Pelham 456

(originally from April 19,2008)
I was on the set of Pelham 123 all day on Saturday. It was an extremely early call time of 5:30 am. The worst part was that set was all the way down town by the wall street area, which is a huge drag to get to, especially when the trains go at a snails pace.

I got up at 3:30 am, barely getting any sleep as I was worried I would not hear the alarm. I forced myself out the door by 4am, walking into the dark streets and praying that I would not get attacked on the way to the subway.

The streets were desolate, save for one or two stragglers. I got to the subway and there was one guy intoxicated in the corner and another foreigner waiting for the "R" train which at that time never comes until 6am. Though he thought that the drunk guy would give him better information, then it's your problem.

After 45 minutes waiting on the subway platform, a light was coming through the tunnel and the "E" for Evil train was approaching. Late at night this "E" train goes on the local tracks and is the only way in to the city.

The reason why it is indeed "EVIL" is because this train, because it runs all night, collects all the riff-Raff's and the homeless who set up their kitchen and dining room sets in the subway cars. The more they dwell the more putrid the stench gets on these trains. This is why if you get a car that is empty, and the other one packed with people, there is a reason for it.

Anyways, when I entered the subway I was very surprised to see a fellow Background actor, this older man, on the same car. He must have come from 3 stops earlier from Roosevelt ave Stop. This was great because I sure did not want to be alone on that subway.

When your on the "E" train, something always happens. This time the train stopped for quite a while at W. 4th station in Manhattan. We looked out the doors and there was this black guy in handcuffs, pinned down with his face to the floor by an undercover officer. Probably a drug bust! It's good to know that the NYPD is working and making arrests at 4am!

We finally got off the train and at our stop at World Trade Center. It exits out to the Wall Street are. Normally this area is jam packed with people, though at this time it is a desolate ghost town. As we walked out, I saw my friend Julia talking to a security guard and asking directions. I called out to her and the three of us ventured off to the set holding area which was at a restaurant called The Mercantile Grill on 126 Pearl St.

I was thinking when I first got the address that there would not be so many people considering it's a restaurant. However this restaurant had 3 floors with over 35 seating capability on each floor.

The SAG holding was on the first two floors and of course Non-Sag was all the way on the top where we had to climb all these stairs to get to that we needed a defibrillator by the time we got to the top. Okay so it wasn't that bad. Still at 5 am, walking up any flights off stairs can be hazardous to your health!

They did have a breakfast buffet provided for both Sag and non-Sag outside though by the time we walked the food upstairs to our table, we were soon called to go to wardrobe. The wardrobe line was another adventure indeed. The line started outside on the other side of the street and "snaked" all the way inside to 3 wardrobe people.

The thing was Myself as many others were cast as business casuals, so unless you are wearing a hot pink fedora with a matching boa, I don't see why this line took 2 hours to get through. It really was a long time down there as I got into wardrobe while it was still pitch dark and it was daylight by the time I got through it.

Finally after that process was over, the P.A. s hauled us over to another holding area which was closer to set. This holding area had no food. Though they did have cases of baby Poland Spring water. Then we sat around and sat some more. This holding area was in the underground of a mall complex and I'm sure that this area is highly congested during the regular work day.


After couple of hours went by and they brought us all upstairs to set. On the list I was originally cast as a "parent" and had a low number of 10, so I thought for sure this was going to be waivered. They booked me as for this part, though I had no kids plus I got no waivers either!

When we got outside, nobody had any real parts save for being cops,spectators, journalists, paparazzis, and general non-descript "fillers" as the majority of us were. . I thought that was pretty funny. All the cops of course were SAG. In fact a friend of mine Theresa, who I used to get rides with to some sets in Jersey last year is now SAG. Many people, and friends of mine are either SAG eligible or have just begun attending "SAG University".

It's SO depressing when you see how many people have made it to "the other side" and you are still left behind. I feel at times as if I failed a grade and am being held back and I have been placed with the retarded kids on the short bus! To make you feel even worse about the waivers, you hear about these foreigner's who don't speak English, just got off the boat and get 3 waivers within starting this business! Amazing!

As for the rest of the day, it was really long with the scene they were shooting. The P.A.s had to deal with the picture cars, real traffic, and on-lookers/tourists. The scene involved having the mayor of New York driving in with his huge entourage in a line of motorcades. The cars stop by the MTA building where the driver gets out of the car and opens the door to the first car where the mayor is in. The mayor who gets out of the car is none other than James Gandolfini

He aims towards the entrance of the MTA building where he is swarmed by paparazzi, journalists and us the spectators all yelling out in outrage. He walks briskly through surrounded by his entourage walks by us all as we are all barricaded back by those "Police do not cross" lines. A couple of the journalists stop him in his tracks screaming out "what about the bomb". The mayor, makes a quick stop and shouts "There is no bomb"! and continues walking quickly to the entrance of the building to get out of this mess.

This was the main scene for the entire day. What took so long of course was shooting this from different angles. The other scene with Denzel Washington was much shorter. I didn't even know he was there. That's how short that scene was.. As for the other scene...

We ended up wrapping at 7pm. Considering we started at 5:30am, that was a really long day. They did feed us in a buffet style food line. Food was decent, though not A plus. Perhaps a C minus. I should be a food critic on these sets! LOL.

The only good thing about a day shoot is that you know they have to "wrap it up" before the sun goes down. So it was. We were there shooting this scene until they (Film people) soaked up every last inch of sun to get the shot they wanted. Some people literally soaked up the sun.

A couple of my friends who were cast as paparazzis were right in the front, all day long. This of course meant they were in the sun all day long. Getting close to the last hour, I could see my friend Owen's forehead beaming off a bright red hue. I'm so glad I stuck in the background by the shade as I can't handle the sun too well. I am pale and I want to stay that way. In fact near the late afternoon hours, this gay Irish friend of mine who also does not do the sun so well, kept inching back every time the sun would increase on our side of the street!