8:05-My son wakes me up. My wife lets me sleep in on days I have to work so I can get my beauty sleep, but judging from the guy staring back in the mirror I should’ve got eight more hours.
8:40-I’m leaving ten minutes later that I intended because today I’m bringing my wife and my boy to the studio with me and Nate’s on his own time. I live about thirty miles south of L.A. so I always have to give myself plenty of time to get there in case of traffic.
9:40-I make it to the studio early for my 10:00 call. I apologize to my wife for being unpleasant on the drive over fearing I wouldn’t be on time.
9:45-Kim forgives me.
9:50-We get to my trailor and I immediately begin to shave off nine days of facial growth while Kim throws in a video of The Wiggles for Nate. I’m usually in a room that has a t.v., v.c.r., and radio (which never gets any reception), but today my trailor has a d.v.d. player too!
9:50:36-I wish I’d brought d.v.d.s.
10:05-A knock on the door tells me they’re ready for me in the hair and make-up trailor. I’ve still got about five more minutes of facial hair to get rid of (I should’ve used a razor!).
10:10-I get to hair and make-up. I like it in their trailor. Music is always blaring; there’s dancing and singing. Today however the music is loud but the feeling is not so festive. I know they’re all exhausted from work but is something else going on? I start speculating. Is the show getting cancelled maybe…?
10:40-After getting a haircut and my face put on I feel pretty good. I head back to my trailor. I write a thank you note to Tommy Schlamme who’s an advising producer for Invasion. My big brother is a huge fan of West Wing and Tommy signed a copy of Season 2 and the Sportsnight d.v.d. for him. Added to that, he got Aaron Sorkin to sign them as well. Really really classy. They made an awesome belated Christmas present from my second big bro and I.
10:50-Kim and I take Nate to Tommy’s office to drop off the thank you note, then I take her on a tour of the Invasion set (we’ve got about a half hour to kill before I’m needed at the set).
11:00- Kim is really excited to see the jungle set where a lot of the waterside stuff is shot along with Russel’s house and the ranger station. This is her first time on a studio lot. Nate is indifferent. He’s enjoying throwing sticks, leaves, and dirt into the water but they’re filling it right now with fresh water and I think they probably want to keep it clean (maybe somebody’s going for a swim tonight).
I’ve got to get him out of here before we get thrown out.
11:25-They’re ready for me on set. We get in a transportation van and they take us through the E.R. and Gilmore Girls sets (which I point out to Kim) to Stage 9 where we have a green screen set up for c.g. scenes.
11:30-I get the sense that we are late because it looks like they are ready to shoot and I still need to get in my amputation rig. I’m getting rushed along but everyone there is in really good spirits. My fears about bringing Kim and Nate to the set are totally assuaged because they’re being taken care of so well. “Can I get you a couple of chairs?” “Do you want to sit over by the monitors so you can see the scene?” “Do you want anything to drink or eat?” I LOVE THE PEOPLE I WORK WITH!
11:31-Kim watches as I’m being dressed in the prosthetic rig or “torture gear” as I lovingly refer to it. We figure out our game plan. When they start shooting she’ll take Nate outside and bring him back in between takes. A two-and-a-half year old doesn’t get the “inside voice” concept yet.
11:35-Bill strolls over in classic form. I wonder what it must be like to be the man of the hour every hour of your life? I say, “Hey Bill did you miss me?” He replies, “You know, daddy.” This is the extent of our patter because he’s just caught sight of Nate. You’ve got to see this guy around kids, especially little boys! All that tough guy exterior goes right out the window.
11:40-They’ve finished setting up the lights and the shot. The stand-ins step out and Bill and I step in. Its a shot in the sheriff’s cruiser. I’m at the wheel and Underlay wonders aloud shotgun. The green screen is in the background and will be replaced in post-production by a lush everglade landscape. During the scene a couple of grips jostle the car so that it’ll look like the car is moving. Its kind of a funny sight. Its called “poor man’s process”.
11:50-Inside the car we shoot the breeze in between takes. Bill sneeks some quick glances at Nate now and then. “Cute kid.” I know.
11:55-We finish shooting Bill and get out while they turn the car around to shoot my stuff against the greenscreen. I take Nate over to the craft services cart which has a bunch of snackables and we load up on fruit, crackers, and boiled eggs.
12:00-Kim marvels that so many people are required to do so little. I remind her that this is a short scene with very little going on technically. If we were on location on the beach as we were a couple of weeks ago she’d see some movie magic.
12:05-We’re back in the cruiser and finishing up the scene. I play my usual shananigans and Bill threatens to kill me. This is how we joke around. I don’t think you’de get it unless you saw it but its pretty fun. I signed my Christmas card to Bill, “Stan Laurel”.
12:25-We’re finished. It was a really quick scene that didn’t require any rehearsal since it was a pretty straightforward scene and we didn’t have any blocking. I say goodbye to everbody and Kim and I head to the transpo van to get back to the trailor. I sign out and we’re done.
12:35-Stopping by the hair and make-up trailor to get my make-up off I run into Eddie and Tyler. They want to meet my boy (they met Kim at the premier party). I fetch Nate and they’re both really cute with him. I LOVE THE PEOPLE I WORK WITH!
12:50-We leave the studio and swing by the Taco Bell across the street to refuel for the grueling drive home. It was a great day.
