When I submitted myself to be an extra on a job titled "Justin Timberlake commercial project", I included a note to casting saying "Pick me! Pick me!". I thought it would either be obnoxious or funny/cute. Turns out casting loved it, and they told me so when they called me on Wednesday to say I booked! I don't normally submit myself to do extra/background work (because it SUCKS), but as I told my agent, "There isn't much I wouldn't do for JT". This was my chance to meet my #1 on "the list". Yes, he's above Pitt, Clooney, and all the others. Granted, if he weren't so talented, the sex appeal would be much lower. But that's NOT the case, since he sings, dances, writes, acts, and most importantly to me, is a comedic ham!
I arrived at my 5:30 call time on Thursday evening at the Standard hotel in downtown LA. There were about 100 extras (male and female) who were all very attractive. We go through our wardrobe options with the stylists, and I had to choose my 2nd or 3rd fave since they nixed the color red (I had a cute French Connection dress I still haven't worn months after purchasing). I did, however, get to wear my new BCBG straw fedora, which I thought may catch JT's eye. He's into those fedoras and hats, you know. After we were all dressed and ready to go, the assistant directors told us to line up in a huge semi-circle so the director could come down and approve final wardrobe selections. At this point, my friend Susanna and I had already gathered from word on set that JT would be directing this commercial, which was for his new 901 Tequila brand. So immediately, I started to get butterflies and told Susanna to catch me if I passed out when he arrived. A few minutes later, I spotted him, although he was very incognito and most of the extras had no clue he was even there. My eagle eye immediately zoned in on his signature thick black "nerd" frames, nappy beard, black Lakers hat, black t-shirt and baggy jeans, and white sneakers. He was NOT looking sexy on this particular day. I quickly got over that issue, though.
A few of his people then started plucking certain girls out of the group, and I was one of them. JT was standing a bit away from the group, behind some hotel foliage. They told us to get our belongings because we would be going upstairs to hair/makeup, and that we would be featured extras. It's always good to be bumped up to "featured" because it could mean extra money and camera time. When we got to our holding room, I heard JT's voice in the next room talking. I'm telling you, I was a hawk when it came to him! Then, he peeks his head into our room (I died!) and says "Hi, how are you all doing?" to our group of approx. 8 girls. We each mumbled our replies, and then he was gone again. I was beside myself. I wanted to run over and hug him and tell him how exciting this was for me, but of course I refrained.
The night took a slight downward turn when the Assistant directors (AD) asked who was SAG versus non-union. They couldn't use the non-union girls because of SAG rules, so I was quickly demoted. :( Bummer. I tried to shake it off and enjoy myself anyway. A few minutes later, all the other extras came to the holding room and we were on our way to the rooftop, which was the shooting location for the night. We did feel pretty special being ushered through the Standard lobby and upstairs, because none of the hotel guests were allowed beyond the lobby (they probably heard through the grapevine that JT was in the building).
We started shooting around 8:30 or 9PM, and I started out really excited and with high energy. As the night went on, it became very cold on the roof with the winds blowing, and everyone started losing energy quickly. I was always aware of where JT was on set, and a few times was within a foot of him. It was exciting, but the longer you sit around on a set, the colder it becomes, the hungrier you get, these things lose their luster. About halfway through the night, I was over it. Especially when Jessica Biel arrived on set around 2AM and stayed about an hour. She didn't have much interaction with my boy (ha) while there, because he was in "director" mode. He was very serious, focused, and intense. Not the JT I love, but I still respected him in this more powerful/serious role. I preferred to think he just didn't want JBiel there, but that's probably just my wishful thinking. She seemed very nice, and very naturally pretty despite no makeup and boring attire. She hugged the principle actors (a group of handsome guys in dapper suits who were the main focus of the the shoot) before leaving, which made me start to wonder who they were. Yesterday I did a bit of research and discovered that one of the guys is her brother. So, perhaps the other guys were her friends or her brother's friends? When she left, I was happier again. ha.
JT came out. He was showing the guys how crazy/nerdy he wanted them to dance, and it was a pretty funny moment. At one point, I kicked off my heels and didn't realize they were in the way of the moving camera. JT says "Whose shoes are these?" and I very timidly raised my hand and said "Mine, I'm sorry!" He picked them up and gave them to me, and said "That's ok, just hold them." I should've told him to spank me. ;)
Everyone had gathered around us to watch this scene, so I felt like I got my moment to shine on set. :) The other girl was gorgeous, but not an actress, so I felt my comedic chops helped give me an edge over her hot body (ha!). And most importantly, I laughed and danced a LOT during these takes and it helped to wake me up and WARM me up on this cold late night! When it was over, I felt I had done more than my share of work, and got NO credit since the camera was focused on the dudes and we were only there to help them act. So my tired, cold, bitter ass went to relax in one of the amazing water beds by the pool (see red round beds in photo). These beds were great. I managed to hide out here for a couple of hours, and then the entire set moved to where I was for the last scenes of the night. As I quietly lay there, everyone worked around me and JT ended up RIGHT beside my bed. I could watch him work as I lay there, under a blanket given to me by the President of 901 Tequila. It was interesting watching JT pace around in deep thought, constantly rubbing his head and beard. He tugged at that nappy beard ALL night long. In fact, it was his single most obvious character trait. I wish I had made more of an effort at this point to meet the important guys, since they were all around me. I think Trace, JT's best friend, may have been there but still can't figure out if it was him. If so, he looked completely different in person. But he sat right beside me, and had I known, I would have totally bonded with JT's "bestie".
This is the point in the evening where I wish I had had more energy and wasn't freezing to my bones, because they were using featured extras and I probably could have gotten my butt in the final scene. However, I continued to lie there until they released all the non-union extras. So I got to go home at 5AM, woo hoo! However, JT was still shooting final scenes and I had no opportunity to introduce myself and claim my love. If I had butted myself into that last scene, I would have been there when they wrapped and chances would have been much better to talk to him. Ah well, maybe we shall meet again. Plus, he was so serious and focused (and likely stressed) that it wouldn't have been the best circumstances to meet. I want to meet again when he's happy and light and free!
I do believe I made an impression on set, which is all I could do as an extra. I was the upbeat, smiley, "dancy" girl in the short shorts, high heels, and fedora. As he watches us a million times during the editing of the final commercial, I hope he says "That blonde in the hat was really cute and can DANCE! Let's call her up and hit the town!" Hey, a girl can dream...
