Behind the scenes |
| Stories that weren't scripted |
STORIES YOU WON'T READ ANYWHERE BUT HERE!
There are many stories that developed behind the scenes. Extras observed ways they thought would enhance their getting face time in “Leatherheads.” Often there was a lot of gamesmanship exhibited.
Below are some of the ways extras tried to maneuver their way into the camera’s view.
Share your stories by sending them to jimfair@charter.net.
RENEE'S SECRET PALS
Renee Zellweger is a really generous person. She bought the entire crew iPods. Also some mornings when she would see the crew she bought them coffee. One day she bought coffee for a man who had held the door for her. He had no idea who she was until my sister told him the next day. Another day she bought coffee for an elderly woman standing in line ahead of her.
Contributed by Lisa Marie Molando
SO MANY CLOTHES FOR SO MANY EXTRAS
When I was fitted for my football fan wardrobe in Greenville, S.C., I was amazed at the room that housed the incredible costumes and accessories for the movie. I was like a kid in a candy store and could have stayed all day looking at everything. I never realized how much clothing they would have to have on hand until I arrived. WOW!
Contributed by Carrrie Buoyges
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO GEORGE!
George Clooney spent his birthday in Winston-Salem since he was still filming. His mother and father came in to town to celebrate with him.
Contributed by Lisa Marie Molando
MILLENIUM IS ONE HOT LOCATION
There have been many other movies shot at the Millenium Center (Winston-Salem, N.C.) because it is so versatile. Just before “Leatherheads” my team shot a shot a spy film called “Gone to Ground” for the 48 Hour film festival and a feature length film called “Eyeborgs” was shot there after “Leatherheads”.
Contributed by Lisa Marie Molando
DID 007 LIVE HERE?
There used to be a secret FBI base in the Millennium Center (Winston-Salem, N.C.) so there are spy tunnels and secret passages and spiral staircases inside closets. It also used to be a post office.
Contributed by Lisa Marie Molando
GREG CARLISLE HAIR CARE
The owner of the Millenium Center, Greg Carlisle, has his hair salon there.
Contributed by Lisa Marie Molando
FRAN HOUMANN'S FIRST DAY TOP 10
There was a lot of information given to us the first day:
1. The call of the staff to signal silence and action.
2. How to pretend to be talking with others without noise.
3. How to move around a camera as if it isn't there.
4. How important sunscreen is!
5. How to take toilet breaks very serious! They are very small and do not work well with the period clothing needs.
6. How hard actors work to make things right -- including redoing scenes over again for 45 minutes to make it right.
7. How good the food looks for the real actors.
8. The weird experience of students staring out the windows (Ware Shoals) watching you as if you are a zoo animal.
9. How the camera crew works to change how the crowd (in the football stands) look so they can input it later to create a different effect.
10. The joy of watching Clooney continually slide through the mud to create an effect or did he just enjoy the feeling of being a 4 year old?
ATTENTION TO DETAIL WAS PARAMOUNT
I was amazed at the camera tracks that were present. The carts rolling along the football fields were impressive. I never realized the time that went into every scene until we spent 45 minutes to an hour recreating scenes that I (before being an extra) thought were insignificant.
It seemed that the staff was always taking photos in case they needed to recreate the scene—needed to know where everyone stood and exactly how the ladies' hats were on their head, the color of lipstick they were wearing, etc.
I watched twice as the staff went through and re-cut the side burns of all the guys.
The attention to detail was unbelievable. I will never watch a movie again without watching for the "little stuff" since I realize the time that goes into not making mistakes.
Contributed by Fran Houmann
CLOONEY'S NAME IS WORTH MORE THAN $5
The cast and crew would write their name on a $5 bill as well as Clooney, Krasinski, and Renee!
After everyone put their money in the pot, someone would draw a $5 bill out and the name on it would win all the money in the pot. It was funny because Clooney won quite a few times.
Contributed by Megan Shay Culbreth
IT'S MARGARITA TIME!
Also, my favorite term on set was "Margarita", which was said at the end of the day after the last scene was cut. This meant that we were done for the day and it was time for a margarita!
Contributed by Megan Shay Culbreth
The "Leatherheads" cast and crew did an excellent job keeping filming sites and public appearances of the stars a secret.
But somebody slipped up when construction and filming was taking place at a warehouse on Batesville Road in Greer.
The crew built three sets – railroad cars, an apartment and the Tribune news room.
Then George Clooney and Renee Zellweger would film a bulk of their indoor scenes there. Even the extras did a good job keeping the warehouse secret.
No paparazzi found their way to the building.
A guard at the entry gate helped to secure the privacy.
One day a cast member thought it odd the guard wasn’t at his post when she arrived early in the morning.
The following days she found out why.
“One day I noticed the guard was gone and a couple of days later he was back,” said the extra.
“When I asked why he was back I was told it was because three fans came into the building the day before asking for George Clooney’s autograph!”
Contributed by Lisa Glass
SMOKERS GET THE BEST POSITION ON SET
If you were a smoker you were a prime candidate to be strategically placed by George Clooney himself.
During the first crowd shoot at Travelers Rest an extra was smoking when a production assistant asked him to put out his cigarette. Clooney heard the conversation and excitedly said, “No, keep smoking! Get the camera on that person. We love smokers!”
