STRICTLY ON BACKGROUND, PT. 42: "THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT"

It was only over the weekend I learned that we HBO subscribers can get the HBO Max streaming service for free. Lucky us! Not that we need another channel, but I worked on its series The Flight Attendant in February, a little over a month before all production in New York shut down. Appropriately, my role was "Funeral Attendee".

We left the city at 7:00 a.m., arriving at our holding area in Long Island 90 minutes later. Unlike the cramped church basements we're used to as holding areas on location, we were taken to the Cold Spring Country Club.

This place? Oh alright, if we have to.

 

Now this was a holding area, worthy of background actors in their finest finery.  Being February, however, it didn't look quite as lush as it does in their publicity photo to the left. Nor did we see much of the joint, as we were quickly ushered to a ballroom, where we made ourselves at home.

Waiting and hoping to get my
cue to go indoors.

If there was a funeral, I missed it, but I was at the memorial. We worked in a rather luxurious house in Syosset, NY, as a wind blowing off the ocean made the air even colder than it already was. It didn't help that the sky was completely overcast, with precipitation threatening to fall at any moment. Which eventually did.

Fortunately, we shot only one scene outside, walking up to the driveway into the house. Unfortunately, we had to do it countless times. Don't bother looking for me; I'm just a blur with two other people, which they might be thankful for.

I worked in three or four scenes over three days. What made them memorable was working in the same scenes as the star, Kaley Cuoco. And what made that really memorable was, at one point, being placed directly next to her for 20 minutes or so, albeit facing in different directions, as they set up the shot. It isn't often I find myself standing three inches away from a TV star, but I take my opportunities every chance I get. 

It wound up being edited in such a way that you never saw me after we got our cue to walk in our respective directions. However, I magically appeared at the doorway, ostensibly chatting with a fellow mourner, but really eyeing the food on the table. By the way, don't let anybody throw a wake for me when I go. Why waste all that good grub on a dead person?

And suddenly, Cuoco was in the hall walking to the camera, while I -- again, magically -- was walking on the left of the screen in the opposite direction. I could tell it was me because of my unfortunate hair. I doesn't look too awful here, but if you pause it on your TV, you'll feel either great pity, or confusion as to why I use a large-toothed rake for a comb.

In the next scene, the father of the deceased is giving a heartfelt speech  when Cuoco's cellphone goes off -- not once, but twice. The first time, some of us were told the keep our eyes on the father. The second time, all of us were to glare at her. (We received our cues to turn around when a p.a. said "Ring ring!" They add the sound effect in post production.)

In the shot, I'm to the right of the father, with only the top part of my face visible. However, you're able to make out the disgusted look in my eyes. It's not often I get to do something like that to a TV star, at least in person and six feet away from me.

And we're back to the first room, where Cuoco is once again downing drinks like
they were paying her good money to do -- which they were. As she stumbled out in a daze, I once again got to glare at her. I focused on me for this photo, because -- well, why not?

I'm visible in some other shots, but these were the most representative. Kaley Cuoco was nice and, not surprisingly, had a sense of humor -- something that comes in handy when you're working 12 hours.

In early March, I worked on The Flight Attendant once more on yet another cold blustery day, this time at Hudson Yards. By then, COVID was no longer just a Wuhan thing. Ten days later, the shutdown began. I haven't seen a flight attendant in person since.

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