On the set of "Hancock"

(filmed on May 10, 2008)
Last night I was on another Will Smith movie titled "Hancock". This movies trailer is apparently out already and will be released in July, 08. So last night’s movie was basically a re-shoot for the very last scene of the movie.

What a HUGE production it turned out to be!!! Our Holding area was at this highschool over on 46th street btw 6th and 7th which is around the corner of Times Square!

When I got to the decent call time of 6:30 pm, already over 200 people were situated in the auditorium of the building. I went and checked in. I got to the check in line at a quarter to 7pm and there was still a huge line of non-union people checking in.

In knowing how these lines work and that people would still be in the line-up, I took my time getting there. I must make a note that this production was great to work on, though this was the absolute record slow check in and out line of all time!!!!

I may as well have shown up at 8pm, b/c they were still checking people in at that time. I at least got there in time enough for the food, which was good. They had a "Crew only" truck where they were serving hamburger and hot-dogs on an outside BBQ grill fresh!

So you know how Nazi they can be and are very territorial about their meat. I just walked by and headed to the "background only" tent where I expected to get rice and beans or the usual delicacy of skittles!

To my surprise, these Mexican caterers were grilling away burgers, sweating and flipping away burgers to your liking. A good portion of processed flesh on a fresh bun with a wide array of fresh condiments to choose from! The tomatoes were fresh as were the onions and I think the Pickles must have been kosher because the local Rabbi stopped by to bless them just to make them extra special!

Inside the holding area was way too warm to hang out, so I stayed outside by the catering by the stoops, sat down with My Polish friend Basha until we were called to go on set.

The set was right in the heart of Times Square on a Saturday night, so you can imagine what a nightmare it was just to get to the "island" in the middle by the ABC building. What even made it more challenging were the throngs of people lined up over 10 deep on both sides waiting for Will Smith to arrive.

There were so many people that you thought you were at a major event like the Macy's Day parade or at the countdown for a New Years bash. There were So many cops on set to try and keep the people back.

Still that didn't control the overly ambitious fans from sneaking behind the barricades to snap a picture of Will or to get his autograph. As soon as Will Smith's car pulled on the side by the island, he got out and these people went absolutely nuts!

One overly eager group of tourists from Arkansas actually had the nerve to pull up to the side off the island, park their car, get out and attempt to get Will Smiths autograph. These people almost made it up to Will, though the security held them back in time.

I was at the best possible spot on the island and very close to Will Smith. I was on set with my friend Julia's' Mother and her 3 year old son. Julia came by with her Mother who was already booked on this to try and get her son on it. Julia tried to get on it as well, though according to the law, if a child is booked they need someone "off" set to be able to take the child home after the time allotted for a child to work in NY state.

So I basically became "Surrogate Mom" and had to hold her Son up for every scene. Now he is a big kid (45lbs) and it got very tiring and exhausting having to lift up the kid every time they called "background action".

The bonus of having a child with me was that I got right up close in the scene with Will Smith. Since the scene called for other kids running up to him and forming a circle to get his autograph as he is depicted as a superhero in this film where he was wearing this rubber "Michael Jackson" skin tight outfit.

So I ran up to the circle while holding Julia's son and shoved my way through so the kid could "high-five" and make contact with Will Smith. I didn't have to do that much as the kid was aggressively pushing his way in the crowd to get to Will. It worked though because the kid got on camera, which means so did I!

I have to admit it was a really cool feeling being on that island with Will Smith while all these spectators were watching and wishing they could be in our spot! It was a crazy night, though well worth it and for once a good experience on a Will Smith movie, unlike "Legend" where we froze our asses off last year!