STRICTLY ON BACKGROUND, PT 64: NEVER BEFORE SEEN!

Once in a while, my Android phone puts together a series of photos that are connected in some way or another. Many of them feature me in costume in productions where I can't be clearly seen or didn't make the final cut. Five of them follow, along with the titles and official character descriptions.

HOMELAND (9/26/16) "Prison Guard". The worst case of miscasting since John Wayne as Genghis Kahn in The Conqueror. What little memory I have of this gig isn't worth passing on, other than I was directed to escort a prisoner down a hallway away from the camera. Gee, I wonder why. 

Future appearances on Homeland were the more appropriate "Onlooker" or "Protester". During one of the latter gigs, I accidentally bopped Claire Danes on the top of her noggin as she snaked through the crowd. The next take, she let me know I was there by running her hand on my hip, which remains one of the highlights of my background work. Maybe my life.

SHELTER (March, 2017): "Stampede Victim". This was promoted by NBC as a "television event", meaning a mini-series that was to air over five consecutive evenings. The premise was 24 hours in the last functioning Brooklyn hospital during a Category-5 hurricane and a mass shooting on the LIRR. I was one of the bloodied and bruised characters in the shooting. The set was a former psych hospital-turned-senior daycare center in New Jersey. 

Most of the extras started work on the pilot episode on a Wednesday, when we learned the show was already one day over schedule. Within a couple of hours of the chaotic filming, many of us knew Shelter (which was also known as Mt. Ararat and at least one other temporary title) would never get picked up. And we were right! Our scheduled five-day shoot went on for nine; I bowed out after the eighth as the ridiculously long hours were making me literally sick. Still, I'm sorry Shelter didn't get picked up -- background would have worked three to five days a week for the series' entire shooting schedule.

THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL (8/17/17): "1950s Upscale Businessman". My fifth gig on Maisel sticks in my memory for wearing authentic 1950s woolen clothes for a Christmas scene shot on a hot, humid August night. It would have been worth it if I had actually been on camera rather than just hanging around outside in midtown until roughly two in the morning. 

I went home feeling like crap and woke up feeling like shit. Risking future work on Maisel, I called in sick for what was supposed to have been the second of a two-night shoot. Still, they continued to hire me for the series' entire run, when I had much better luck in future episodes. 

ESCAPE AT DANNEMORA (12/18/2017): "Prisoner". Director Bill Stiller chose the extras, and asked us to come in for an inspection before he made his final decision. We lined up at the production office in downtown Broadway, where he looked at each of us up and down, up close and personal. When we showed up for work the following week, Stiller shook hands all around. Background played trustees; part of the set was the prison kitchen where some of us worked. 

The prison set at Astoria Studios looked quite authentic, right down to the props in our cells. After shooting our scene, I sat on a flight of stairs directly behind Stiller as he directed Benicio del Toro and Paul Dano; having been doing extra work for just over a year, it was a heady experience. But not so heady that I didn't start to feel tired and, in a bold move, walked into my cell and took a nap. When I awoke, Stiller was still filming the same scene. I don't know what episode I worked on, but look for a tall guy making soup at a stove with his back to the camera way, way, way in the background. Good luck.

MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN (3/9/18): "1950s Town Hall Attendee" giving grief to a character based on Robert Moses, played by Alec Baldwin, who didn't disappoint (make of that what you will). Willem Dafoe was in the scene, too, which was pretty cool. I was sitting fairly close to him as he shook hands with Baldwin before filming began; it seemed to be the first time they ever met.

Directed by Edward Norton, this scene was supposed to have ended around 1:00 a.m.; instead, most of us wrapped at 4:45 a.m. as the filming continued after we left. To add insult to injury, I was just out of camera range in the final cut. At least I got to work on what was considered by the people who were there as a legendary shoot. Again, make of that what you will.

Part 2 of "Never Before Seen!" to follow...

                                                           *******************