voire dire juror or courtroom gallery member? (Back row, in the tie.)
 

I could have posted a couple of other shots, but the difference isn't worth discussing, let alone looking at. However, as usual, Michael Weatherly was funny and easy-going, and the food was excellent. Nothing more I can ask for on these jobs.

LAW AND ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT: Like Second Sun, another two-for-one job, although I'm more visible only in the first scene. But "visible" might be stretching things a bit. We worked last September in Straus Square near Chinatown, a block or two from where I shot the Jet.com commercial. 

I'm walking to a tourist map while the real action is, of course, close to the camera. See the guy in the fedora over the left shoulder of the Asian gentleman? Believe me, hitting the pause button and having me point it out is the only way you'd know. 

The second scene was shot in a nearby school. We're watching a speech given by a Chinatown philanthropist moments before the cops slap the cuffs on her for human smuggling. 

It's another Where's Waldo moment. Left side, behind the Asian woman. You see my hair, forehead, ear -- everything but my face. It's almost as if they... wait, now I'm getting paranoid.

PRODIGAL SON: The first time I worked on Prodigal Son (last October) was as an upscale patron at Saju Bistro on West 44th St. When it finally aired, I'm pretty sure I saw my left elbow. And that wasn't even my good side.

I had more luck playing an attendee of a funeral director convention. It was my third or fourth time shooting a scene at the Sheraton Times Square Hotel, a 20 minute door-to-door trip from my place via the Q train. 

The production did a great job transforming the meeting room to a convention site, with realistic details you could see only if you were there. I'm on the right, looking at the latest in corpse make-up. My shot actually lasted several seconds as I walked around the area. 

Note the mannequins on the left with the protective gear. Had I known what was in our future, I would have stuffed done some mannequin smuggling of my own.

THE POLITICIAN: In the second season's first episode, I'm part of an audience at the 92nd Street Y, where columnist Elvis Mitchell is interviewing Judith Light and Ben Platt (as a senator and her young, upstart opponent). It was a pleasure watching them in action. Being stage actors, Light and Platt not only had their lines down cold, they even paused and gestured the same ways during each take. 

There was another woman, in the wings, also in the scene but next to impossible to see. It wasn't until she came out to talk to Light and Platt that we realized it was Bette Midler. Her response to the surprised audience's applause was a playful curtsy. 

Since I was sitting close to the stage (gee, I wonder why?), I found myself easy to spot. The photo is a close-up of a much wider HDTV angle

Look how seriously I'm taking the debate before me! Look how focused I am! And look at all that pre-COVID non-social distancing without masks! We should all be arrested.



                                                         

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