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April 02, 2004
‘West Wing’ set takes extra back to days in Israeli army
By Arayna Thomas
The Desert Sun
April 2, 2004
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"Who wants to be a movie star?" came a cry into the crowded holding tent at midday Wednesday, and nearly 200 weary hands shot into the air. "OK, then get back on set."
"Will there be a wrap party?" I asked, but no answer came. I shrugged it off and went back to my post at "the border of Israel and the Gaza Strip."
Why had 200 people come out to the Salton Sea to stand under the hot desert sun for 10 hours, dressed in army gear, carrying 20- pound weapons and having orders shouted at them?
Was it to find discipline in a foreign military’s boot camp?
No. It was because of the lure of Hollywood.
My day as an extra in the filming of an episode of "The West Wing" began at 2 a.m. I drove to Indio and found the bus that would take me and the other actors-for-the-day to the set.
From there, we rode for more than an hour to see firsthand how the Warner Bros. hit television show organizes its shoots.
There was already a buzz in the air about "getting discovered." I was surrounded by hundreds of actors hoping to make it big, with a few tag-along bored businessmen who just wanted to get out of the office and be in pictures.
First stop was wardrobe. I was fitted in Israeli army fatigues, while others were being transformed into Palestinian guards, civilians and schoolchildren.
Next were props. I was assigned an M-16 assault rifle, a revolver and an army belt. Clipping that around my hips was definitely a new sensation.
No time for breakfast, as they wanted us on the set NOW. We worked all morning, patrolling, guarding and looking as tough as possible.
Palestinian shopkeepers and market-goers did their thing. Principal characters from the show came in for various dialogue scenes and were gone.
As the day wore on, I found myself back in Israel, standing on an army base in the middle of the Negev -- after all, I had served as a volunteer for Israel back in 1993, and had worn this same uniform and gone to target practice with this same rifle (which, just between you and me, is outdated. Maybe that’s why they’re using them here as props.)
There were three actors who had actually served in the Israeli army, and we all agreed that this set looked quite authentic.
With only five more working hours to go, here we were, sitting in our only refuge, being told to get back on set. As I pulled myself back to my feet, I looked around and saw a subtle excitement in the faces of my comrades. I didn’t care any more about the wrap party; I had a higher cause.
They were all asking when the show would air, when we could sit in our own living rooms and watch it. Then it struck me -- this was going be aired on TV. This was going to be made into an intelligible story that people all across America would watch and enjoy. And that was why we were all out there, in the sun, in army fatigues. We weren’t just watching anymore. We were part of the show.
Posted by Jo at April 2, 2004 08:04 AM