"You're Putting People's Lives In Danger," She Screamed

There were only a few Fridays left on Parental Control, and Walter, our location’s guy, finally had a slow enough workday, he could go grab lunch. He still had a lot of work to do closing out his paperwork on all of the houses he scouted this season, so we opted to go someplace close to eat instead of my usual Friday grubbery, The Whaler. We settled on Barney’s Beanery on the Promenade with its New York Time’s length-ed menu.

We were immediately seated at the outdoor patio facing the impending action, which was about to unfold in front of us. Our waitress flew right into to take our drink orders. We ordered a pair of Pabst Blue Ribbons (because even without the blue ribbon, it’d still be Pabst… HA!). Before she had a chance to leave the table to bring us our order, the most alarming phrase was heard:

You’re putting people’s lives in danger!

Everyone on the patio craned their necks around trying to see where the “dangerous” warning came from. There was an elderly woman screaming as a homeless (or just completely insane) guy who was throwing shit into the tree right next to the Beanery’s Patio.

What the hell are you doing?! You’re putting people’s lives in danger!

Again. What the hell was the guy doing? Was he throwing a brick into the tree, leaving the woman afraid it would crack someone in the skull leaking their brain matter all over the sidewalk? Nothing that intense. The guy continued to launch a water bottle into the tree until a basketball-size bees’ nest crashed down and exploded on the sidewalk, unleashing an army, nay, a horde of bees into the air.

I can see why a lunatic woman might yell “You are putting people’s lives in danger;” a lot of people are allergic to bee stings. We could have had a record setting number of people going into anaphylactic shock right in front of us. Or if I played “Shout” we could have had a record number of people doing the “gator” from Animal House.

A few people looked nervous about the bees, but for the most part, they flew around a bit and then dissipated to regions beyond.

But that’s not the best part.

The woman continued to scream. And then something awesome happened. This portly passerby walked up the rabid homeless man and asked him why he would do something like that and “put people in danger.” The degenerate’s only response was to grab the innocent passerby by the collar of his shirt. The passerby said calmly to the loon, “Let go of my shirt” several times before the homeless man took it upon himself to take a swing at the nice man.

Next thing we all knew, they were rolling around right there on the Promenade like two sixth graders fighting after school. And they went at it for a good ten minutes before any kind of authority figure showed up to break it up.

First on the scene was a Promenade security guard, and thank god, because someone with a “badge” needed to be there to keep on eye on things until the real police arrived.

Shortly after the real police showed up, they pried the two wrestlers apart. The now enraged homeless man made what could be interpreted as an aggressive move toward the cop, so the cop did the most rationale thing he could think of: zap the fucker with a taser. And wouldn’t you know it, that crazy old man just wouldn’t go down. The officer had to offer up a second helping of juice before the bearded madman finally went down.

The cops then drug him to the other side of the sidewalk for no apparent reason except to make it harder for the patrons of Barney’s to watch the man get handcuffed. Fuckin’ pigs.

I mean, could that lunch get any better? I say only if the waitress had brought up our beers instead of going to call 911. Oh well.

I watch the stars as they fall from the sky… I held a falling star, and it wept for me… Dying…

I Might Actually Have To Go See The New Twilight

My thirteen year old cousin, Daniela, lives in Italy.  Recently she had the pleasure of being an extra in the upcoming sequel to the Twilight movie, New Moon.  She wrote a piece (an extremely long piece) about her experience and I found it very interesting.  She really wants to become an actress.  I posted her piece here for you all to check it out.  Sit back and relax, grab some peanuts and some carrot juice, maybe a beer, this may take a while (this is longer than anything I've written to date), and enjoy the tale of Daniela's day on set.

Everything started in Denmark… (yeah… pretty strange…)

Mom was reading the magazine “Io Donna” and she read an article on the sequel of Twilight: “New Moon”, that was going to be set in Tuscany.  Since I love acting and since I absolutely LOVE Robert Pattinson (main character Edward Cullen) she asked me if I wanted to go and see the filming and I said yes!!! (Who doesn’t want to see Robert Pattinson?!?!?)

I was so excited!! But, like in all Italian stuff, there wasn’t a lot of information, in fact they didn’t say when they were filming.  So I/Mom made a lot of phone calls to the Town Hall  of Montepulciano to get some information.  The people were very nice and they told me that it would have been better to do the casting to have more of a chance to see the actors than to go just as a fan…As the security would be very tight, and all access to the town banned, if you did not have a set pass.  

