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I Got Cast in Sex and the City
“I’ve tricked my body into thinking its younger,” Samantha says and then produces a copy of Suzanne Somers’ Breakthrough: Eight Steps to Wellness from somewhere in her enormous magenta bag. Waving it around to show the other women, she explains how she plans to live forever with the sex drive of a teenage boy (or something, I couldn’t hear all the dialogue), through a daily cocktail of pills. Poor sclerotic Miranda, wearing a green strapless jumpshort ensemble with scalloped leg openings and a gold belt, gets off a crack about her thighs: “I’ve tricked my body into thinking its thinner,” she says. “Spanx.”
In the middle of this, Charlotte’s comely nanny bounds in to grab the children, who are trespassing on mommy’s girl time. Nanny Erin, played by British actress Alice Eve, jogs in and out of the scene quickly, and for the rest of the time the women make jokes about how floppy her boobs are. “Erin Go-Braless,” they call her. (Before filming, Eve did a few practice runs for director Michael Patrick King to make sure they’d achieved the proper buoyancy.) The plot point hardly needs to be spoken: Will Charlotte’s adoring hubby, Harry, be tempted to cheat with the hot young babysitter?
And while we’re at it, what are all those paparazzi photos of Samantha in a wedding dress? Now that menopause is far off, there’s still plenty of time for child-rearing with Smith Jerrod.
And what will Carrie do when she fills up that giant walk-in shoe closet Big got her? Can their relationship survive the move to a storage space in New Jersey?
I have answers to none of these questions, in part because by the end of the day, after I had my steak lunch at 6 p.m., I didn’t care enough to ask. The bus back to Manhattan left Glen Cove at 7:30. On the ride home, I sat next to the actor who played Mr. Bobbles, the mentally and physically handicapped homeless man who was the center of a multi-episode arc on the final season of HBO’s The Wire. He put on a pair of white cotton gloves to keep his hands warm on the bus. Then he took out his cellphone and showed me a picture of himself in character, with dirt smeared all over his cheeks and his mouth frozen open in a palsied grimace.
“That was a really great part,” he said, pointing with one gloved finger. “This other stuff just pays the bills.”
Rebecca Dana is a culture correspondent for The Daily Beast. A former editor and reporter for the Wall Street Journal, she has also written for the New York Times, the New York Observer, Rolling Stone and Slate, among other publications.
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Rebecca Dana is a senior correspondent for The Daily Beast. A former editor and reporter for the Wall Street Journal, she has also written for the New York Times, the New York Observer, Rolling Stone and Slate, among other publications.
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Rebecca Dana is a senior correspondent for The Daily Beast. A former editor and reporter for the Wall Street Journal, she has also written for the New York Times, the New York Observer, Rolling Stone and Slate, among other publications.
katiewon
UGG is right.
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
GreybirdK
My my, aren't we snarky? Because nothing say journalistic integrity like not showing up for work and trashing your temp employer, not to mention putting your nose in the air over all the people who might enjoy a little mindless fluff in the middle of a recession. I liked the series, skipped the first movie. Get yourself a nice pair of Manolos with your earnings and enjoy.
numonk
The Wire is the best show to ever grace any form of television.
Sex and the City... if it was any reflection of reality, i'd be celibate or gay by now.
randomcommenter
Bubbles, not Mr. Bobbles. He was a great character, a million times better than any S&C role. And it is so sad you couldn't even get his name straight.
KateAurthur
It's actually Mr. Bobbles. Bubbles was, of course, a great character. And a separate character. Google it.
DeborahBeale
What the hell was the point of that? What a juvenile and disappointing piece. How to project your own nasty expectations on a vibrant opportunity, being on a film set. Snarky and juvenile and just bad writing.
theBUSHdemocrat
So, what you're really trying to say is that a day in the life as an extra is the worst day of your life because you weren't fed until late and were paid to sit around and wait with wannabe actors.
Not quite sure a) why you are acting surprised and b) what Sex and the City has to do with any of this?
robjh1
I was an extra on some of the episodes back in the day. Some were good some were bad, but they were all long!
kristyglick
This sounds like a very run-of-the-mill day of filming to me. What's the problem?
bristolcities
You commentators don't seem to realize that Rebecca Dana f#@king rules, okay?! Defend SATC if you must, IF you must, but leave her out of it.
Bripe21
I thought this was a really funny article and I do extra work as a living. What she said is all true, and that's why doing extra work is fun. You never know what you're going to get on any given project. I don't think this article casts too bad a light on the work. So for all you haters out there...SHHHEEEUUT UP
Genni2002
What is the problem and why all the whinging? It is mindless work..walking across a window arm in arm with someone...sounds about right. I don't understand what you thought you were going to be doing? Writing a symphony? Solving the problem of world hunger? Creating a syn fuel that is better, cheaper and proprietary? What?
ellekay
Yep, pretty normal experience as far as being an extra goes.
Love your blog post though- for those of us who would have given a right arm to be in on the film and experience it... if there were parts for one-armed gay wedding attendees- appreciate you going through it and sharing.
Snark on.
MSLSD-
After the second moronic comment about Republicans I stopped reading. What does it have to do with the story? Rebecca should forget journalism and stick to acting.
esquiver
"Inchoate" does not mean what you think it means.
BettySchaefer
You're only half right abut "inchaote."
She is using it to say half-formed or half-baked, and to be fair, it is defined as -
1. not yet completed or fully developed; rudimentary.
2. just begun; incipient.
3. not organized; lacking order: an inchoate mass of ideas on the subject.
CBWookie
Hmm....
So, you got to be in a movie that is guaranteed to be in theaters. Got to see how a movie gets made. Got a nice story you can brag to your friends about. Got paid and fed for your day of work and then got paid (I'm assuming) to write this article.
It seems to me that the only negative of this experience is the fact that you're not showing up for work tomorrow.
Movies are easy to watch and hard to make. Now you know.
marietheinformed
Holla....I hope every actor she worked with, and even those who didn't make the cut get a chance to see this article. What's the old phrase in showbusiness? "You'll never work in this town again!" Hope that journalism thing works out....(for a long time.)
Thank you.
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