a crossroads

It was early 1998. i was 24, working in my father’s office and miserable. he wanted me to take over his company at the time. i had different plans. A movie came to our town. Hollywood. lights. camera. action…the ad looking for extras called to my heart and soul. I signed up to be an extra and the next thing you know (with a lot of persistence) I was working in the casting office. The film ended, Hollywood packed up and left. I was alone and at a crossroads: do i remain miserable and make my father happy? or try to get on another film and break my father’s heart? I chose the latter path. It hasn’t been an easy one, I go months without working and then months working incredibly long days. Within a few years I became what I call a “star babysitter” I make sure they eat, go to hair/makeup, fill out their timecards, etc. I’ve worked some incredible (and some rude whom I’ll never tell) actors along the way: Kate Beckinsale, Martin Landau, Lindsay Wagner, Tom Hanks, Benicio Del Toro, David Schwimmer, Sean Penn, Noah Wyle, Naomi Watts, Alan Alda, Peter Fonda, Matt Damon, Hal Holbrook, Christina Ricci, Sam Rockwell and Matt Dillon to name a few. They all taught me something. I’ve grown as a person knowing them. They are all human beings, just like us, and have their insecurities, anxieties, depression, etc…I don’t regret the path I chose, it’s made me a better person. I consider myself very lucky. And by the way, to lessen the heartbreak a bit, I have put my father in most movies I’ve worked on. He now “demands” a trailer which someday I’ll make happen, if only to see him smile and live out my dream with me.