In an attempt to not steal too much screen time from any Hollywood actor shooting here in Barcelona, I recently followed up my critically-acclaimed role of Man in Bathroom #2 with the similarly-succinct role of Crew Member in the upcoming thriller Grand Piano. I had one day of filming. I remember it like it was yesterday (because I wrote it all down at the time):

October 18, 2012
6am – Alarm goes off. I should be exhausted but the adrenaline is already kicking in. I’ve got one line and I’m totally off book: “Good luck, Tom!”. This is gonna be a piece of cake.

7am – After a quick cab ride to the Teatre Lliure on Montjuic, I’m on set. Now where’s the catering table…

7:20am – One of the ADs has lead us onto the stage of the theater where the Director, Eugenio Mira, talks us through the one scene we’ll be shooting today. A long uncut one-take tracking shot. This is the penultimate day of shooting for the film. They’ve saved one of the most complicated for last.

7:24am – Oh, hello! It took me a few minutes to realize that Elijah Wood is sitting right next to me.

8am – In wardrobe, they’ve got my Crew Member outfit lied out. Black pants, black top. I look sharp.

8:20am – Hair and makeup doesn’t take very long. I do get a beard trim, which is always nice. But I unfortunately entered the trailer talking a little too loud. At least that’s what one of the makeup girls suggests by her urgent pantomime while secretly pointing at Elijah who is receiving a relaxing facial massage in the corner.

8:40am – Back at catering. Nice sandwiches.

9am – On set again, ready to get down to work. The AD gives us a pep talk, explaining how complicated today is going to be and how important our cooperation and patience will be. Sounds like the exact same speech I give my actors on tech rehearsal day. There are three principal actors on set today – Elijah Wood, Alex Winter, and Don McManus – five actors with one line each (myself included), and about 40 extras carrying musical instruments who are all dressed up like members of an orchestra. We actors have our own chairs in a sweet little chill-out area near the monitors so we can watch the filming with the Director when we’re not being used. The extras have to stand on set.

9:20am – While the direction team meticulously places and choreographs the extras around the set, the small-time actors compare notes about agencies and experience. I couldn’t care less. Principal actors are all in hiding. And it turns out that most of the extras are actually musicians. Cool.

10am – Bocata time!

10:30am – Everybody into positions! We’re gonna try this mother!

10:40am – My God musicians are difficult to work with. They’re constantly goofing off, making jokes, or messing around with their instruments when they’re not supposed to. A challenge to wrangle back into position, it’s like working with children.

11am – Elijah decides that my line should come a little earlier in the sequence so we work out the new timing. Just the two of us. The Director is cool with what we come up with and thanks me for my sharp timing. My smile is large.

11:15am – One of the extras just came up to me and asked, “Hey, weren’t you in Red Lights?” I have no idea how he recognized me. I was on screen for about 10 seconds.

11:50am – Huge change. One of the other bit-parters is not working out. A Dutch guy, his accent and timing are slowing things down and the Director, though very patient, is frustrated. The Director decides to swap my role with the Dutch guy. Instead of three words, I’ve now got five complete sentences! Score!

12:10pm – I got excited and was over acting on that last take. Nobody told me. I just knew. Time to tone it down.

1:20pm – Each take keeps getting technically better and better. If something goes wrong at the beginning, we just start over. There’s no need to reset everything first. But if something goes wrong at the end, there is a huge moan from everyone and it takes at least five minutes to set up for another take.

2pm – Lunch!

2:25pm – Sitting at the “actors’ table”. Three principal actors at one end, five glorified extras at the other. To even the sides out, I sit with the big guns and quickly find myself in a conversation with Elijah, Don, and Alex about Game of Thrones. Very cool guys. Don particularly seems like a nice guy with tons of knowledge that I would like to hang out with. Alex is friendly but a bit more entrenched in the industry. And Elijah, while very kind and sincere, has trouble maintaining eye contact and tends to cut people off, which spurs all sorts of justifications in my mind. Not fair, I know. But the man is Frodo! How could anyone remain “normal” after that?

3:20pm – Back from lunch, the Director is editing something on his laptop. He has apparently been filming snippets for a personal side project between each take of this film. A documentary/homage to AC/DC, or something like that? On the most complicated day of shooting! This guy is good. I was wondering why he was playing the ukelele this morning.

4:20pm – Take 18. Best one yet! I would print that one. But I’m not in charge. We go for another.

4:35pm – Between takes, the Director came up to me with a curious look and asked me if I had auditioned for his first film back in 2004. I had. “I never forget a face”. How awesome is that!

4:45pm – Take 20. This is one long sequence.

5pm – Check the gate!

5:01pm – The gate is clean! And Elijah has finished his work on this film. Cheering, hugs, tears, thank-yous, speeches, good-byes. I filmed a bit of the celebration but feel weird posting it so I won’t. Elijah made a very sweet speech and apparently really enjoyed working on this film and with the Director. I feel like a bit of an intruder, having only worked this one day on a two-month project. But happy to have been part of it even if just for the one day.

All in all, a very positive experience. I loved the intricate methodology that the traveling sequence required. Reminded me of filming a lipdub. I don’t know much about the rest of the film. It was very hush-hush. But the few things that I did hear sounded very interesting. And I didn’t get to work with John Cusack, which was a shame. But the film was filled with friendly and talented people. It should come out sometime in 2013. Check it out.