Episode 12: Timer

My darling friends.

Oh, I belong to Timer.

He changed my face. You're a fine one Timer. You've got me walking through the gates of space. I keep remembering indoors that I used to walk through. Baby, I'm not trying to talk you down. But I could walk through them doors onto a pleasure ground. It was sweet and funny. A pleasure ground.

— Laura Nyro, 1968

Don't worry mom, I haven't joined the army, I'm not a soldier. But I play one on TV. You see, I finally got the part of a soldier instead of a camera boy by landing another role in an upcoming movie. This time in the sequel to the 2002 version of the H.G. Wells classic, The Time Machine. This one is called The Time Machine: Morlocks. It won't be a theatrical release, but rather a Sci-Fi Channel (SyFy) special/straight to DVD release.

My experience on this film was totally different from the last one. For starters, my scene was shot inside of a studio, so I had no trailer, but I was issued my very own room. Since I had speaking lines, I also got to experience my first script reading. For the folks who don't know, a script reading is when the entire cast gathers in a room and read aloud their parts from the actual script. Okay, okay, I know — pretty self-explanatory, but Sarah had to inform me of this. I had no idea that actors did this before filming a movie. It was really fascinating and strange reading your lines aloud in a round table format with everyone listening. And If it wasn't my second film experience, I would have been terrified to do this. Instead, when they got to my part, I just whizzed right through it like a pro.

And speaking of the cast, I guess I should mention that the film features some pretty big named actors from sci-fi domain, including David Hewlett (Stargate SG-1), who was a very funny and friendly gentleman, veteran actor Robert Picardo (Star Trek: Voyager, Deep Space Nine), Ray Fearon (Harry Potter), Jim Fyfe (Dark Shadows — I worship this show!), and Christina Cole (Casino Royale, Doctor Who), who, on our initial point of meeting, I stupidly uttered the dreadful phrase one should never say to an actor upon meeting them on a set — "have we met some where before?" My friend Bunks would have wanted to be a fly on the wall for this moment. You see, at the time of meeting her, I didn't realize she was an English actor who'd appeared in a dozen or so well-known films. So when my photographic memory kicked in, I just assumed that I'd met her somewhere in real life, not on television so to speak. Yeah, real dumb. She just looked at me with a funny smirk and said rather politely, "Um...I don't think so." After the script reading, later that night I recalled the story to Sarah and we Google stalked her on IMDB, and instantly recognized her from our all time favorite Sci-fi series, Doctor Who, that I just so happen to bring along to Europe. Anyway, this script reading went on for hours. As we read along, the Director of the film, Englishman Matt Codd, would interject every now and again, asking us our opinion on keeping or deleting any awkward or funny lines in the script.

Another big difference from my last film, is that I landed a rather tiny role this time with about 4 speaking lines. I play a scared soldier, and literally that's the name of my character. He, of course, gets eaten up at the end of the movie by a huge Morlock. And like Sarah said, I might be becoming type casted like a scream queen, but in my case, a scream king. Oh, and believe it or not, I was originally considered for the role of one of the main characters. The director liked me for the part but when he sent my tape to the New York office, they thought it would be best to go with a bigger name. Damn! Would have been cool to play the main character. Nevertheless, Sarah reminded me that winning the tiny role was something to be proud of. Just hope it doesn't get cut. Ha! Me and a couple of my fellow actors with tiny roles in this film were chatting it up at the wrap party and cringing at the possibility of having our parts cut from the film. That kind of stuff apparently happens often in the business and you have no control of it. So keep your fingers crossed for me.

Having been casted in such a tiny role brings to mind another big difference between both films. This time I got only one day of shooting. And my scene didn't involve any of the big actors to act with. So this unfortunately eliminated the cast camaraderie I experienced with ReKill. It felt really strange after having so many days on ReKill and just one day on Morlocks, but it was still a day to remember. You see, originally the casting director told me that although I'd be playing the part of a soldier, there would be no need for me to cut my hair. And that on the day of shooting, they'd just slick it down with a lot of thick hair grease to hide it under the helmet. This was relieving because I'd only got a tiny role and didn't think it was worth cutting my hair for it. Ha! Look at me getting all prima donna-esque after starring in just one film. Had this been my first, I would have cut my hair with no questions ask.