So we got other information and me and Mom went down to Montepulciano at end April to do the casting.  We stayed there for 2 days but it would of taken longer if it wasn’t for Maurizio Cusano, the director of the casting, who was staying in our same hotel!! (what a coincidence!!)

So the  morning of the second day of the casting we met Maurizio at breakfast.  The first day 1600 girls showed up, the most ever in history, we think. So we smartly went the 2^nd day.  We talked a lot at breakfast and he said to meet him at the casting at 9.00 am that morning so he would let us pass in front of all the other people.. (ha ha).  

The casting wasn’t as I expected.. I don’t know how to explain.. it was quick and boring.  We went there, we signed many forms and authorizations, as I am a minor, and a parent has to be with me at all times, we handed in my resume, stating I am bilingual, I took 2 photos with a number in front of me, and that’s all.

After that we drove 5 hours  back to Milan waiting for the CALL…  (this is what got the casting director’s interest, that we drove 5 hours to get there…in fact he took another girl who was staying at the hotel with her Mom, as she too drove 5 hours from the South of Italy to get there, and get this, they are a Polish family living in Italy, so two Polish blooded girls got in together—must be divine intervention of our Polish relatives, they prayed a lot in the olden days, Mom says.)

The days passed the phone didn’t ring..

But on Wednesday, 13^th of May my phone rang and the number was a 0578, that means it’ calling from Montepulciano… yeah!  I was soooo excited!! I was screaming!! I had to calm dawn before answering.  I picked up the phone… they said that I was in the movie!!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Than they asked to talk to Mom… and while she was talking I was jumping up and down, crying, laughing, rolling my self on the floor…  I even talked to the casting director, he said he kept his promise, which he did.  Mom sent him  a thank you case of wine…

I was so happy! The filming started on the 27^th  of May, but we had to send the forms to Rome for Monday,  17^th… so we had to rush and fill out all the forms, authorizations from the doctor, the school and from my parents as, I’m a minor.  I was a complete chaos that weekend.  But on Monday we sent all the forms to Rome by courier with written on it PRIORITY in CAPITAL LETTERS.  And in fact it arrived the same day at 2.00 pm.

Mom and I left for Tuscany on the 25^th, even if the filming started on the 27^th because it’s a six hour drive and you get really tired and your butt gets squared.  We had so much luggage you can’t imagine…as we were staying for a week.  The trunk was completely full and even the back seats were full! Thank goodness we were only in two people!

The trip was horrible!!  We got lost near Piacenza because there was an accident on the highway and 8 km  of traffic back up… we couldn’t get on the other side of the Po river  because the bridge had actually fallen down,  (this is Italy, bridges fall down, and stay down) and we had to go all the way around Piacenza to get an other bridge… we lost an hour.  Finally we got on the other side of the river and we went down to the town of Reggio Emilia BUT then we got a flat tire  so we had to go out Reggio and look for a mechanic.  There we lost an other hour…  So we thought it was destiny not to get there, thank goodness we arrived one day ahead of time, to be able to catch our breath.

After those terrible moments we finally arrived in Montepulciano at 10.30 pm!!!  I couldn’t take it any more!  We didn’t stay in a hotel but in a apartment so the owner came at 10.30 to show us the house.  It was a huge, beautiful house with a very big garden an a huge terrace.  Thank goodness we had one day to recover, otherwise I would of slept on the set!

We were able to walk around the town the day after, and see what was going on, where to go, and we got the phone call that day, for the next day, we had to be on the set at 7 am!  The life of a star is tough!  Others had to be there at 4 am to wait in line and give their names, details, etc,, can you imagine, but since I am a minor, we got off easier.

Finally the day of the filming came! I was so excited!!  At the casting I met the Polish girl that they also selected,  so I met with her on set and we had really fun together!

The first day I started filming at 7.00 am!!  First we were sent to the costume room, and  we got our red wool capes and then we went on set. We walked out of the cast holding area, and that was neat each time we did it, as there were hundreds of screaming young girls, taking our picture and asking us if we saw HIM  (meaning Robert).  It felt like being on the red carpet at the Oscars.  Bouncers and security everywhere….holding back the flood of girls.

