first day on set!

I am officially a movie star. OK, that may be a bit of an overstatement...

In the absense of other work, I'm trying my hand at being an extra/ background performer. Today I was a drug addict on a movie called Things we lost in the fire. Its a movie starring Halle Berry, Benicio Del Toro and David Duchovny. What does a background performer do you ask - well let me tell you: Sit around. Approximately 5 hours of work today, with only half an hour on set. Some people didn't even get on set. The day consisted of:

1. arriving, signing in.
2. sitting around.
3. costume - I didn't have much suitable clothing, so got a couple of extra items.
4. a bit more sitting around
5. makeup - I had "death grey" applied to most of my face, hands blackened, nicotine stains applied, eye sockets darkened, and a red sore applied just below my lip. Nice.
6. lunch - this was pretty good - fresh fruit, salads, breads, pasta and meaty options.
7. move to second holding location nearer to filming
8. more sitting around
9. filming! A bunch of us basically were in the background of a shot on the sidewalk or in cars etc. I was a cyclist on the footpath. Halle Berry was in a car and getting out or something (I didn't see what she actually did when filming started, I had my own important things going on!). Unfortunately or perhaps fortunately, I'm almost certain I wasn't in shot as they cut it before I got there. I wouldn't have been recognisable anyway.
   
10. bit more sitting around, back to first location, sign out etc.

Vancouver is the third largest place for filming in North America - "Hollywood North", so there is quite a bit of this work around. I believe I'm also scheduled for tomorrow. Won't be my new career but its kind of fun, at least for a little while. Oh yeah, the pay is crappy. Some people seem to do it for a living, you can get paid more if you have a car (a couple were used in the shot today), and maybe if you are union also.