Today I was working double duty background on Ugly Betty. First I stood behind Betty and Mark in a coffee shop in Times Square, and the second scene I was a cult member.
Days on set are always gruelingly long. Especially when you’re filming two scenes with wardrobe changes and hair and makeup touch-ups in between. I had been in holding (a dungeon-like place where there are never enough chairs used to stash the extras until they are called to set) for the last four hours straight. I had already finished my entire book, start to finish and was upset because now I had to talk to the boring people around me.
The best thing about being onset however is the abundance of free food. A constant buffet was set up just outside of our holding area. I had been up and down the stairs many times, filling my purse and pockets with each trip. There hadn’t been any new food put out in a while so I was at a table talking to an older overweight woman who drove 3 hours each way to be here and make $80 so she could become the next Jennifer Aniston - when I saw it! A woman walked triumphantly down the long orange staircase holding a plate of neatly rolled lunchmeats.
I gasped and excused myself from the constant ramblings of a woman who went after her dreams too late and dashed up the stairs when the P.A. stopped me and made an announcement, “Everyone to set! Everyone to set now!”
“Noooo!” I cried on the inside. “Not without my protein!” I rushed past everyone going in to set and made my way to the food table. There, on a shiny silver platter a seemingly endless pile of cut and rolled meat. I grabbed two handfuls and ran inside, taking giant steps and giant bites. I threw the last two turkey rolls in my mouth as I walked in to the brightly lit auditorium. Just then a hair person grabbed me. She smoothed down the top of my hair, sprayed and brushed her fingers through the ends.
“Ew.” She said with a horrified look as she stepped back and pulled something slimy out of my hair. At first I was confused too, but once I saw what she had found it all made sense.
“Oh, that’s ham.” I managed to tell her with my mouth still full. But somehow that didn’t make it any better. She placed it in my hand and walked off with disgust.
And no, I didn’t eat the hair ham, I threw it away. Aren't you proud!?
Days on set are always gruelingly long. Especially when you’re filming two scenes with wardrobe changes and hair and makeup touch-ups in between. I had been in holding (a dungeon-like place where there are never enough chairs used to stash the extras until they are called to set) for the last four hours straight. I had already finished my entire book, start to finish and was upset because now I had to talk to the boring people around me.
The best thing about being onset however is the abundance of free food. A constant buffet was set up just outside of our holding area. I had been up and down the stairs many times, filling my purse and pockets with each trip. There hadn’t been any new food put out in a while so I was at a table talking to an older overweight woman who drove 3 hours each way to be here and make $80 so she could become the next Jennifer Aniston - when I saw it! A woman walked triumphantly down the long orange staircase holding a plate of neatly rolled lunchmeats.
I gasped and excused myself from the constant ramblings of a woman who went after her dreams too late and dashed up the stairs when the P.A. stopped me and made an announcement, “Everyone to set! Everyone to set now!”
“Noooo!” I cried on the inside. “Not without my protein!” I rushed past everyone going in to set and made my way to the food table. There, on a shiny silver platter a seemingly endless pile of cut and rolled meat. I grabbed two handfuls and ran inside, taking giant steps and giant bites. I threw the last two turkey rolls in my mouth as I walked in to the brightly lit auditorium. Just then a hair person grabbed me. She smoothed down the top of my hair, sprayed and brushed her fingers through the ends.
“Ew.” She said with a horrified look as she stepped back and pulled something slimy out of my hair. At first I was confused too, but once I saw what she had found it all made sense.
“Oh, that’s ham.” I managed to tell her with my mouth still full. But somehow that didn’t make it any better. She placed it in my hand and walked off with disgust.
And no, I didn’t eat the hair ham, I threw it away. Aren't you proud!?
Hair Ham would be an excellent band name.
Lunch meat sux