Playing a Homeless Person

Apparently, in 2015, I had submitted myself for a role of a homeless person in a short film. I forgot all about it when I didn't hear back from the casting people. Mid 2016, I got a call from a local number to my new home. I was surprised. I hardly knew anyone locally. It was the director of the short film! He wanted to see if I was still available and interested in playing the part. WHAT? Which role? Who? How much? Ahhhh, ok! Yeah, sure, I'd love to! We were going to film in the next town from me. When last did I work so close from home? This was exciting! The guy seemed cool. He had his credentials in the bottom of the confirmation email he sent me, so I looked him up. He has acted and is currently in some well known shows. He also has a lot of shorts on YouTube. I was looking forward to meeting him. 

The shoot was on a Saturday. I put on my most raggedy ass outfit...well, Calvin's old clothes that I'd been pestering him to throw away. They came in handy! I took with me a spare set of clothes just in case.  I left the house 30 minutes before call time and was still early. The location was in a shopping center of some kind with a gym and all kinds of things. I found parking and as I was trying to figure out where to go next, this guy in a very tiny car pulls up and stares at me as he drives past...and continues to do so until he parks. I;m thinking to myself, gees, does he mind? Forgetting what I looked like. This reminds me of a time, way back when when I auditioned to play a mama in a commercial in Johannesburg, South Africa. I had black liner on my lips and a very interesting outfit. The audition was in Sandton City Mall. I must have been sticking out like a sore thumb from the looks I got. Especially considering, I went and forgot to pay before I drove off and then had to walk around looking for a pay station. Someone tried it with me and honked and yelled at me. I middle fingered his *ss and realized when I saw a reflection of myself that the middle finger didn't really go with my look. That'll teach them haha!

Anyway, back to the shoot! I had forgotten about my homeless outfit when the dude was looking at me until he got out of his car and I thought, daaayyuuumm! He must be going where I'm going! He stopped me and asked. By then I had figured out where we were going. Which also explained why he seemed to be following me with his car. He was trying to park close to the venue. We walked in together like...

Playing a homeless person 

Dude looked the best out of all of us 'homeless people'. He told us he plays homeless people a lot, as a result he has wardrobe just for his homeless roles. This was small set with just a few characters. There were three homeless people and a few other roles. The acting was great. There was a dude who looked just like Morgan Freeman. He was such a good actor, he would spit when he was talking to this other guy out of being so emotional. Of course, I didn't envy the guy being rained on.They had tons of snacks for us. I had so many nuts, we even took some home, this other girl and I. 

Speaking of which, this other girl told me that her sister and her mom had been to South Africa. They even stayed for a few months and traveled nationally. Before I knew it, she had called her sister and put me on the phone with her, on speaker. The call went on for what seemed like forever because I, in general don't appreciate people talking on speaker phone in public. It was like, everyone had to be a part of the conversation, like it or not. The call was nice, the sister could still remember some Xhosa words, which was adorable. The sister told me she would get my number from the other girl and we should all hang out. 

The other girl was boasting about all the roles she had done, which weren't that different from the ones I've done, so I was that annoying person, who was like, me too! Me too! OMG me too! Haha. She even took out her phone and looked up some YouTube videos of what she had done. As she did, I asked her if she has a YouTube channel, because, OMG I have one too! We should subscribe on each other's channel, haha! I can't stand boasters and one uppers! By the way, if you click on YouTube videos above, it will take you to my channel. Please check it out. She doesn't have a channel, she wanted to show me a video of Pharrell Williams' that she in. Guess what? I did a Pharrell Williams music video too for the song Freedom! She ended up telling me that we have so much in common, she tried to befriend me. We sat and talked. She showed me photos of her trip that she won from Let's Make a Deal. Guess what? I won stuff of that show too! Hahahah! I crack up just thinking about it! I did let her tell me everything she wanted to though. She seemed like she needed to. She did try to overshadow me during filming a few times, where she would wait until they say 'action!', then she would stand right in front of me and block the camera from seeing me. 

Having worked in as many sets as she seems to have, you would think that she would know by now that they can edit you out of the entire thing if they want. During filming, I was giving her a shoulder rub. I guess because she seemed uptight. The director liked that and told me to continue doing that when we roll. Between takes, she told me that she was getting emotional from my massage. She complimented me and asked me if it was normal to feel like crying during a massage. She told me that she had never gotten a massage in her life before. Not even from boyfriends. She proceeded to tell me that she was going to book me for a massage afterwards. She asked if I could do it for $20. Er, what? I thought you said you loved it?  Like, have you seen my car? It's a gas guzzler, just driving to your house is gonna cost me that much. Where my pay at for the massage, boo? We finally 'agreed' on a price but, I don't think the price was right because I lost eye contact from her, when we were agreeing on that price. By then, I didn't even want to do it anymore. 

We took pictures with the directors just before we left. The director also mentioned that he might need one homeless lady for one more day but he would let us know which one. This girl was trying to get booked so much, she told the director she would do whatever he wants for that part. I was just trying to take a picture with the director's friend. He was so adorable and cool and zen. He's friends with Jackie Chan and all these other Asian actors. So, I asked him nicely and ...

Male Crush Monday (MCM)

We changed outfits halfway through the shoot for a different scene, hence my different outfit, if you could even tell cos everything is the same color. 

After we left, the girl added me on Social Media. Feel free to add me on Instagram, just click here. Thanks.

The homeless guy added me as well. He's such cool people, I loved working with him. He is a Vietnam Vet (AKA was in the Vietnamese war back in the day). 

After work, Calvin met me up next door for Mediterranean food. He brought a friend. After lunch, we headed back home. Nice day, overall.