I have always been a 'behind the scenes' person. I did not want to be out front in anything, even when I played the piano. I was a "fade into the background" person. When Karmyn got in to the entertainment business as an actress and singer, I wanted to learn everything I could about the industry so I could promote her. I even worked for her agent in Dallas at different times and learned a lot about the talent agency process. Thank you, Ivett Stone, for showing me the ropes!
After Karmyn moved to LA, I stayed friends with a lot of the industry people in Dallas and one casting director friend called me about being an extra in a new pilot Jerry Bruckheimer was filming in Dallas. She said, "This will be one you would love to see being filmed and being an extra, you can see it up close and personal and get paid. Sounded good to me.
A few years before, I would have said no. I remember the first time Karmyn was on the set of Walker, Texas Ranger, I went with her. I was hanging out in the holding room with all the extras while Karmyn was on set and the casting director came in and said, "Would you let us use your car in a scene? We will pay you." Well, I had visions of Dukes of Hazzard car scenes and Odis had just bought me a new car. I said, "No, if my car gets a scratch on it, my husband will kill me." She promised that would not happen and asked me three additional times, but I kept saying no. I also didn't want to be an extra because cameras have a tendency to make you look larger than you are and I was already fatter than I wanted to be and sure didn't want my bod plastered on some TV screen. As I learned more about the business, I found out, you do not see extras. They usually are blurred and you never know who they are. So now, with that knowledge, I told my friend, "Sure."
I got up early that morning and drove to Dallas for an early morning call time. We did the scene in the West End. I was a vendor and when they discovered there was a bomb in the marketplace; they rushed all of us out. Jesse Metcalfe, a cutie patooty, was a star for the pilot. They placed me in a scene where he had to move me along to get me out of danger and he said, "Mam, you must hurry," and touched my arm to help me go faster. There were 3 or 4 young girls who had oohed and ahhed over him and said, "No fair. Why do you get to be the one he touches?" I laughed and said, "Old age has its perks." The director knew I would stay "in character," an industry term I had learned, and not have a meltdown being close to him.
After they finished filming the scene came the big blow-up. Jerry Bruckheimer paid 4 of us extras 3 hours overtime so we could watch the pyrotechnics of blowing up the scene. It was amazing. It looked like they blew it to smithereens, but when the smoke cleared, it had thrown only a few apples and oranges on the dirt floor. In my next life, I want to be on the crew for these kinds of movies. It was fun and the experience of a lifetime. That is the extent of my short-lived movie career, and now you know the rest of the story! lol
Copyright ©2020 Suzie Tyler
#Blow-up #JerryBruckheimer #WestEnd #Dallas
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