The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

A couple of years ago, back in New Orleans, I was searching through Craiglsist. I always look through Craigslist when in a new city for various things like odd jobs, acting gigs, free stuff etc. and I had known that the acting scene was pretty big in New Orleans so I was searching for acting gigs. I didn't have an agency that I worked out of in New Orleans like I did in California and New York, so when I saw an ad for open auditions for a LIONS GATE FILM, I was excited. I picked up the phone, dialed the number and set an appointment for the following day.

The following day I walked into the building off of Magazine St. with my head shots and resume in hand and went in. As I walked down the halls of the agency, I was excited to see that this company handled rather big productions and when I met the gentleman I was supposed to read for, I was excited to learn that this film was starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchette.

After reading my little 5 line script the gentleman let me know that they would give me a call. A few afternoons later, I was sitting in the living room of my good buddies shotgun home Uptown when I received a call telling me that they could use me for some background work and that the pay would be $18.97 per hour. I was pumped. A few days later, I was scheduled to go to get fit for my costume so a buncha buddies of mine got totally inebriated and me and my friend Todd drove out to the warehouse where I would get fit for my costume. As I walked into the building I was greeted by this quite friendly and flamboyant young man with a tape measure who directed me to a giant section the size of most K-Marts full of 1930s gangster looking suits and hats.

After trying on a few hats the guy settled on a grey suit for me. It was one of those oldschool suits not unlike what would have been worn in Dick Tracy or a 1930's gangster film. I was fitted for the outfit, all the while laughing and joking with my friend Todd and talking like I was Al Capone. Todd snapped a photograph with his cellphone and we were out. 3 months later I would show up at the set. The set was at a restaurant called THE RAMOULADE on Bourbon St.

It was really fun being on the set of this film. I had been on the sets of many other films and TV shows in New York, but this one was different, everyone was in vintage clothing and the building was very preserved from the past so it was almost like walking through a time warp in to a pretend land of fun and imagination. No sooner did I enter the background actors waiting area did a casting person come running out. "We need, you, you and you" she said quickly, "me?" I had no time to be nervous so I abruptly followed. We arrived into a room that was set up like a restaurant with beautiful chandeliers and cameras all over the place. The woman set my right in front of the Director of "Seven" Dave Ficher.

They handed me a mug of beer and told me to look directly into the camera and pretend that there was a girl on the other side and I was hitting on her. AS I did so, lights came on and right next to me Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt met in an embrace. After a couple of takes the Director told me "good job" and I was able to say hello to Brad and then we moved on to another scene where they set us down at a table, me and another you guy and we smoked on cigarettes and drank beer and ate while we talked about nonsense and Brad and Cate ate at a table across the way. What fun this was, this was the first movie set that I had worked on in New Orleans and it hooked me up with an agency which in turn hooked me up with other jobs in New Orleans and even California in the future.

Time went on and we did Mardi Gras, I did the TV show K-VILLE and a lot of other stuff and recently, I was sitting with my roommate and good friend from New Orleans and him and his girlfriend were watching "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". I hadn't watched the movie (I never go looking for myself, I've done a lot of cheesy stuff and it has lost its thrill) and they called me in the room "Tilly,Tilly its you". Apparently they had cut me out of the big scene when Brad and Cate meet up, but while they are eating, the camera sure did pan to me 4-5 times. Right in between them while they are eating in the background, there I am sitting smoking cigs in my suit with a big grin on my face. Ha! How fun it was to watch that and be brought back to those really fun moments in my life!

Now I am home and living simply again, but I cant help but look back and be thankful for the adventures that I have had the last few years. I am sure that again I will have adventures, but for now I will just sit back and listen to the music that I helped create with my friends and music that I found in my travels and look out for the films and shows that I worked on. Since I have been back I have already seen myself on TV 3 times as well. Ha Ha. Life is funny, while I didn't do anything SUPER in the Entertainment world, I was still living in the moment and wouldn't trade it for the world!

1 love

tilly