Title: Leatherheads, feature film
Cast: George Clooney, Renee Zellweger
Extra: John Coppedge
Producers: Grant Heslov, George Clooney, Casey Silver
Director: George Clooney
Script: George Clooney, Stephen Schiff, Duncan Brantley, Rick Reilly
Role: Fan in the stands, and (sometimes) a sidelines fan
Site: Memorial Stadium, Charlotte, N.C.
Hometown: Born and reared in Charlotte, N.C.
Business: Private investor, trading various securities
All in the family: Kathy, my wife of 31 years, six “children” (youngest is 18)
Pets: One persnickety cat (hers, not mine)
Agent: My wife but I'll field all calls personally! ...704-542-6974
About John
Casting, I didn’t need no stinking casting!
The Saturday before the filming at Memorial Stadium was to begin, my wife saw a note, with a phone number, in the Charlotte Observer that “Leatherheads” needed more extras and suggested I give them a call.
Being pretty much a 99 percent unemotional introvert, my comment was something to the effect of...”Not no. but hell no...can you imagine me trying to be emotive? No, no, no.”
But then after pondering it for a few hours, I said, ‘What the heck. I’ll call.’ I left a message and figured that was it. Surprise! Monday morning, Ian from casting phoned while I was firing the old computer up to get ready to start the week’s trading. It went something like this:
“This is Ian from casting calling for the Leatherheads. We’d like you to come in. You need to dress yourself in the following items. etc."
“When do you want me to come?”
“Three hours ago and for the rest of the week, and next Monday too, would be fine.”
“Ian, you said? I will need to rearrange a few things, give me a number and I’ll call you if I can change things around.”
Well, I did. The rest is history.
I guess being an extra is like trading commodities, hours and hours of boredom, punctuated by moments of sheer terror (or emoting, in the case of acting).
Now, I’m one of those people who can be a part of the crowd or be totally alone in the crowd. This time, I chose to be part of the crowd. I decided I’d learn the first names and faces of at least 50 people in the five days I was to be on set and I did it.
We had an interesting group. Just to mention a few others and not all (that are not mentioned on the site) ...Wayne Davis (former mayor of his town, Fountain Inn) and his amazing wife, Louise, Shannon Hagarty (former Miss USA winner and religious-based high school soccer coach in the Charlotte area). I saw about a gazillion people buzzing around this girl daily, so I figured I ought to at least meet her just to see why. She’s a very nice person. Very genuine and caring. Cathie Abraham (I sat by her in one scene and somehow found out that she worked for my father as an X-ray tech at Presbyterian hospital a number of years ago. Small world, huh?). Billie Rosser and his friend Terri Sapanero (Billie’s old as dirt and has lived in and around Charlotte longer than I have. Terri, with a last name like that, you know she ain’t from ‘round here ‘bouts. One of them is a yankee transplant, but a keeper,
too). Jennifer, Linda, PJ, Glory, Bob Dilcher, Gina and Keith. I could go on and on, but wait, can't forget the spies in the crowd, too.
The company had several spies looking for those of us extras who were taking on-set pictures. Rachael (she had trout fished with Robert Redford, partied with lots of others, and is related to the Charlotte, N.C. Belk family (with whom I grew up). I was sitting by her and figured out what she her job was and how she was doing it. And I flat out asked her if I was correct. She admitted it, and I promised to keep her secret safe. She said that she was a former FBI and your spy-buddies, who will remain anonymous.
Since I was self-dressed (I’ve been dressing myself for 53 years or so), I didn’t figure to have much chance to actually be seen.
Periodically, the other Ian would come into the holding area looking for a few good men (I could tell he wanted a “a few good men” because I actually was chosen several times). He would always start with “wardrobe” people, but I would inch near and watch. I invariably would get asked if I was self-dressed, say yes, and got picked anyway to be on the sidelines during some of the game! The camera would roll right in front of me. Potential face time!
It certainly was interesting, and gives you a different perspective on how a movie is spliced together.
What a marvelous group of people. They were the cat’s meow worth the effort just to be around them!
Would I do it again? Certainly. Especially if I got a phone call from casting asking for me by name, just like the last time! Hey, I’ve got experience!
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