The Charismatic Luke

Luke -- my youngest -- has thought for some time that he'd like to be an actor. But the problem is, he only sees it in movies, on TV -- he doesn't know what it's really like. So I hatched the brainstorm of taking him to work with me one day, to let him see how grueling a twelve-hour shooting day really is -- see how the actors have to do it again, and again, and again, and again.



So that's what I did. I got him up at four-thirty with me and took him to work.

My plan was a disaster; I should have known better. He was enthralled with the process, from the opening shot to the martini (the traditional name for the last shot of the day), right in the thick of things, so close to the action he was barely out of frame.

But I should explain about Luke -- he's pure energy and charisma, and gorgeous to boot. The crew ate him up. At one point, about ten hours into the day, we were shooting a scene in the bathroom -- really close quarters -- and he decided he couldn't see well enough. So he ran to the sound mixer and procured a headset, then elbowed his way between the director and the exectutive producer at video village to watch the scene.

I remarked to the director shortly thereafter, "Look at this kid, ten hours on stage, and he thinks he's part of the crew!"
"He is part of the crew," he replied.

In the end, Lukie's resolve to be an actor was not deflected, it was reinforced. So, the Second Assistant Director (who is in charge of wrangling all the actors on the show -- from the stars to the extras) procured an application for a work permit for Luke, which we filled out and sent to school to be signed. It seems that, in an upcoming episode, he'll be hired as an extra, for at least one day, from which he'll get a SAG (screen actors' guild) voucher. Once he has three vouchers, he be eligible to join the actor's guild.

And then -- ho boy, watch out.