Day 5 -- Wednesday, February 25, 1998
Although it has been months since I was running around on the set causing one of Hollywood's hottest directors to yell at me and tear her hair out, it was not until today that I firmly cemented my image as an idiot with no cinematic future in Hollywood.
First things first, however. I did see the scene! It looked great. I did not look so great because the scene takes place at night and it's hard to see some of the faces at times, but the scene is a good one and if you're looking hard enough you can tell it's me. So that was cool.
Meanwhile, I had one line that needed to be looped. It wasn't that the original recording of it was bad, nor had I mumbled the line or made it unintelligible in any way. The director, Mimi Leder, simply wanted to get a different reading on it.
"I just wanted to try to make it a little more firm. Don't get involved with the family at all. I want you to be detached and business-like."
So we try it. "Oh, c'mon. I can't do that. I need the Biedermans on the bus now."
"OK, you're in a hurry. you have to get this done."
"Oh, c'mon. I can't do that. I need the Biedermans on the bus now."
"It's still a bit too weak."
"Oh, c'mon. I can't do that. I need the Biedermans on the bus now."
"You have to be firm with them."
"Oh, c'mon. I can't do that. I need the Biedermans on the bus now."
"You're just doing our job. It's not about them."
"Oh, c'mon. I can't do that. I need the Biedermans on the bus now."
"Oh, c'mon, I can't do that."
"Oh, c'mon. I can't do that. I need the Biedermans on the bus now."
"No, it's not quite right."
"Oh, c'mon. I can't do that. I need the Biedermans on the bus now."
Twelve takes. Still not going right. I finally suggest that it may be my accent that makes the word "that" sound off to her. So we decide to try it without the middle sentence."
"Oh, c'mon. I need the Biedermans on the bus now."
"I like that."
After which the sound-guy added, "Now that's do that one fourteen times too," which was either a dig on me or Mimi Leder or both but let's just say it was on me so it fits in with my whole take on this adventure.
We did one more. "Oh, c'mon. I need the Biedermans on the bus now."
Success. There was one more place in the scene, though, where the sound-guy thought they might want to add me saying a line. Mimi took a look at it and we kicked around an idea or two and then she looked at me, contemplated how she wanted to spend the next three hours, and said, "We'll get it in group," meaning they would wait until the professionals were in there adding background voices and sounds and throw something in then. That would be simpler than trying to put together a sentence that wasn't affected by my upstate New York accent.
"Oh, c'mon. I can't do that. I need the Biedermans on the bus now."