STRICTLY ON BACKGROUND, PT. 46: "THE EQUALIZER"

When young background actors gather around my feet and ask me, "Oh, Mr. K! What advice do you have for us?", I always give them the same answer: "Never underestimate the power of a hat, tie, and attache case." 

Then I wake up, put on the coffee, and wonder where I went wrong with my life. 

But you know what I didn't get wrong? The hat, tie, and attache case!

Filmed on September 14, The Equalizer was only my second gig in six months. Yes, it was a half year between jobs, thanks to my new rules of avoiding exteriors in the middle of summer (and winter), late-and-over-night productions, and refusing to travel anywhere I can't get to by subway. All these, by the way, are negotiable depending on the project and my desperation for money at any given time.

Follow the yellow-print sign.

Lucky for me, The Equalizer had an acceptable call time (7:00 am) and was filming in Midtown west, accessible via the nearby Q line, a door-to-door trip taking 25 minutes.

Our holding area was the Ziegfeld Ballroom, formerly the Ziegfeld Theater, New York's last old-school movie palace that made even mediocre films seem grand. 

 

To you, it's just another room. To me, it's heaven.
And quiet.

Now used as a "special events venue" (i.e., place to hold your wedding reception or awards ceremony), the Ziegfeld on this morning was just a big ol' room with plenty of space to spread out masked people during these days of COVID. 

Having gotten used to the hell of endless rows of 12 people squashed around tables made for six, I found this layout -- one person per table  -- more comfortable. It also cut down on endless chatter that had become the norm pre-pandemic. Coronavirus: it's a good thing!

Who you callin' small?

My role, in three scenes shot that day, was that of Pedestrian. It didn't have the gravitas of previous portrayals of Reporter or Senator, but as I remind people, there are no small background characters, only small background actors. Actually, that isn't true, but it makes me feel better. 

As you can see, the three items I remind my imaginary young colleagues of were on full display. The cap, which has temporarily replaced the fedora as chapeau of choice, adds what wardrobe folks refer to as character. The tie adds class. And the attache case saves a trip to the prop truck. The woman in wardrobe, as usual, thanked me for my look. See how easy it is to get one people's good side?

The first scene was shot at the Pulitzer Fountain across the street from the Plaza Hotel. It was an easy, typically long (three and a half hour) shoot for a brief scene -- in this case, Equalizer star Queen Latifah talking to a police detective before his colleagues storm the scene with their guns drawn. 

On the far left, mouth agape, as it usually is.

I was one of the people walking around the fountain who are surprised by the commotion. After filming it a few different ways, I was told to stop and talk to another extra, then turn to look at the action with a What the hell? expression.  

 

 

Holy cow! Look at those cops rushing in for
the 23rd time!

I made the final cut, but further back than I remembered -- I had to watch the scene at twice before seeing me. The frame blow-up on the left should give you an idea of my brutally realistic emotional outburst, not to mention an excuse to pad out this blog.

After filming at the Fountain, we were provided a bus to Fifth Avenue in the mid-Fifties, where we shot another scene. Here, Queen Latifah's character was chatting with the owner of a food truck. Some of us were told to walk behind them, while the rest of us crossed the street back and forth. (You can tell the real pedestrians when you watch these New York shows -- they're the ones wearing masks and/or looking at the camera.)

On the left, hovering over like her guardian angel.

We did our bits for 90 minutes. It took even longer to catch myself in the final cut, forcing me to go back and forth a few times, then hit slo-mo to get a decent screen shot. This is where the cap comes in handy; it was the only thing that jumped out at me. 

 

Where the elite meet to eat.

After lunch, we shot our final scene on 56th Street  between 6th and 7th Avenues from 4:15 to 6:23. It consisted of -- surprise! -- more street crossings. By this time, the a.d. had seen enough of me, and put me further away from the camera. 

It didn't matter anyway, since I didn't make the final cut. Not that I didn't wear out the slo-mo button on the remote just to make sure. But at least working on the scene gave me a chance to take a photo of my favorite New York street sign.  

If you're ever in the area, look for the bespectacled guy in the cap and tie with an attache case. If you see him crossing the street, leave him alone. He's working, dammit!

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