I work with executives, helping them develop and deliver
their messages, but I never thought I would play one.
Awhile back I had registered with a company called Central
Casting, which provides background actors to the film and television industry. Just
for fun, mind you. Friends who are really serious work the system feverishly –
some going so far as to hire an agent and join the union hoping to one day
land a speaking role and – who knows – achieve minor celebrity status.
I have no such aspirations. I just thought it would be a fun
experience to spend a day on a set standing in the background at a cocktail
party. Knowing I have the look of a middle-aged lawyer or accountant I figure
someday a casting director will be looking for a guy in a suit to walk through
the lobby of an office building.
After months of not playing the system, I got a voicemail
from Central Casting out of the blue. A director had picked me from a group of headshots
to appear in a … well, the booker said it’s kind of complicated so would I
please call him back. When I got Walid on the phone, he said the shoot was for a
large company and well-known brand. The job involved flying out of Orange
County with the crew to Phoenix for the day.
“That’s so exciting, honey!” my wife Mary exclaimed. She’s
my biggest fan.
“I’m gonna be in a commercial for <unnamed company>!” I
uttered, breathlessly. (I knew the company’s name at this point; I’m just
protecting their name out of professional courtesy.)
On the phone with Kris, the director, I learned this wasn’t
a commercial, but a video for an all-employee meeting. I would be a double for one
the executives. “I assume you’re ok jogging and stuff like that,” he said.
“Sure,” I replied. Little did I know …
One morning, then, bright and early, we boarded a Southwest
flight to Phoenix. As we made our way down the aisle Kris spoke to a woman sitting
in row 10. “That’s Candice. She’s the client,” he said. Uh-oh, I thought. Added
pressure.
We touched down in Phoenix about an
hour later, and soon I was riding in a van with people I barely knew, being
asked to do things I wouldn’t normally do (some at risk of life and limb).
I was Talent!
The video would be shown to set up the executive’s entrance at
the employee meeting. Here’s the premise: he’s on the treadmill when he gets a
call from a colleague asking why he’s not at the meeting. He’s forgotten he’s
in a different time zone and it’s an hour later than he thinks. That’s where I
come in as the double – as we portray the executive’s frenzied attempt to make
it to the arena.
Dialing up the comic value, the decision was made to put executive
on a little motorized scooter! Picture a middle-aged guy in a black track suit
and helmet, riding a Razor. Balance required. Something I’m not exactly blessed
with. But, what the heck.
In my first scene, I was supposed to come zipping through
the double doors of an office building. I’d never ridden one of these things and
there was no time to practice, but this wasn’t the time to back out. We were on
a tight schedule and the video was to be shown in two days! My first few passes
were a little wobbly, but I quickly got the hang of it. The biggest challenge
was revving up from a standstill. I couldn’t completely get my balance until I
gathered a little speed so I learned how to push off with one foot like Bart
Simpson. Hey, this is pretty cool, I thought: motoring across a parking lot on
a beautiful Arizona morning, just me and the gentle desert breeze.
We did probably 15 takes, and thank goodness I get to the
gym regularly because the day was about to get more and more physical.
We were going to show the executive (me) traversing the city
on the scooter, so Candice – a Phoenix native and our driver – had made a list
of locations that are unmistakably Phoenix. On to Papago Park, nestled between
the city and the desert, with gorgeous views of mesas and cacti and scrub. Up
and down the bike path I went, following Kris’ instructions and exhortations. Bless
him, he kept telling me every take was great. I couldn’t have made it through
the day without his encouragement.
Wrapping at the park, we loaded the van and hustled to Tempe
Town Lake, where I puttered up and down a concrete plaza, trying not to hit
pedestrians, while Kris and Tim positioned themselves for different angles –
high and low, left and right. I had stopped counting takes at this point.
After the lake, Candice had a brainstorm: let’s have our “executive”
stop for Girl Scout cookies! She had a couple of nieces and their mom (her sister)
who were happy to comply. They met us at a strip mall armed with a card table,
poster board and boxes of cookies. It was really a team effort, everyone
contributed great ideas and the girls were excellent actors!
By now we were racing the clock. It was after 3:00 and we
still had to shoot in downtown Phoenix and inside U.S. Airways Arena and wrap
in time to make a 7:30 flight. Working her connections, Candice got Kris and
photographer Mike on a hotel balcony across the street so they could shoot me
crossing the street (multiple times), winding my way through the plaza and into
the front doors of the arena.
By now, I was one with my Razor. So what if people thought I
was a lunatic, puttering down the sidewalks of downtown Phoenix at rush hour?
Once inside the arena, the script called for me to negotiate
a narrow corridor, make a sharp left turn, then a quick right into a waiting
elevator with Jorge, the marketing rep for the Phoenix Suns, holding the door
for me. There’s no way I can do this, I thought. But, I somehow managed without
looking too clumsy. The only problem was remembering to hit the brakes once I
entered the elevator because it was barely large enough to accommodate the
scooter.
For the final shot, I had to emerge from a hallway, buzz
past a concession stand, ditch the scooter and sprint to the entrance of the
arena floor, fist-pumping all the way. Jorge would stand by, pretending to talk
on his cell phone, which he quickly stuffs in his pocket when he sees me flying
toward him and catches the scooter – all in one fluid motion.
“I hope I don’t break your wrist,” I said, because the last
thing I was thinking about was the scooter and I ditched it and slung it at him,
my momentum carrying me forward.
“No worries, I’ve got this,” Jorge said calmly. He was about
half my age and athletic. Caught the scooter every time without breaking a
sweat.
I, on the other hand, was heavily perspiring and winded by
the end of the shoot from sprinting down the hallway and backtracking for each
subsequent take. How do stunt people do this day in and day out? Somewhere
along the way I think I pulled an oblique muscle. But it didn’t produce a
miserable hurt, just a feeling like I’ve been pushing my body.
Really, the whole day was about pushing ourselves and each
other to get the best location, the best angle, the best sequence of shots.
We’ve always heard the saying about having to walk a mile in
someone’s shoes to appreciate what they do. Well, in this case, I traveled a good
mile as a stunt double and I have even greater admiration and respect for the
people who tell stories on film and video. And while it was fun to portray an
executive, I think I’ll keep my day job.