Playing House

8:36am. Hello! I'm writing from the set of House M.D. which is pretty cool if you ask me! I don't watch it so I don't know any of the characters or storylines, but I have plenty of friends that do! I called an agent at Central to submit for an 18 to look younger part for another show and ended up getting booked for House as a parent (and also a secretary?)!! Kind of a blow to the ego! Haha.

This experience is WAY different than Heroes. There are around 20 extras which makes the whole experience far more intimate. Also, we're on the actual set in-studio rather than outside on location. I got kind of lost walking to set because the studio grounds are pretty big! I walked through a pretend scariesville to find the right soundstage and ended up walking past the facade for Nolita, the restaurant for the 2005 show Kitchen Confidential (which I just rewatched on Hulu and am currently reading the book it was based on). I had to ask two people along the way but I eventually ended up in the right place.

We got to go to set about half an hour after checking in with wardrobe, which was awesome. The scene was cool but I felt pretty self-conscious at the beginning because everyone else here seems to be actual actors who have already been on House for quite a few episodes (some even having been on previous seasons). No one ever yelled cut because of me, so I guess I was OK. Haha.

Right now we're back in the holding area listening to some guy snore. I'll go back to trying to stay warm (soo cold in here! My teeth are literally chattering. Returning background brought blankets. Smart.) and reading Kitchen Confidential. Until later. . .

. . . 7:31pm. Well we didn't get called back to set until about 6? hours later. (Maybe it wasn't quite that long, but it seemed like it!) We didn't do very many scenes but we did do a lottt of takes. One thing learned today, Jesse Spencer is fun to look at. hahaha. Just an observation! It made the 100 takes around his character quite bearable.

The hardest thing about today was that everyone around me knew the crew and each other and clearly knew what to do! Granted, it's really not hard to get the hang of, but there is something to be said about that initial intimidation! Everyone knew their way around set and knew the routine. It's like your first day at school being in the middle of the semester.

Call time was at 6AM which meant in order to get to the studio on time, I had to wake up at 3:45am!!! Boo to that. I managed to get there without falling asleep at the wheel. Always a good thing! About an hour before we were dismissed, those of us who had a "change" (me being a secretary) were told to put on our alternate clothes. After waiting for about half an hour, we were dismissed because we were coming up on our 13th hour and they didn't want to fork over double pay! Unfortunately, that means I didn't get to be a secretary, which I had really been looking forward to!

Today was uncomfortable at times, but I think it was a good step up in learning the ropes. (I'm really glad I did Heroes first because it was a nice stepping stone for House. Today I would have been WAY more lost than I already was.) It should be fun to watch the episode because I think I'll be able to catch a [really quick, small, fuzzy] glimpse of myself.

Well this is certainly long enough now. If you bothered to read this far, thank you so much! I hope the rest of your week is amazing. :)