|
Title: Leatherheads, feature film
Cast: George Clooney, Renee Zellweger
Extra: Bill Treat, Salisbury train station.
Producers: Grant Heslov, George Clooney, Casey Silver
Director: George Clooney
Script: George Clooney, Stephen Schiff, Duncan Brantley,
Rick Reilly.
About Bill
Born: Elmira, New York
Family: Wife Susan and four children, two grandchildren.
Susan and Bill recently celebrated their 39th anniversary.
College: Wheaton College
Major: B.S. Sociology. “I never earned a nickel off
my sociology degree,” said Bill.
Profession: Sold Dale Carnegie courses in El Paso, Texas
and Charlotte.
Currently: Painting contractor.
Happy Birthday! On March 26 Bill celebrated his birthday
by driving to Concord to sign up for the “Leatherheads”.
Split personalities: Bill saw people handing in portfolios
with their $500 and $1,000 photo shoots. Bill was a little more
frugal. “Susan and I had a picture taken together so I just
tore the photo in half and attached it to the registration form.
Studying the movie: Bill read the Jim Thorpe’s book
and found references to Leatherheads. He watched a film that Burt
Lancaster starred in as a leatherhead football player.
Making friends: Bill said the biggest surprise was the ease
of making friends. “We’ve met people and friends of extras
who we join each month for dinner.”
Did you know? Bill was a wrestler at Wheaton College in the
157 and 167 weight class. He had a pair of wins over his Notre Dame
opponent each year. Bill was called on to wrestle heavyweight in
one match. The team’s heavyweight dropped down to the 191-pound
division and no wrestler was available. Bill was assigned the heavyweight
division, despite being well under 30 pounds in the weight class.
Surprisingly, Bill took a third place finish in that event.
Bill’s switcheroo saves some bumps and bruises
Bill Treat is a quicker thinker.
During a scene being filmed at the train station in Salisbury, North
Carolina Bill was asked to walk past Renee Zellweger while holding
a suitcase. “I thought I was too close and almost bumped her
with my suitcase. I switched the suitcase to my left hand so there
was no chance of that!”
Bill considers his wife, Susan, and him lucky to have been among
the group to film at Salisbury. “They told us we would be among
100-125 people at the shoot. I figured that would be good because
it increased our chances to appear in the movie.”
It was a smaller set than the football fields many had been used
to. It created greater possibilities for the extras to see George
Clooney at work and possibly make contact.
“There was one time I was inside the depot and George was about
20 feet away taking measurements,” said Bill.
“I thought we were just going to be faces in the crowd, and
that would have been fine with me. Getting to play special roles
was a great surprise.
“We thought we were going to be passengers on the train. Susan
actually was. I was in the crowd when John Krasinski (Carter Rutherford)
and Jonathan Pryce (C.C. Pyle, Rutherford’s agent) got off
the train and were being interviewed while standing on a platform.
I was in the background yelling among the crowd. You might be able
to hear me but I don’t think there’s any way I will be
on camera in that scene.”
Bill said the entire scenario of signing up at the casting call
and appearing on set was a whirlwind experience. “It all happened
so fast. One day we were signing up, it seemed like the next day
we received notice to be at the set, then we were at wardrobe at
the set and before you know it we are called to a scene. It was
such a wonderful experience. It was when I was sitting and seeing
everything going on around me that it hit me we were participating
in a movie with George Clooney and Renee Zellweger. It was almost
surreal.”
Stylish 3-piece suit was impressive
Bill thought he would impress the wardrobe people with his own stylish
3-piece suit he wore to the first day of shooting. “I saw a
picture of George Clooney in a 3-piece pinstripe suit. I thought
this would impress the casting and wardrobe crew. When I got to
wardrobe the person said it looked good. ‘Just lose the paisley
tie and you’re fine’. She then proceded to give me a long
tie to wear with the suit, a winter overcoat, hat and scarf. So
it didn’t really matter what I wore since no one was going
to see the suit anyway. And it’s interesting that I have a
suit in my closet that is vintage 1920s!”
Dale Carnegie course served Bill well
Bill sold Dale Carnegie courses when he was starting out in business.
“I learned to get someone’s attention it is easier when
you are giving instead of receiving. I’ve given items to past
presidents George Walker Bush, Ronald Reagan and other celebrities
like Haley Mills, Pat Boone and Art Linkletter to name a few.
“I have been around my share of famous people. But I was in
awe early on at the set. One day I passed by Renee Zellweger without
saying a word. If I had my wits about me at the time I would have
said hello in a German phrase. She did past my son Tim and said
‘his clothes were very pretty'.
“It was a great experience and we had fun seeing how they make
movies and making new friends."
|