There was at least 500 people not counting the directors & co… in the main square.  It was so hot, almost 30 degrees and we were wearing wool capes!!! ☼☼☼

That day we waited and waited under the sun but the director forgot about the minors so we didn’t film that day… (very sad).  But fun anyway, just to be on the set, as we got to watch them film some scenes with Bella, the main girl character.  A lot of waiting around, and then the director says, Silence!, Lets Roll! Action!  And then you hope he waits to say Cut, as you have to do the same scene 20 times.  And a scene lasts about 30 seconds. So all of this preparation, hours of waiting, for a short few minutes of filming.

Then that evening  Dad arrived by train, and then  the following day we started filming at 2 pm, which was better,  and until 4.30 pm we didn’t shoot, but we saw a lot of actors!!

Finally they called us, and they placed us on the set, and we started filming! WOW!!  I didn’t do too much, but sit where they told us and be silent, (however, it was VERY EXCITING), but it was still a big thing for me, as we were surrounded on the set by the huge cast and all of the movie technicians and the directors!!  They shot the same scene several times, in the morning and in the evening, to have different lighting effects, but we don’t know if the scene I am in will be selected or not, till we see the film.  While we were filming we had to keep our hoods on and just look at the saint’s statue and wave our hands and smile alot.

When we finished the directors took a lot of photos and we even did a video that, the directors said, will go on the extras of the DVD. Wow!!  Sort of like the end of the film GREASE, where everyone is on the set and says goodbye.  That was the best experience of my whole life!!

But the adventure doesn’t finish now!!

The next day a friend of mine came to visit me even if I wasn’t filming any more but Bella, the main character, was filming right down my street so we went to see her…

We ran all around Montepulciano to see the filming and finally we stopped right in front of her hotel and we got squished in the barriers waiting to see the star.  I had ready my camera and my notebook for autographs and then she came out of the hotel!!  Everybody was screaming and then she started signing autographs…. And SHE SIGNED MINE TOO!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!  OMG I was shocked when I saw it!!! That page is worth a fortune!!

I have to thank Mr Cusano for this great experience, he is a really nice guy and a good friend, he even came to our house one night, to hide out from all of the people bothering him, as he was always being asked if he still needed any extras on the set each day.

Since there was the weekend and then there was the 2^nd of June long weekend holiday, we decided to stay for a few couple of days more.  We visited a lot of beautiful Tuscan cities like Siena, Cortona, (famous now for the setting of the book, Under the Tuscan sun, by Frances May) San Gimignano, Pienza, etc.  Tuscany is a wonderful, magical place.  Living history. The cities look as they did in olden times; and the landscape is just sooo beautiful, rolling hills, tall cypress trees, vineyards, cheesemakers, farms, etc.

Then after 3 lovely days of touring, it was time to pack up and go home on  June 1^st.  But there was one little problem, the luggage!  Now there were 3 of us, and we had even more luggage! Mom and Dad sat up front with more space, I think, while I (the star) was squished in the back with no space for legs of rest of body!! I had to do 5 hours drive with the computer on my lap, with food under my feet and praying that the big suitcase wouldn’t fall on me!! Awful!  But worth it!  Finally, we arrived home without a flat tire or without getting lost in the countryside!!

This was one of the most beautiful experiences in my entire life and I hope to do another film someday!  There should be a good possibility, as I am now on a casting list, and have this experience of one film.  And now I have done a theatre piece in June, at then end of my acting class,  a humorous version of Cinderella.  And I will attend an acting camp in the USA in July.  So I can compare movie making to theatre.

It was very interesting to see the movie set from the inside, and how the entire filming process really works, and now I can understand better why movies have such huge costs and take such a long time to make.  And why they need so many extras and doubles for the main characters.  And yes, I met and got autographs from the doubles, they have become famous in their own right.

The film comes out on 17 November, so mark your calendars, to go and see it. 

Oh, I forgot to say, for those who do not know, it’s a nice love story between two teenagers…..he is an  18 year old immortal “good” vampire and she is  a 17 year old girl, who is “normal”.  But they are different, he lived his 18 years for 180 times, and she lived her 17 years for the first time.

There are 2 more films after this one……Called Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. 

The books are better. (I say… but you’ll be the judge..)

I love trying to make conversation when I could care less of what you are doing...