In today’s guest post, Craig Joseph Pisani discusses his experiences participating as an extra in a Steven Spielberg film!
Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T., Jurassic Park. These are just a few household film names attributed to legendary, three-time Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg. So when you receive a call asking if you’d like to be in his newest untitled Cold War drama, you jump at the opportunity. On a lovely Sunday morning in September of 2014 I found myself at a 6am call time inside a retro 1950’s Wall Street subway station in fabulous New York City.
This story wouldn’t be justified without the inspiring origin. Three months prior I saw an open casting call in Manhattan for a Robert De Niro film called The Intern. En route, I suffered highway traffic for 45 minutes before switching to streets. Progression was denied. I backtracked, hoping some road would be open. Turned out a pineapple truck had overturned, decorating the expressway with the tropical fruit. I decided to take public transportation, a train-ferry-train route. After an hour and a half, I was actually further from my destination than when I started. I recall sitting at the train station thinking I’m wasting the day, that why bother I won’t get the part anyway. But I also thought, “No, I set out to do this and that’s what I’m going to do”. Another two hours later I’m in the room, only five minutes — paperwork, picture, done. Needless to say, I didn’t get the part but my perseverance unexpectedly paid off for what turned out to be Best Picture nominee Bridge of Spies.
Fast forward past a costume fitting at Steiner Studios in Brooklyn and take us to that Sunday morning on Wall Street — my first time on the set of a major motion picture. Hundreds of background actors dressed in vintage outfits filled the platform as crew began to dictate where to go. Every detail from the subway signs, to the train, to the replica 1950’s newspapers we carried as props, was magnificent. And in the midst of it all, there he was, arguably the best director of our time. He was quiet, he didn’t act like a big shot, if you didn’t know who he was you wouldn’t think he was anyone more than an assistant. He merely observed, framed a few shots, and whispered into his principal actor’s ears while his first AD barked out commands on a megaphone.
Three shots made the cut, each more memorable than the next:
1st shot: I was fortuitously placed directly to Domenick Lombardozzi’s (Agent Blasco) left as the camera faced us and pulled back as we walked towards it along the platform.
2nd shot: Now placed directly in front of a little old man with glasses. I turned around at one point and saw Spielberg whispering to him so I knew he must have been important. Little did I know that man (Mark Rylance) would go on to win the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award in February of 2016.
3rd shot: The camera behind me, FBI agents run past and brush my shoulder trying to locate the Russian spy. Up ahead, on my right was Spielberg leaning against the wall with his head buried in a handheld wireless monitor. The cameraman must have filmed longer than he anticipated because he looked up at me and said, “I made it into the movie. I’m like Alfred Hitchcock.” My first thought was this guy barely spoke to anyone all day, did that really just happen? But it did and the only words I could utter before passing were “There ya go.”
After breaking for lunch, a few of us were selected to take part in the second shoot of the day. We were bussed over to Brooklyn underneath the Manhattan Bridge where tourists gawked and took our pictures. The train station design was great, but this was something even more spectacular. I felt like Dorothy stepping onto the Yellow Brick Road for the first time, only mine were brownish cobblestones. I had never imagined a set to be so perfect. They had literally transformed this Brooklyn block into the 1950’s. There was a fish store, mechanic shop, dress shop, vintage vehicles, and a soda truck. I was completely in awe. Cellphones weren’t allowed otherwise I would have snapped 100 pictures. The scene was only used for a few seconds in the film. No expense spared.
At the end of the day, I stood in the middle of that road, appreciatively taking it all in, watching Spielberg wrap things up with his crew, and in my head I said “Thank you Mr. Spielberg, I had a fun day on your set.”
Craig Joseph Pisani is an avid moviegoer and aspiring screenwriter with Bachelor’s degrees in both Cinema and English.