Day 2 -- October 8, 1997
A four o'clock call for a night shoot seemed a little odd. With sunset officially scheduled for 6:28pm, it didn't seem like there would be much for me to do. But upon arrival, I was informed that the director wanted to try to get in a rehearsal with everybody at 4:30. That would work fine for me. I decided to sit tight until then. By about 5:15pm, I got restless and decided to head up to the set and check out the goings-on. They were in the middle of shooting another scene and kept resetting for new angles, more coverage, etc. When I finally realized we weren't near doing anything with my scene, I started back down to the trailers. Cut off at the pass by Paula, she sent me to lunch. And so I ate, got my make-up on and went back to the trailer. Just more hours of nothin'. Waiting for the start of the adventure.
By 7:30ish, I was summoned up to the set for the aforementioned rehearsal. At that point, I met a whole collection of people, all the people in my scene. The "Biedermans," played by Richard Schiff, Betsy Brantley, Katie Hagan, and Elijah Wood, as well as the "Hotchners," Gary Werntz, Denise Crosby, and Leelee Sobieski. Lots of names, so I filed a couple away and then figured I could use the call sheet as a cheat-sheet later to recall the info. I also met Mimi Leder, the director, and we set about rehearsing. First it was just the lines. Moment of concern. I had been going over them aggressively for the past 24 hours and this would be the test. No problem. And I knew mine better than a couple of the others so that bomb was diffused.
We also walked through the likely motions of the scene, the passports being handled, the walk to the bus, the physical efforts to get Sarah on the bus. All seemed like it would be a bit crazy but doable. OK, break while they light the thing and then we'll be back. Going back for me happened by 8:00pm when I reported to the Army Liaison who examined my attire and props. Two of my patches were removed because they didn't belong on my right sleeve and about fifteen minutes were spent trying to attach an ammunitions vest that was simply too small. I was also instructed to be firm but polite to the citizens in the scene. "They're the taxpayers, so they pay your salary."
Going back to the scene did not occur until after 9:00pm. Again, the gang of eight got together and walked through more possibilities for the scene. Finally we were ready to try it with the bus pulling up to take them away. So we rehearsed the whole thing. And reset and rehearsed it again. And reset and rehearsed it again. And again. And again. And we reset and shot a take. And reset and shot. And reset and shot. And wouldn't you know it, there were decent takes but nothing satisfying, and then suddenly it was 12 midnight.
What's the big deal about midnight? you might ask. Was Cinderella playing one of the roles? Might as well have been because under-18 actors must leave the set at midnight. Simple as that. No exceptions, no special cases. Gone. And gone they were. And gone I was as well. There was no further need for the lieutenant that night so I was sent home. There would be a third day of work.