There were a lot of laughs but the smokers realized they had just gained an advantage.
The next day the smokers, wiser than us non-smokers, showed up with cigars, too. Their thinking: bigger, longer lasting and more smoke = better chance on film.
The final day of shooting at Travelers Rest focused on the end of a game with the crowd in a frenzy, jumping over the wall to congratulate the victorious Bulldogs.
The scene was set with extras scattered along the wall in front of the stands. Of course smokers were given priority.
But because the scene was going to include more close-ups with fans counting down along the wall and running onto the field the correct cigarettes used had to be reminiscent of the 1920s-30s. There were no filtered cigarettes back then.
I didn’t hesitate reaching for a pack handed out by the assistants when asked if I smoked. I guess they didn’t think about asking me if I was a smoker when I had to ask for a pack of matches!
The crew handed out Pall Mall, Lucky Strike, Chesterfield and other brands popular in that era. I traded my pack of Lucky Strike for Pall Mall. My dad had smoked Pall Mall his entire life and I figured if I am lucky enough to get face time with a cigarette it would be sentimental to be smoking a Pall Mall.
During this shoot there would be the usual “Quiet on the set, rolling, action! Only this time after “Quiet on the set, an assistant would announce: “Light em’ up!’
Smokers got to stand at the wall individually or in groups. Cameras were trained right on my position at the 50. On each side of me fans would be climbing the wall to celebrate the win with Clooney and the players. And players such as Big Gus (Keith Loneker) would come to the wall to celebrate with us, shaking our hands while we patted him on the back.
I did feel a little guilty for a very brief time. But then, just like a puff of smoke, that thought was replaced by the exhilaration of being in the center of the action.
Contributed by James Fair
NO HIGH FIVES, BUMPING OF FISTS ALLOWED
When you think about a football movie, there has to be cheering fans with all the rigor and excitement of a Sunday afternoon in the Fall, right? Wrong.
Because “Leatherheads” is a period film when football as a professional sport was being birthed, many of the celebratory rituals we have today were not allowed by the extras on the set.
No high-fives were allowed. No bumping of the fists. Nothing like what we do today when our team scores a touchdown.
Instead, we politely clapped our hands (although the gloves we were wearing muted much of that applause), jumped up and down a little, and yelled for our favorite player.
That’s about it. Compared to today’s standards at a football game, this was like a church service. But, again, in the spirit of accuracy for a period film, it was necessary.
As the scenes progressed to the big game at the end, the cheering was intensified with the several hundred extras who were moved all around the stadium to make it look like there were many more than there really were during the filming.
The CGI technology will mean several hundred images of me will be in the stands cheering during the football scenes in Traveler’s Rest, S.C. and Charlotte, N.C. Oh the magic of Hollywood!
Contributed by Jimmy Moore
When extras were seated for stadium fan shots second second director Ian Calip would scan the crowd. Once the sections were seated to Ian’s liking he would ask extras with a birthday in a particular month to stand. That was Ian’s way to be fair and he would change the month called during every fan scene.
Ian would see if there were enough extras standing strategically to give a good appearance of an active crowd watching a play during a game – some standing, other sitting. Standing appeared to be the calculated strategy to get face time or at least attention.
It didn’t take long for some extras to figure out if they celebrated their birthday each month they would be asked to stand.
Those standing were often asked to move a spot or two over to give a better balance.
This is also a good time to wish happy birthday to those extras who learned how to beat the system.
We know who we are!
Submitted by James Fair
BREAKING DOWN THE WALLS!
While filming some of the football scenes in Traveler’s Rest, S.C., those of us who were extras got to see how literally anything can be made to look real with the right paint job.
Case in point: the “concrete” wall that was behind the sideline. When you looked at it, the wall appeared to be solid concrete and impenetrable.
But when they picked me and other extras to be a “leaner” up against the so-called concrete wall, we were amazed it was not at all the solid rock we thought it was. Instead, it was Styrofoam! Yep, they used heavy-duty Styrofoam to create that wall you’ll see in the football scenes of “Leatherheads.”
What was really funny was when the extras director asked one of the 10-year old extras on set to sit up on top of the wall to watch the game during the scenes we were taping and this enthusiastic young man started doing what any normal kid at his age would do -- he kicked the back of his heels against the wall.
Of course, as he did this for about five minutes, little chunks of Styrofoam started falling off the wall. Finally, a member of the crew saw this and came running over to gently tell the boy to stop ruining the prop.
It took the crew hours to fix the damage, but the kid was none the wiser for what he had done.
Contributed by Jimmy Moore
livinlowcarbman@charter.net
CLOONEY’S FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE
George Clooney would frequently visit restaurants and nightclubs in the cities where he was filming. Producers, actors and crew members would often join him.
Here’s how Clooney was “guarded” from autograph-seeking fans, paparazzi or patrons at the restaurant or club. Clooney would sit where the football players could surround him so people couldn’t get quick access to him.
Needless to say, there were no reports of off-the-field scuffles.
Keith Loneker, a Duluth Bulldog, was one big reason. Loneker, a 6-foot-5, 300-plus pound former NFL lineman, was the anchor of that security defense.
Contributed by Lisa Glass