Anyway, when I got to the set all made up like a Real American Hero, Jimmy "Jimbo" Oxford, the assistant director, took one look at my long hippie hair and said, "cut that hair or go home, kid!" I just looked at him in shock as he continued to mutter, "or show me that you can hide it all under one of them military helmets. You want to be a star? Well, it's show time. So make a decision fast." He walked off leaving me speechless as the make-up people escorted me up to the make-up department with my head hung low. These girls were pretty awesome, though. As I sat in the cutting chair helplessly staring at the barber blades aiming for my 'fro, they told me not to feel bad and that even the bigger named actors moan and groan about getting their hair cut to play a part. So I guess they must be used to sympathizing with the actors because they did the best they could without cutting it all off. They basically gave me a real close shave and cut the sides and back of my hair in an upward like motion making me look like a Kid n' Play reject. And no, I will not post pictures of my new doo, so forget it!

After the girls butchered my hair, one of them did the best she could by stuffing the rest inside of my helmet. She gave me the thumbs up and sent me on my way. I was really nervous going back to the set having to face Jimbo again. I just took a deep breath and timidly walked up to him and said, "I'm ready, now." He looked at me with a surprised expression, and said, "wow, you got it to work! Awesome, let's do this!" At the shoot, Jimbo and I got along just great. He was really wonderful to work with. Which brings to mind another big difference in shooting this film as opposed to the first one. In ReKill, it was really easy to act frightened with 200 hundred authentic looking Zombies coming at me. The Morlocks in this film will get the CGI treatment after the filming is wrapped, so there were no authentic looking Morlocks running around the set. This made it extremely difficult to act like a scared soldier. Jimbo, realized this tiny dilemma and right before the camera started to roll, took me to the side and said, "Owen, act as though you are caught in the deep south surrounded by a 100 Klansmen holding a white girl's hand." His advice must have really done the trick, because we got through my scene in only 4 takes.

The extras playing armed soldiers were pretty awesome, too. At the end of my shoot, I realized that I unfortunately broke my machine gun and they joked around with me about paying for it. Then out of nowhere the entire set erupted in cheers and applauds. It freaked me out at first, but then I remembered seeing the cast for ReKill do this after an actor had wrapped their final scene. I unfortunately never got applauded on ReKill, because no one knew my actual last day of shooting.

Okay, regardless of the fact that I only shot one day, and a tiny role, I still enjoyed myself and learned more about the movie making process. And oh yeah, I almost forget — even though it was just one scene I shot, when the director shouted out "action!," I still whispered to myself, "Owen, you are actually making f**king movie," again.

Speaking of time machines, if I had one, I'd do 2009 all over again. It was indeed a phenomenal year that I'll always remember. It was the year that I witnessed The United States of America swear in its first African-American President. It was the year that I let old habits die hard and let bygones, be bygones. It was the year that I got brave and strong stepping out into the unknown. It was the year that The Beatles had finally remastered their catalog.

But like anything in life, there were a few disappointments in 2009. Like when I spent a couple of months extremely ill or when I was moping about because I never got called to substitute at the American School. Oh, and that one time when I almost got my ass chewed off by a pack of stray dogs is up there pretty high. Oh and I can't forget just a few minutes ago when I slipped and fell on the icy snow covered pavement in the cross walk while tons of onlookers stared and laughed at me! That was quite embarrassing. But on a serious note, nothing would be more disappointing than losing The Greatest Entertainer Of All Time. And even though I was devastated and saddened beyond belief when the entertainment world lost The King of Pop, I still found a way to smile inside when I stopped to think about just how much that dude had accomplished in his 40 years of being in the spotlight. He set the bar pretty high. So If you're reading my Blog-O-Daria, MJ — here's a quote from me to you that I'm stealing directly from your old friend Madonna regarding your passing: "I can't stop crying. I'll be crying for a long, long time."

The year 2009 would have never been the same had I not met Sarah, though. And excuse me if I get all mushy for a minute, but the advice and support she gave me in my decision making process in 2009 is immeasurable. And one of my biggest worries in making my decision to move abroad was living with a woman again. I had not done that in 15 years. Talk about horror movies...I was terrified! So besides me calling her a lazy whore every now and then for not cleaning the bathroom or her smacking me up-side my head for walking around in my drawers while having company over, living together with Sarah has been just wonderful.

Okay, since I'll be traveling back to the States for the Holidays and New Year, this will most likely be my last Blog-O-Daria for a good while. I might even retire it. Who knows? But let me say from the bottom of my heart — THANK YOU all for tuning in each week and leaving me wonderful comments that truly warmed my heart. And I must leave you with one of the warmest comments of them from my good friend Sieaun telling me, "Owen, missing your Blog-O-Daria is like missing my favorite TV show Desperate Housewives." Imagine that, my little ol' Blog-O-Daria being compared to Desperate Housewives. It just don't get any cooler than that.

Happy New Year.

Be seeing you.

O