HOLLYWOOD!! (according to Geri)

It's 5 o'clock on Sunday morning and my iPhone alarm just went off. A few seconds later Geri's did the same. What the Hell?!!
Then I remembered...Hollywood awaits.

On a rainy, ugly, dismal Saturday a few weeks ago my wife showed up at a local college for an "Open Call" for extras in the soon-to-be production by Netflix of "House of Cards", starring Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey. Since then we both forgot about it as there were about 500 hopefuls who showed up to change careers and get discovered.

So the phone rings the other day and someone tells Geri she's been selected to play a Supreme Court Justice's wife, appearing at an Inaugural Ball.

I'm down here at the Baltimore War Memorial at 6:30am with 200 guys wearing tuxedos and women in black gowns. It looks like a State Funeral! Some of these "Wannabees" aren't half bad looking.

We're sitting in a "Holding Pen" with other "Stars" waiting for the word on the scene production. Haven't seen Kevin Spacey yet.

They just called her number to line up for the scene. What the Hell, she's a Supreme Court Judge's wife and they call her by number! Where's her agent?

Dammit, they won't let me go into the production area. So I wait here like an expectant father for the results. I've got jeans and a sweatshirt on, maybe I can sneak in as a stagehand.

Hey, are they gonna pay for parking???

They just announced that this might be a 10-hour day. They've got a "picky" Director. I'm leaving! Will update later. p.s. Cost me 7 bucks because they hadn't given out parking coupons yet!

I picked up Meryl Streep (er Geri) at 6pm. That's 12 hours of work on the movie. The Director took about 25 takes and from 9:30am to 3pm he wouldn't let the extras even go to the bathroom! Of course, Kevin Spacey could go to the potty whenever he wanted. The ballroom was resplendent with glorious decorations and the food tables were stocked with heavy hors d'oeuvres that the extras were told not to eat (even though in the movie they were invited to dinner).

So this was a 13-hour day of "Hurry Up and Wait" and you'd better look excited even though you've done the same thing 25 times. Want to be a Hollywood Star? Check with Geri first!!!