My friend, Justin Baldoni, has quite an impressive acting resume, starring in such shows as Heroes, Everwood, CSI, and The Bold and the Beautiful. He recently completed filming Minkow, a movie set for release later this year. Other actors in the movie include James Caan, Mark Hamil, Talia Shire, Melissa Ordway (Justin’s GF), and Elizabeth Rohm. In Minkow, Justin plays the lead role in the real-life story of a young entrepreneur who achieves fortune and fame, while still a teenager, by creating a publicly traded carpet company, ZZZZ Best, one of the most elaborate Ponzi schemes in history.

I first met Justin a few years ago when he was a keynote speaker at an annual Baha’i youth conference I used to help organize on the east coast. I soon found him to be one of the most eloquent, caring, intelligent, humorous and talented people I have ever met. Since moving to LA, Justin has quickly become one of my closest friends. One day, he asked if I wanted to play an “extra” in his movie. You know, those people you always see in the background of scenes in a movie; the nameless, faceless characters that give extra depth and legitimacy to the scene setting. I said, “I would love to” and with that, my movie career started (and so far, ended).

I arrived on the set (a Holiday Inn Hotel) early in the morning. I was to play the role of a business person attending a conference at the hotel (such a stretch, I know). My scenes took place against a 1990’s backdrop, so, I first went through wardrobe to be transported back into time. I had to choose from an array of clothes, all of which were too ugly to want to try on. Thank God the 90’s is over (though I hear it’s making a comeback). I did find this one familiar-looking polka dot dress that I liked, but another “extra” had beat me to it and had already picked that dress for herself. The wardrobe assistant confirmed that the dress of my desire was in fact the dress Julia Roberts had worn in Pretty Woman during the famous polo match scene. Amazing how clothes get recycled in Hollywood.

Anyway, since I couldn’t find anything else I liked, the wardrobe assistant picked my clothes for me–an extremely too-colorful blouse, a black skirt coming below my knees (boo) and pointy heels (ouch). Once I got dressed, I went through hair and makeup which was by far the best part of the day, except that somehow, when finished, I ended up with a topsy torvey hairdo. OMG.  You remember those commercials in the 90’s, don’t you? Here are some pics of the finished product. It is a downright shame that this is my look in the only film I will ever play in.

 

I spent most of the day in the “holding room” you see in the two pics immediately above, just waiting around for our scenes to be shot. Every now and then, they would bring us out to shoot various scenes, none of which included speaking parts. We just shot the same scenes over and over, from different vantage points. I swear, acting may be the hardest job on the planet and I didn’t even have any lines to memorize. One scene in particular proved to be extra tedious and frustrating. I and my “date” were seated at a cozy table in the hotel restaurant, behind the main actors in the scene. Because of our placement, we were in camera view most of the time. The director asked that when cameras were rolling, that we act very lovey-dovey with each other. Before each take and while cameras were not recording us, my co-actor “date” was a chatterbox. The second the director called “action,” he would freeze up and had absolutely nothing to talk about. Our voices were not being recorded, so, it didn’t matter what we talked about; it was just imperative that we pretend to be having an intimate conversation. I was so frustrated. To help him out (as if I am the pro) I finally asked him during one take to tell me the story he had just finished telling me right before cameras started rolling. His response, “but you already heard that story, why would you want to hear it again.” Gee, not too bright this guy. So, I had to carry our scene 😉 Anyway, 15 hours later, it was a wrap. I got paid $120 for my work.

For a trailer of the movie, click here.