STRICTLY ON BACKGROUND, PT. 45: "LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT"

Exactly one year and six days after my final background job pre-COVID era, I returned to work. Five months would pass before I scored my second gig. It's a living!

Not that anyone in background is working as much as they used to. There can be anywhere from one to four days set aside for COVID tests at the studios before each job. So unless you test, say, on a Saturday for a Monday shoot, you're unlikely to work more than two productions per week. 

They pay us for our ten seconds in the chair with a jumbo cotton swab twirling around our nostrils, so at least we don't go away broke. Some productions pay more than others, but at least there's a check to look forward to. (Pre-vaccine, at least one production was desperate enough to pay $200 per test. Nobody's shelling out that kind of dough these days.)

Back to SVU. After spending two hours in holding in the basement of Mariner's Temple Baptist Church on the edge of Chinatown, we walked over to the New York County Supreme Court to shoot our one and only scene of the day.

If we don't get royalties, neither do you.

It was exterior work outside the courthouse. Anyone who wasn't part of the show had full warning that they might wind up in the final shot, whether they liked it or not.

I might have mentioned this previously, but you can always tell who the locals are. They're the ones who have zero interest in the production. All they want to do is get to point A to point B with as little hassle as possible. 

It's the out-of-towners who stop and gawk and occasionally yell greetings at the stars -- which always happens with SVU -- thus forcing the poor p.a.'s to be as kind as they can in clearing the street. As far as I'm concerned, they have the toughest job of all of us.

One of the scenic photos I took between takes.
It seemed like a good idea at the time.

I had been hired to play an Attorney, but the evening before I learned of my demotion to Passerby. I was determined to make the most of it by showing up in a sports jacket, tie, and cap. The wardrobe folks appreciated the effort -- one of them actually thanked me for my look, even if they did request I lose the tie. Better to show up overdressed than under.

How on earth was I supposed to
notice a couple dozen noisy youngsters
20 feet away from us?

In my 212 (so far) background gigs, this was the first with characters referred to as TikTokkers. No, they weren't human clocks, but fans of those idiot TikTok "stars" who do things like swallow a tablespoon of cinnamon or, in the case of SVU, commit a sexual crime. Anything for the likes, I guess.

I was paired with a woman roughly my age, walking past -- excuse me, passing by -- a group of TikTokkers cheering on their heroes and booing the lawyers prosecuting them. When it aired last week, I was on screen three times, but clearly visible only once.

My first moment was through the p.o.v. of a TikTokker's smartphone. My colleague and I are supposed to be engaged in conversation, oblivious to what's happening ahead of us, which is something I do quite well. I'm on the left of the side in khaki pants. This shot lasts roughly two seconds, but naturally it was no problem for me to see me.

On the far right: half an appearance is better than none.

My next appearance is when we're closer to the riffraff. Again, nobody but me would notice the guy in the cap at the far right, bemused at the nonsense unfolding in front of him. You have no idea how long it took to freeze the DVR in order to get this photo -- that's how minuscule my appearance is here, and how determined I was to capture it for the benefit of all mankind.

 

Me toward the left, shocked, stunned, and
wondering when we're going to wrap.

The third time was obvious enough for my wife to notice. At this point, the TikTokkers respond to the prosecutors' appearance first by booing, then throwing food and drinks. The a.d. told my colleague and me to stop in our tracks and look aghast at the hubbub . 

And brother, I made sure to literally stick my neck out. Sue thought I did a good job -- "You're really acting!" she marveled, adding that I actually looked like some old guy gaping at the mini-riot. A compliment, I guess.

We worked on the scene from 9:53 a.m to 1:07 p.m. -- roughly three hours and 20 minutes of multiple takes. The final cut lasted 42 seconds. That's some strange kind of tick tock.

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