THE WAR PRAYER
Mari's "Extra" 2 Cents : )
By Mari Weir, April 15, 2007
I had the distinct priviledge of being an extra on this film. The shoot was yesterday, April 14th in Castro Valley, CA at their Center of Performing Arts. During a spirited evangelical church service, the minister calls for a prayer for God's blessings upon the men and women who are fighting the war, and above all for victory. The patriotic celebration is interrupted by a mysterious stranger in ragged clothing.
I got to be one of the church congregation and the whole experience was so much fun. I hope all of us extras did a great job for the cast and crew. We want to be a blessing, not a hinderance!!! : )
I used a different name than Mari Weir. I met a very nice girl named Melina, who lives in the Bay Area and who also did extra work on The Matrix. I met a father and his 2 kids from Oakland, a nice young lady from San Francisco and another nice lady from Walnut Creek who came to the shoot simply because she loves THE WAR PRAYER story and believes in its message.
As for the professionals on the set, they were wonderful to work with and for. I didn't recognize the director as actor Michael Goorjian until I got a good look at him. He did a great job. I forget the first assistant director's name, but he told a few jokes and kept our spirits light between takes. The crew were courteous and friendly and very helpful. Everyone was so patient with us when things had to be shuffled and juggled a little to get the scene just right. Tim Sullivan did a great job as the preacher. Tommy Dekker played a church singer and we all got to sing a contemporary Christian song.
As for my favorite actor? Well first of all, I can't believe how calm I was when I first saw him on the set. We all went out on a break before he arrived to the set, and when we were let back in, only a few of us actually came back in because the crew said, "They're not filming right now, so you might be bored." I was just walking down the stairs, hoping I would not fall down (I wore a long skirt) and I just happened to look up and there Jeremy was, right in the center of the stage. In the flesh. One of my nightmares is falling, and it's worse to fall and be a klutz in front of someone you have no desire to be a klutz in front of. The auditorium at the Center has some semi-precarious steps to negotiate while you're looking for your assigned seat, and I was terrified I'd trip over my skirt and take a header.
Second of all, I will never regret driving the distance to experience just a taste of what it is like to work with him. He is every bit the professional. He was very focused, very concentrated on what he was to do. Although he appeared relaxed, he often paced, deep in thought. Low key, yet I did spy him talking and smiling with some of the extras up in front where he was.
His performance was powerful, and if I wasn't concentrating so hard on being shocked and upset by "this homeless man's appearance in our church", I would swear I was enjoy him in a play.
About 50 of the extras stayed until later that night to do some more work with the principal actors. I elected not to. I didn't think I'd have the stamina to be up from 5 AM Saturday to maybe midnight. I am fortunate, priviledged and very happy to have had this wonderful experience. Most of us were released at around 3 PM, and I happily made my way to my motel room, turned on TNT, took my pain pills (for my bum leg) and went to sleep.
When we left, Goorjian and the crew thanked us for donating our time to this worthy project. I think they're donating just as much, if not more, than I am. And I thank THEM, all of them, for a great weekend.
