Film's '2nd team' out of the limelight, and enjoying the show
Locals fill holes in 'Empire Falls' production as stand-ins, extras
Copyright © 2003 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
SKOWHEGAN — The action stops and the shout goes up: "Second team!
Like the rest of the stand-ins, Walter Crockett heads for the set of the HBO movie "Empire Falls," parts of which were being filmed Tuesday in downtown Skowhegan.
A Skowhegan resident and a business development manager for Oxford Networks in Buckfield, Crockett got the job as a stand-in for Dennis Farina, who plays Janine Roby's boyfriend, Walter Comeau, also known as the Silver Fox.
As a stand-in, Crockett is called to sit, stand or walk where the actor would be in an upcoming scene while lighting crews and cameramen adjust the set. His job is to free the actor to learn his lines or work on other movie-related matters.
Crockett said he sometimes works a 10-hour day and spends most of that time waiting to be called. On Tuesday, he said, production people began using him for background work as well, like walking down the street as a passer-by while filming was going on inside the Empire Grill, which until a few weeks ago was Patrick's Pizza Joint.
"It's been a lot of fun and I've learned a lot more about how a movie is made," Crockett said. Tuesday's filming was the last in Skowhegan for several weeks.
In fact, Crockett said he got a little bit of real acting action on Monday when Farina was not back on the set and the actor playing opposite him, Jeffrey DeMunn (playing Horace), said his lines.
"They were supposed to be playing gin and we started talking," Crockett said. "(DeMunn) said, 'Where are we starting?' so I said the lines. I know the words in that part of the script."
Crockett was not the only local person on the set Tuesday. Stands-ins and extras from central Maine could be found huddled beneath almost any overhang on Water Street on Tuesday, hiding from the rain.
Bonnie Duryea of Fairfield said she had worked as a waitress at the Holiday Inn for 10 years when she was called out of the blue to work as "the older waitress" inside the Empire Grill, the restaurant managed by the main character, Miles Roby, played by Ed Harris.
"I waited on Helen Hunt and Paul Newman and didn't even know who they were," Duryea said. "Other people in the film kept saying I should fill out a form. I didn't even audition and two days later they called me."
Duryea said she does not even know if hers is a speaking part; she took the job on blind faith.
Kimberly Coro, a special education teacher at Madison Area Memorial High School, said she is a stand-in for actress Theresa Russell of Los Angeles, who plays Charlene, a waitress in the diner.
"It's a long day, but very exciting," said Coro, who looks almost exactly like Russell except for hair color.
Karen LaCasse of Skowhegan, an extra with an non-speaking part, had to walk down the sidewalk in the pouring rain with a handful of other extras and pretend it was sunny.
But LaCasse got payback for her troubles when she used a break to go inside Karen's Kloset to try on a dress for a wedding.
"I came out of the dressing room twirling around to show Sherry (the clerk) the dress and there was Aidan Quinn standing there," LaCasse said with a grin. "I asked him, 'How do I look?' and he said, 'You look great.' He was in there buying a pair of pants. It was funny."
Regina Gagnon, a computer drafting and design technician from Skowhegan, was driving a 1996 Toyota Tercel for background in the film.
"Life can be so strange," Gagnon said. "I was robbed on St. Patrick's Day of everything except the couch, and this week I'm in a movie. I think I'm on the upswing."
Lori Johnson, a teacher from Skowhegan, said she was having a grand time walking in the rain despite the fact she is several months pregnant, and Linda Rairdon, who works at Redington-Fairview General Hospital in Skowhegan, was soaked through to the skin but had a "wonderful time."
Valerie Knaut of Winslow, another rain walker, agreed it was great experience, and Kira Turnage of Fairfield, a student at the University of Southern Maine and stand-in for a teenage Tick, played by Danielle Panabaker, is already planning a future in films.
"I am going to school to do this," Turnage said.
Carol Jowdry, a retired teacher from Augusta, said she was having a great time. During part of the heavy rain, she said herself and another extra with white hair were inside the restaurant as customers.
"I'm the token white head," Jowdry said with a grin. "They keep hollering 'Where's the old couple?' I'm in my mid-50s."
Darla L. Pickett — 474-9534, Ext. 343
dpickett@centralmaine.com