I went to shoot my scene today for an upcoming indie film where I am in a room of recovering addicts. They asked us to bring clothes to the shoot that they can pick from. Due to the last time I was asked to do this and came up empty handed, I decided this time to load up a suitcase full of my clothes along with a carry-on bag for my shirts and rolled out in the 90 degree weather (it was 9 AM!). I figured better be safe than sorry.
I showed up in a room of about 20 other actors and grabbed the pace as near to the box fan as I could. The place was air conditioned, however, the air flow had yet to be tamed, so, some parts of the room were muggier than others. I came dressed in shorts and a t-shirt and allowed the universe to dress me for the role. After the wardrobe director gawked at the number of clothes to choose from, she picked an ensemble that I've worn many times before - A black/red bowling shirt, green khaki's and black shoes Cool, I know I look good in this outfit, so, I am sure the camera will show it
As we sat around, "Hello! My Name Is" tags were handed to us with predetermined names. I got "Nelson". How orginal! I accepted my name while other people got "Paco", "Bob", "Dick", "Fillipe", or "Chasity" (no misspelling there). I reintroduced myself to one of the executive producers, i.e., the money men, and he seemed to remember me from the audition I did for the lead roles. In fact, the director himself also remembered me from the audition. I figured it's a good indications of things to come The EP was looking at me and said, "you know...you look more like a Middle Eastern guy with that beard. You could pass for someone from there!" Mind you, I have already been cast three times in a row for a terrorist/Middle Eastern in different productions! So, instead of freaking out because of my fear of getting typecast, I smiled and said, "You know, you're absolutely right!" and proceeded to bust out my best Arabic/Middle Eastern guy, which he couldn't stop laughing at. He allowed me to name myself, hence, "Mohammed" has been born into the production! I kept character a lot through out the day and people seemed to dig it (lots of "72 virgins" talk, some oil tycoon braggardy, and Ahkmed Suave flirtation with the older women in the cast).
We shot our two scenes together one of which featured heavily the assets of a young lady (can't wait to get the directors cut! *giggity* ). So, sitting in a hot, unconditioned room doing take after take was handsomely rewarded! I was told after the takes that everyone could hear my character's voice cut through the group chants we were performing as recovering addicts. A few times I could hear them giggling at my chracter's despair to avoid all debauchery at any given cost. The EP and the director came up to me and said, "We are doing more movies and we have your resume. We're definitely going to call you." I left walking away pretty content in the near 100 degree weather (It was 1 PM).
So, typecasting is working in my favor for now. I'm having fun doing it and making new opportunities out of it. Now, when my character dies, does he get 72 scripts?
Currently listening :
Rage Against the Machine
By Rage Against the Machine
Release date: By 10 November, 1992
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