Waterworld

   Waterworld

     The first feature film, I worked on, was “Waterworld.” It starred Kevin Costner, and Dennis Hopper. A futuristic tale, of the melting of the polar icecaps, that caused the entire planet Earth, to be underwater. I worked 6 days, in 2 separate years. December, 1994, and January 1995. I made about 700 dollars, got a friend, in production, and qualified for the Screen Actors Guild. So it was a good shoot, for me, no matter what anybody else, thought, of the film. 

     December, 1994, in Los Angeles was pretty hot. Most of the film was shot in Hawaii, but our scenes were shot in Los Angeles. 90 degrees, or more, when it wasn’t raining. We had a 3:30 AM call time, and usually, by the time we went to set, we were already on overtime. Takes awhile to get 800 extras ready for work. I don’t know for sure, if there were 800 of us, but that was the rumor, and it sure seemed like it. 

     We were aboard a scale model, of the ill-fated Exxon Valdez. I don’t know if it was actual size, but it was pretty big. We were all booked, as “Smokers.” We lived aboard the ship, and Dennis Hopper was our leader. He was also a very nice guy. No disrespect to Kevin Costner, but all of the scenes, I worked on, featured Mr. Hopper. I only saw Kevin Costner for about an hour, the entire time I worked, the movie. He was dressed as, “The Mariner,” and while we were on set, some colleagues of mine said, that a young girl, got sent home, for rushing up to Mr. Costner, and telling him, she wanted to have his baby. Some people just do not know, how to act. No pun intended.

     How do you make someone love you? Dennis Hopper was giving his “I’ve had a vision,” speech, where he breaks a bottle of whiskey, for old St. Joe. It was very hot outside, and most of us were standing in direct sunlight. They had already filmed Mr. Hopper, and were turning the cameras, to film our reaction. At the very least, Mr. Hopper could have gone to his air-conditioned trailer, smoked a fatty, and ate a pizza, if he so chose. Instead he decreed that if his minions had to work, in the hot sun, so would he. He then repeated his performance, several times, for our reaction. Mr. Hopper, also spoke with a group of children, who were there, working with us. They all remembered him, as the bad guy, in the movie, “Speed.” I remember him from, “Hang em High,” “True Grit,” with John Wayne, and lets not forget “Easy Rider,” just to name a few. There are a host, of others. Anyone, on set, that day, who was not already a Dennis Hopper fan, became one. What a great experience.

     While we were waiting, between takes, a wardrobe lady came up to me and said, “Do you mind if I cut your socks?” I replied, “These are not my socks. These are your socks. “ Her face lit up like a Christmas tree (Dec. 1994) , and she exclaimed, “Oh, I could just kiss you!” Not the response, I expected, or even hoped for. “Why?” I inquired. Her demeanor abruptly changed. “ You have no idea, how many people, are giving me, a hard time, about this.” I shrugged, “Why should I care? Everything I’m wearing, belongs to you, including my underwear.” She laughed, and said, “I don’t want to cut those.” I smiled at her, “I appreciate that.” She then proceeded to trim HER socks, down below the level of HER shoes, so it looked like MY feet, were bare, inside HER shoes. I still wore the lower portion of HER socks, which I returned, upon being wrapped. My friend Tony stuck his foot out. “These are your socks too, and I’m not wearing any underwear.” We all laughed, and the wardrobe lady said, “I just love you guys!” “You have the wrong approach, ”I said, “You should not ask if we mind, you should say, I need to cut these socks. Period.” “Yeah,” Tony added, “Anyone gives you any B.S., cut their Achilles tendon, while your at it. They won’t be able to chase you.” Most of the other extras, who were standing around us, offered up, their calves, for inspection, as we were purposefully loud. Pretty hard to get into trouble, for helping out a damsel, in distress, who was also a crew member. We did not plan it. It just happened. 

     We also worked below decks, on the ship. I was one of the people running behind, “The Car.” A 1961 Lincoln, that was still running, after hundreds of years. Yeah right. We pushed the car. We ran back, and forth. We even rowed the ship. When Dennis Hopper tells us, “Lets get this tub of s**t, up to speed,” we all run below deck, to man the oars. Extremely large, and heavy oars. The film director, came over, to where we were, and spread his arms, as far apart, as he could. “You guys are going to be this f*****g big, when this movie comes out.” He was right. I am dead center, of the screen, large as life, for maybe 2 seconds. Some have said its not me. Witnesses are still alive, and a lot of people took pictures, who weren’t supposed to. 

     During lunch, I accidentally wandered into, the wrong tent. A man named John, from production, who I had met, on another set, came up to me, and said, “You are not supposed to be in here.” I replied, “I’ve been working with these guys, all day, and I just followed them, in here, when they called lunch.” “These guys are stunt men,” he informed me. I started to get up, but he stopped me. “Its ok. All the same food. “ When I finished eating, I went up, to throw my garbage away, and return my dishes. I ran into John again. “What’s your union status?” he asked. “I don’t have any,” I said. “We will see if we can’t fix that, for you.” he said. I was shocked, and surprised, at this turn, of events, so I did not know what to say. “See me, when we wrap,” he said. I nodded, and he walked away. I made my way over to the non-union tent, and told my colleagues, I had gotten lost. 

     When we wrapped, I went to see John. He tore up my paperwork, and issued me new paperwork, governed by the Screen Actors Guild. More commonly called, a SAG voucher. I got union vouchers for the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th days, that I worked. I now had a total of 5 SAG vouchers. I had been working, as an extra, for a little over 4 months, and was already qualified to join the Screen Actors Guild. I did not need to do anything underhanded, to accomplish this. Just did my job, without bitching about it.

     Now for the rumor mill. You would not believe, some of the things, you hear, on a movie set. “Kevin Costner is getting divorced. Hope his wife doesn’t get all his money, or we might not get paid.” “I heard Dennis Hopper was smoking weed, on set.” “I heard some girl told Kevin Costner, she wanted his baby, so they kicked her off the movie.” Just a few examples, of the B.S., you hear on any movie set. Say what you will, about the film, but my friends, and I loved it, and we loved working on it. We always tried our best, to stay away, from the people, who were constantly bitching, about what they deserve. I fell into the category of people, who were grateful, to be working, in show business, and didn’t give a damn, what happened, because it was all temporary. Break a leg!