Law and Order: CI

A few days ago I had the awesome experience of doing background work on a T.V. show. It was for Law and Order: Criminal Intent. My least favorite of the three Law and Order shows, but unfortunately I'm not exactly in a position to pick and choose yet. I eagerly accepted though, hoping for a positive experience, and that's exactly what I got!

It was way out in Queens, a section called Broad Channel. It's on the water, so it was nice, but extremely cold this time of year. And of course it had to be an exterior scene, so I got to freeze all day! But that aside, it really was a neat experience.

You get paid a flat fee for up to ten hours when you do extra work. There's overtime if you go beyond ten. My whole day was less then eight hours, so I got off pretty easy in that aspect. The first two hours were just sitting in the holding room, while people were getting into wardrobe and stuff. I was in a small group of bystanders that had to bring their own stuff and just run it by the costume designer for approval. Other people played officers, ME's, CSU techs, etc. After everyone was set, we made our way out to the location.

We shot two scenes. Each was about 90 seconds long, and it took over five hours. So, this was definitely a good indication of the type of patience that's required to be a film or television actor.

The scene involved Jeff Goldblum who joined the cast this season. I have to admit I did get a little starstruck for a few minutes. It was hard to believe I was working with an actor that I've been watching since I was a little kid. I had to focus though, I found myself watching him and not the scene a few times. I was really impressed with him, for a couple of reasons. One: he seemed very appreciative of everyone on set and went out of his way to show that and interact with them (myself included!). This took real effort on his part considering that between the actors and crew there were probably 100 people there. But he keep doing it. Between takes he'd joke around with people, sing, dance, etc. The other thing I liked was that despite the fact that it was painfully cold, he wasn't running inside between takes, or asking for additional breaks or anything. He toughed it out with the rest of us. I'm not sure that always happens, and I know the stars aren't always as friendly as he was.

As far as the actual scene, I play a resident of a neighborhood where someone was murdered. I'm in a group of people at the yellow police line, trying to see what's going on. Goldblum's character cuts through the line, so I think I'll get some camera time. Not sure when the episode airs yet, but I'll keep everyone posted!