And the Oscar for Best Background Performer Goes To...

Today was the best day to maybe be on camera for Cinderella Man1. The scene is: we're standing in line to get soup because we are so dirt poor we need handouts. The crew were giving out kids as if they were props ("Here, have a soup bowl, and a child.") My "son" was five years old and by far the cutest of the bunch. Renée Zellweger's kids were supposed to splash in the puddles and my son got to splash with them! When Renée called her kids back I was supposed to step out of line, grab my kid's arm, pull him back in line and mime yelling at him2. Robbie (my pretend son) had to go to the washroom at least once an hour. He would look up at me with these big brown eyes and whisper "I have to pee." I would whisper "wait until they say cut" and then when they said "cut" I would yell "BATHROOM BREAK!" Halfway throught the shoot Robbie started to cry because he didn't want to do it anymore. By this time my feet were so sore from the period 1930s footwear that I wanted to cry too. I took him to an AD3 who took him to his real mom. Robbie had a nap on his real mom's shoulders and then went right back to action. What a trooper!

And:
I talked to Renée Zellweger!

She was walking past me and she looked at me and smiled.
So I said "Hello."
And she said "Hello. How are you?"
And I said "Very well. Thank you." I was very sincere too because (even though I was sore from the shoes, and I was wet from the splashing, and I was warm from the winter coat and the August sun) at that moment I was talking to The Renée Zellweger! I was very well! Thank you!
Then Renée said "It's warm".
And I sort of smiled in agreement. Totally cool.


1 A period 1930s movie about a boxer that I've been doing background work on for a few days this summer. It stars Renée Zellweger and Russell Crowe.
2 My Oscar moment.
3 Assistant Director.