Hollis and Rae Part I

Last night I went in for my “costume fitting” for the TV pilot Hollis and Rae. And by “costume fitting” I mean “bring in your best clothes so we can judge you for being the classless slob that you are”. We got an email telling us to bring two or three options for each scene, one being a rehearsal dinner and the other a wedding. Oh, and it is being filmed at the chichi Ford Plantation. Yes, that Ford family.

When I first got the call asking me to be an extra, I immediately turned to my proven method of calming down. I made a list. It was called “What to Bring During Filming”. In addition to the typical (for me) things like snacks, magazines, paper and pen, I boldly wrote down “Flask of Courage”. Then I commenced to spending the rest of the day chewing on my lip, with my brow stuck in furrow-ville, sighing.

When I stepped up to be an extra, I imagined they would dress us up and make us look movie star gorgeous. As soon as I found out I had to wear my own clothes, I looked at my closet during lunch and knew I’d be power shopping that evening. Let’s face it; there are some problems that can be solved just by throwing money at them, and this was one of them. I can rationalize just about anything, and the possibility of appearing on national TV requires that you do everything possible to look hot. It is like dressing for an event where you know you’ll see an ex, except this takes care of all exes with one shot. Besides, I can always return the two dresses and two pairs of shoes if they don’t get selected.

I have few dressy clothes – my lifestyle gives me little opportunity to practice being a classy, society babe. I grew up in Florida. We don’t do formal. And I have a history of dysfunction whenever I have to find something to wear to a wedding, because I don’t want to embarrass myself or the people I care about. The subtleties of special occasion outfitting befuddle me – daytime versus evening weddings, invitations to parties that say “dressy casual”, etc. Besides, there might be boys there. Cute new boys to flirt with and fantasize about. I can think of few situations besides weddings that cause me to stress out to seriously unbelievable and un-called for levels. And this one is going to be on TV.

For the fitting, in transient bag-lady fashion, I schlepped down Drayton Street with a borrowed garment bag of my best fancy clothes and a wheeled suitcase full of shoes. The “base camp” is a bunch of trailers idling in a vacant, dirt parking lot, with lots of shady characters and a disinterested security guard. Oh, and one other extra, who looked exactly, specifically, like Jack Johnson. Yum.

The wardrobe people look at my clothes and proclaim most of them to be a little casual, until we arrive at my panic shopping spree items. They loves them. Dresses, shoes – I’m in two scenes and now I’m $200 bucks in the hole already. I have to change in a trailer, then come back and (flashing all of the joggers in Forsyth Park) I dig around for the matching shoes in my suitcase, which is on the ground. They take a photo, question why I don’t have any nice jewelry, and then it’s back to the trailer to change into the other dress. One of the ladies starts pawing through my suitcase, pulls out a handbag, and exclaims “Steve Madden! We love him!” Then after another Polaroid, she says, “Thanks for bringing such great stuff” and sends me to the hair and makeup trailer. I swell up with pride that my clothes were complimented – just as I craved the approval of my cd selection from those dirty-cute rocker boys working in record shops back in college.

The hair and makeup people are confused as to why I’m there. “Just fix your hair and makeup yourself, like you have it now”. You mean greasy? End of the day hair flattened against my skull and mascara rings under my eyes? I was hoping to enjoy this as one time where I can pare down my morning routine and let someone else worry about it. Do my own hair and makeup? Okay, I will. But you’ll be sorry.

Much thanks to Victoria for sleuthing out some more information about Hollis and Rae. Gah. You’d think the whole thing was about me and I’m not just an extra, a seat-filler in the background, I’m so nervous. It’s only a TV pilot, and hasn’t been picked up yet. Sometimes they don’t even air pilots. But Hollis and Rae is being produced by Steven Bochco (NYPD Blues), and directed by Callie Khouri (Thelma & Louise). It is already in the IMDB, and was mentioned in the March 17th Entertainment Weekly (p. 20). Frazzle! Frazzle!

So, I’ll be back in a few days. Filming is Thursday, Friday and Monday. Worry not, Natasha, I promise to spill the details. Wish me luck!