Safety first

I'm a bit of a safety Nazi when it comes to firearms on the set. Fortunately, the first AD shares this trait. So we go through the ritual of examining my 1871 .45 before each scene, or the weird shotguns that get called for in a couple of sets. I think some of the rest of the crew think we're obsessive. Too bad. If I'm going to wrangle weapons, I'm doing it my way.

The actor carrying the weapon is Kevin Gage, who is just plain a great guy. His character is not a hero, but acts heroically in this film. I've enjoyed a number of conversations about a variety of topics with Mr. Gage. In addition to being a very fine actor, he's a funny guy, and he also make sure to note the name of even the PA's. That means a lot to a crew member, especially compared with another actor, since wrapped, who shall remain nameless -- in addition to appearing on set drunk out of his mind each night, he was rude and abusive to just about everyone. Gage is a gentleman, and it's a pleasure to watch him work. Oh, and we could be brothers.. we're about the same height, and the same weight (although the distribution is somewhat different). Same hairline. Same bushy eyebrows and blue eyes. Same beard (well, I had to shave mine to play the sheriff). In fact, I also doubled for Gage in a scene, where his character is driving up to an old barn -- in his wardrobe, from behind, no one can tell.

In fact, I have now played three roles: Sheriff Tate, doubling for Gage, and, as of tonight, doubling for the killer. A few days ago, the director asked a bunch of the crew to write down a few city names, as the killer collects, shall we say, trinkets about his victims, and documents them electronically. I did my example. The director flipped through the dozen or so examples, grabbed mine, held it up, and proclaimed "THIS is a serial killer's handwriting." So I've got that going for me. So tonight, we needed an insert of the killer actually writing one of his labels. Wardrobe put me into the killer's jacket, I stood on an apple box (the actor who plays the killer is at least eight inches taller than I), and I wrote out "Miami #2" in my best serial-killer/architectural draftsman penmanship.

Have I mentioned lately that I can't act?