in honor of the 10th anniversary of this film, made here in ann arbor, i’m reposting this blog from my past.
ever had one of those days? the ones that take a funny turn?
i picked up a movie from the library recently, ‘the five year engagement,’ and when i saw the cover, i remembered that i had almost been in it. by accident. really.
it was the summer and i’d walked downtown to meet my date. when i got to one of my favorite local townie spots where we’d planned to meet, i noticed there was a barricade, some roadie types, a sound system and all sorts of equipment set up outside. having lived here for more than a decade, i knew there was always a festival, parade or protest popping up, so none of this surprised me. it could easily have been for a street dance, a car show, or god knows what else, so i simply stepped over and around everything, and walked on in.
once inside, i looked around, it was a bit dark and hazy and didn’t see him there yet, so i sat down at an open table. while waiting, i noticed that something about the place looked different than it normally did, but i couldn’t quite put my finger on it. i then got a phone call from my date, asking where i was, and when i told him i was already where we’d planned to meet, he said he’d arrived, but couldn’t get in because it was closed off to the public, as they were shooting a movie there. and he wondered how i had gotten in.
ah – that’s when it all made sense and it dawned on me. i had unwittingly walked right into the middle of a movie set. i thought it was awfully dark for being the daytime, and things were moved around, and i heard someone yelling out something, but figured it was a bartender, and thought maybe they’d redone the place, trying to go a bit more upscale. i loved it just the way it had been though, a cozy, casual, old-school, welcoming place. all this went through my mind quickly and then i remembered, they’d been shooting in various locations around town for some weeks now, but it never occurred to me that i had crashed their party. i was suddenly an accidental extra.
i’m sure the only reason they let me on set in the first place, was because i’d ambled on into it like i was supposed to be there, (and i thought i was), so no one stopped me. and i was dressed like a townie, (since i was a real one), so i fit right in.
we laughed out loud on each end of the phone as i shared my revelation, and i casually got up and walked off the set and into the daylight once more, as if i was walking to my personal production trailer, only to find my date waiting in another location. where they were NOT in the middle of shooting a scene for a movie.
when i picked up the dvd at the library, a part of me somehow hoped to see myself in that scene, but not surprisingly, i was nowhere to be found, other than somewhere on the cutting room floor, perhaps.
—
“acting in’Star Wars’ I felt like a raisin in a giant fruit salad,
and I didn’t even know who the cantaloupes were.”
– Mark Hamill
image credits: universal studios, old town bar
Great story, Beth! It reminds me of how I ended up in a local Harley-Davidson dealer’s commercial, even though I ride a Yamaha.
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ha, that is hilarious!
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How funny 🙂 Something great to remember.
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oh, I still do )
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What an almost adventure. 😍
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I guess it was an adventure in itself )
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That’s very true
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What a great story!!
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Thanks!
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that’s a delightful story, Beth; I’ve not seen the film but the male lead looks like the star of ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ —
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He does look similar-
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What could have been. ;(
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Hollywood almost called,but got disconnected
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Una historia que importa.
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❤️
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What a fun adventure for you and a fun story for us! Dare we ask how the date went???
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It was a good one, we didn’t work out as a romantic couple but have stayed friends ever since
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The lack of capital letters in your writing is charming :O)
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I like the way they look on a page, more poetic somehow
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Absolutely. Makes the affect of your prose egoless, highlights the rhythms more.
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Thank you
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You definitely belong, Beth, then and now.
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Thanks!
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Classic Beth moment! 😂. (I say that as if I’ve known you your entire life. But I suspect I am right!)
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You are accurate as usual
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Maybe you should’ve stayed inside to see if you could indeed have made it into the movie.
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I should have
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Ha! I should send you my poem “The Actress and the Grunion.”
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Please do!
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How should I do that?
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can you send it on here?
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The Actress and the Grunion
She was an actress
and even though I heard Wales in her voice
she was as American as French-fries.
I’d seen her in a play where
she bested the writing to make me laugh.
I lived two doors downhill to the ocean.
She was washing a car at the curb,
her damp roundness catching my breath.
As we talked of spawning tides she agreed to
come to my window when the time was right and
we would walk to the sea for the show.
The wet sand sucks at our feet and the ocean’s ribald tongue
licks the backs of our knees as we wait, expectancy held
like a mouthful of Pinot noir.
When they come they are millions.
Wriggling, the replace all of the water with themselves.
She gives a small cry and catches herself in my arms as the
grunion dance around our thighs in a living singing soup.
I should kiss her while the windows are
wide open and the world is perfect.
But the fish do it for us, everything, every passionate thing.
After the tide we join hands to walk back up the hill,
exhausted in their afterglow.
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The line breaks are screwed up, but you get the general idea.
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That’s wonderful! Hank you for sharing!
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Thank
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My pleasure.
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“The Accidental Extra.” Great story.
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❤️
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A fun post. Love the Mark Hamill quote.
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It’s a good one –
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That’s too funny!
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)))
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I was a ‘Dog Wrangler’ on the film ‘Firehouse Dog’ (think that was its’ name). The only part of me that was shown was my belly, I was holding a Chihuahua at the star dog’s funeral. Next to a turkey and his wrangler.
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The best!
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What a great story.
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A close miss and fun)
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Such a shame you didn’t get a film credit. You could have added it to your CV.
(I think you call that a Résumé)
Best wishes, Pete.
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Yes!
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You should have told your date to saunter in like he owned the place and maybe you never would have been kicked out!
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An excellent point and next time I’ll do that!
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What an experience! You will never forget!
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Right!)
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Damn! That could have been your 15 minutes!!
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so close!)
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Great story! I can just see you sitting at the table now… So cute
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thanks!
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You might have been a star! Great story.
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so very close!)
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That’s an awesome story, Beth. I might rent the movie, just in case….😁
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look for a bar scene and someone relaxing in a booth waiting for a date
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Your date didn’t know he was with a celebrity. My mom was an extra when a movie was filmed near our hometown. The funniest part was watching our Chevy Impala going down the street in one of the scenes.
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that’s right! how fun for your mom and your car. after i posted this, one of my co-workers told me her husband played a priest in the same movie. )
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Fun story! You might have been a star:)
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So close!
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You could have been discovered that day! What a fun experience!
Blessings!
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This is a great story, Beth! Almost there to stardom. 🙂
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So close
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Sigh! But you have great memories and stories. 🙂
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that’s right!
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🙂
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You ‘almost’ make me want to see that….. 😉🤔
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it’s not a great movie, but cute -)
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Awe that sucks but it makes for a funny story. It was a good movie too.
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Right!
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