July 4th

It’s nearly the 4th of July, which is that awkward day of the year for us Brits in the USA, when we smile and then lower our heads and hide somewhere and drink tea and pretend we get what the fuss is all about.

This sums up how we feel about ‘Independence Day’, performed most excellently, and, of course, very tongue in cheek, by the brilliant Stephen Merchant. (Contains British swearing, naturally!) 😉

‘Mouse of Yards’

Yesterday I did a whole looooonnnnggggg day’s filming for ‘House of Cards’, the super dooper Netflix TV show.

But I can’t talk about it, since I had to sign a confidentiality agreement.

So, instead I am going to talk about being an extra on ‘Mouse of Yards’.

1. Being an extra is a long process. It ain’t glamorous. You either sit and stand around for a long, long time, thinking about things that you haven’t thought about in ages, or talking to your co-extras about other stuff you’ve done/been in.

2. As an extra, you eat a lot. Because when you’re not sitting around or standing, you take a break and therefore take advantage of the food that is available. The ‘Mouse of Yards’ food offering was top-notch and plentiful!

3. I did not see ‘Devin Macey’, sadly as he was not on set, but there were two big scenes with ‘Bobbin Bright’, which was super awesome. Plus, her character is called ‘Claire’ so sometimes I thought the director was talking to me, which he obviously wasn’t!

Devin and Bobbin

4. A dude from ‘Breaking Bad’ was in the cast and he rocked it.

5. There was a British woman in the cast who reads my blog! Coolio!

6. When, as an extra, you get the chance to react to something in the scene, you give it your all! Cue over the top facial expressions and mumblings. Note to extras: don’t make noise. Ever.

7. AmericanvsBritish fact: The British ‘House of Cards’ TV show, on which this American ‘Mouse of Yards’ show is based, was a 1990 political thriller television drama serial by the BBC in four episodes, set after the end of Margaret Thatcher’s tenure as Prime Minister in the UK. It was televised from 18 November to 9 December 1990, and was adapted by Andrew Davies from a novel written by Michael Dobbs, a former Chief of Staff at Conservative Party headquarters.

8. I spent a lot of time counting my Six Degrees of Separation to various famous people through standing next to ‘Bobbin Bright’ and the dude from Breaking Bad. I managed Sean Penn, Madonna, Tom Hanks, Brian Cranston and, er, Mel Smith (The Princess Bride) 😉

9. I had to wear a very conservative outfit, which included ‘pantyhose’. I can conclude that I don’t like pantyhose.

10. When the scenes were playing out, I had to pinch myself that I was there watching it for real – it was like live TV. It was unreal, and very, very cool.

The End.