I did one day of shooting (acting) on the set of the movie Your Right Mind last week. I did a scene with an actor whose face you would recognize even if her name doesn’t ring a bell. After getting up around 4 o’clock for a 5:45 a.m. call, it was just starting to get light and it was bitter cold. Every time the door of the diner where we were shooting opened (which was often) a blast of arctic air hit us. The actor in question was clutching her prop — a pot of hot coffee — to help warm up her bare arms.
I said, “Do you actually have to go outside at the end of every take? Out in the cold in a short-sleeve dress without a coat?” She said, “You know what, there are worse jobs I could have than one where I have to go out in the cold for seven seconds. I’ve waited tables for real. This is better.”
Although the stereotype of the pampered starlet makes better tabloid headlines, I find this actor’s attitude to be much more representative of most of the professionals — actors and crew alike — who work in the film industry.
When you hear all those stories about spoiled Hollywood divas, remember there are a whole lot of real pros out there who are very good at what they do and glad to get a chance to do it. For some reason we don’t hear their stories very often.
The actor’s name is Clea DuVall, a class act and a really good actor.