Thursday, July 10, 2008

Little Me on the Prairie

So I woke up at 6 this morning and headed out to a nearby studio, where I was to shadow my teacher on the set of Little Mosque on the Prairie. I was to watch and learn. I was to listen, reflect and observe. I was not to interfere.
How quickly that changed.
Less than a half hour into the shoot, the director was wringing his hands over a particular extra who had decided to show up and THEN tell them that he wouldn't be available for the following day's shoot. That was when the director looked at me, pointed a long finger, and said, "YOU. Can you fill in for someone? Do you feel like making a little money?"
I take back all of those things I said about movie situatuions never taking place in reality.
I spent the next ten and a half hours as a young newlywed, seated next to my Muslim wife at a marriage counseling seminar, within the walls of delightful little mosque in Mercy, Saskatchewan.
What followed was nothing short of a dream come true: getting to act on a professional set, with professional actors, in front of a camera that was bigger than me; getting access to free food and beverages at any time of the day; being given a shirt to wear that firt me perfectly and looked pretty damn good; being given my own dressing room; schmoozing with cast and crew, and all those other things that make the life of an actor so overwhelmingly enjoyable.
And the best part is, there's another day of it to come tomorrow.

Assalamu alaikum.
;)

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