My "Eleventh Hour" Shoot!

Today was my "Eleventh Hour" shoot. (No, that isn't a picture from today, but I did play a Lab Technician). It went so quickly, it almost doesn't feel like I was even there. My call time was 9AM, I went to hair & makeup at 10, Started shooting around...11:30? And was done by 12:30! They didn't wrap me until about an hour later (not sure what was going on exactly), so I hung out in my trailer, watched TV, and returned phone calls.

In my scene, I worked with Rufus Sewell, and Marley Shelton. I also had the pleasure of working with Director Clark Johnson. At the first camera rehearsal (when they are figuring out how the camera needs to move in order to capture whatever action is going on), I was standing there before the other two were, so they had me rehearse with their stand-ins. The director gave me a note to hit the male stand-in with the medical file I was holding. I started thinking "Did I miss something in the script? Am I suppose to be angry? Whassupwiddat??" But time is money, so I figured I'd do it for the rehearsal & take a few minutes afterwards to figure out what I had missed. I rehearsed, and I hit the guy (not hard - the file folder only had 2 sheets of paper in it) in the chest.

Afterwards, I took some time to go over the scene again & didn't see anything spelled out in the script that said I was supposed to hit dude, but I decided to just go with it. (Bad idea.)

When the two leads came in, and the director called "Action!" I did it exactly the same way. I walked, I said my line, I hit my mark, and I hit Rufus Sewell in the chest with the file folder. The director yelled "Cut!" then proceeded to tell me that he was only joking when he told me to do that.

Thanks, man.

We all had a laugh, I apologized to Rufus, then I introduced myself to Rufus and Marley (cart before horse, I know). One thing that I knew I'd blog about even as it was taking place is that, between takes, I overheard Rufus & Marley discussing David Mamet's writing. I wasn't trying to eavesdrop (I really wasn't), so I don't know which genre they were talking about (stage plays, screenplays, or film scripts), but I like it when artists are able to converse about other artists who have had an impact on their craft. It's just kinda cool.

Everyone was very nice. Not just cordial, but nice. My portion of the shoot only took about an hour! It was a very different experience than when I've worked at "Boston Legal" in the sense that the David E. Kelley team has worked together for so long now that they are a well-oiled machine. The "Eleventh Hour" team is still new (this is only episode 2), and finding their wheels.

After I was done, both Rufus, and the director made it a point to say "thank you" and "goodbye" to me. It's such a simple thing, but it felt good to be personally acknowledged.

I have two auditions tomorrow, and allergies are beating me up something awful, so I'm gonna turn in & hope I'm better when I wake up.

'Nighty-night y'all.

--Nicole J. Butler

Comments

[susan]

Rufus Sewell! Love him! So exciting, Nicole. Congrats. Again - you'll let us know when we can see you, right?

[Nicole J. Butler]

Hi Susan--
He was very genial. He was prepared, professional, had an easy smile, and an air about him that made me feel comfortable. A true pleasure to work with.

I will definitely let you know when you can see this episode!