On the Job

by Joshua Siegel

Acting is all about glamour, respect, limosines, and all that glitterly Hollywood stuff, right? Wrong. Maybe when you're a star you'll get the limosines and people fawning over you, but it's a different story for the rest of us. From my own experience, here's a typical day on a film set.

My alarm clock goes off at 5:20 AM. Why so early? Because I have a call time of 7:00 AM and the shoot is in Pasadena. So I give myself time for a shower and an hour's drive to the set, plus an extra 10 minutes for safety. LA morning traffic is slow as usual, but I manage to get there on time. I park my car and a local Teamster in a large van shuttles me and several members of the crew to the set. After we arrive, I check in with 2nd AD (Assistant Director) and get in line for breakfast at the catering truck.

Before I'm even finished with my bagel, a girl from the wardrobe department says that they need to measure me for a new jacket that the Costumer picked out for my scene. After getting fitted for wardrobe, I head to the hair and makeup trailers. Forty minutes later I emerge with a fresh face and toilet paper sticking out of my collar (to keep makeup off the shirt). Time to head to set.

The Director and crew are already there, setting up the scene. I talk briefly with the Director about the scene and find out that he's changed the lines that I stayed up until 1:00 AM memorizing. We rehearse the scene a couple times on set, then they excuse me while the crew continues setting up the lights. Normally I'd stay and hang out, but I need to memorize the new lines so I go to my trailer.

Yes, I get my own trailer! Is it some huge doublewide that's bigger than most people's houses like the one Arnold Schwarzennegger has? Not hardly. It's more like Arnold's closet, but at least it's a place where I can memorize my lines and get in character privately. About twenty minutes later, a PA (Production Assistant) knocks on my door. I've been called to set.

On the Job

by Joshua Siegel

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