STRICTLY ON BACKGROUND, PT. 56: "SUCCESSION" (SEASON 4, EPISODE 7)

Over five years, I was hired to work on Succession three times. Well, four times, technically, but a bunch of us were cut at the last minute for an episode last summer. They were gracious enough to pay us half of our base salary; when you add that to what we made for the mandatory covid test, it was actually a nice payday for doing nothing.

But what's better is getting paid a full day for a three and a half hour gig, and still doing next to nothing. Which is what happened December 5, 2022 -- five years almost to the day from my first time working on Succession. And, unlike that snowy afternoon in 2017, I was inside a warm room on the Upper West Side.

And not just any room. We were filming a brunch scene at Jean-Georges, a two-star Michelin restaurant located in the Trump International Hotel & Tower at Columbus Circle. There was grumbling from some of the extras about having to pass through the portals of anything named Trump, but visions of money danced through our heads this almost-Christmas Eve. Just remember, we're in the restaurant with someone else's name. 

The a.d. generously made me part of a couple sitting in a corner table in the camera's sightline. Succession's principal actors were sitting nearby, which guaranteed us some screentime -- depending on what I hoped would be an equally-generous editor. 

This episode sure made up for getting cut during the summer. I wound up getting on camera about a dozen times in three minutes, probably the most of any production I've ever worked on. It offered me a chance to practice the fine art of pretending to eat for TV. This consists of pushing food around the plate before putting the dining utensil to your mouth, then getting distracted by your faux-conversation before putting the utensil back down. As for drinking, bring the glass to your pursed lips and look like you're swallowing. You get the hang of it after a couple of hours.

But there's more to fine dining than just, um, dining. There's conversation as

well. That, too, tends to be as phony as George Santos's resume. The microphones are super-sensitive, picking up almost any sound within walking distance of the set. So, when one of you pretends to say something amusing, you pretend to chuckle. Kind of the way everybody does in real life.

As time passes, you get comfortable enough to do other real stuff. Like scratching your ear, as I did in one shot, or looking like a baboon ridding its face of a bug as I seem to be doing here. Either they were going after real realism, or it was the principal's best take, and the editor thought, Screw it, nobody's gonna notice that nut in the corner! As if.

All good scenes, like meals, must come to an end. After a couple hours of filming, the director switched the camera positions to get the other actors in the shot. A bunch of us were ushered outside to the covered dining areas for about 90 minutes, for our secondary roles as deep background. So deep, we're not even seen. 

We wrapped at 12:41, three and a half hours after arriving at Jean-Georges, allowing me to go home for lunch. Eating a sandwich might have been less glamorous, but I didn't have to fake it.

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For my previous appearance on Succession, go here.