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The Hollywood buzz is its an OSCAR winning performance! Oh, wait a
minute... that's Richard Gere in "CHICAGO", but I still think I did
a pretty good job for my first foray into acting. I had already
stuck my toe into the waters of making videos doing the "Dark
Symphony" trailer late last year. The
Circle of Seven Production
Company asked me if I'd be interested in playing the character of
"Boone", a psychotic military man, who also happens to be a werewolf
in the video "The Gemini Keys". After thinking for literally, 2
seconds I said "Of course!"
Once again, I found myself flying to California for the
second time in less than a month. I once again signed a
"confidentiality agreement" in blood for the project. The romance
industry tongues have been wagging over this ultra secret venture.
Any news on the video's filming had to remain hush-hush....
During my layover at O'Hare airport I met up with my co-star,
Michael Elan. I knew the exotically handsome cover model from the
Reno convention where he was a contestant in the "Mr. Romance"
contest. There was Michael, hair in a ponytail, cell phone glued to
his ear. He and I flew together to Oakland.
We met Sheila Clover at the airport. It was her novel
"The Gemini Keys" on which the video would be based. She would also
be directing the film. She drove us 3 hours through California's
Napa Valley to our shoot's location. Driving through the winding
mountains had been a breeze the last time. Suddenly Michael said, "I
think I'm getting sick!" I laughed, but a split second later the
power of suggestion got the best of me. I started to feel dizzy
myself. "Thanks Michael!". We all changed seats in the car
and pulled over for some fresh air.
The setting for the shoot was in Clear Lake, set on a
clear lake. The place was eerily reminiscent of the setting for
"Friday the 13th" which was set in Crystal Lake. We had cabins with
no phones. The slaughtered cast in that movie had cabins. Hmmm.
Coincidence? I would still sleep with one eye open the rest of the
week.
The femme fatale, "Tory" in the video would be played by
the beautiful Julia Wright. In her red wig she was a dead ringer for
"Dawson's Creek's" Katie Holmes. Issac Hirotsu Woofter would play "Aiden",
a vampire. He bore a striking resemblance to the late Brandon Lee.
Michael Elan would play "Lucas", a werewolf. I felt like I was in a
real Hollywood production with all the celebrity look-a-likes..
The 4 of us were put in a room with Ian Stidilani, an
acting coach. We all had a crash course in "Acting 101" and bonded
at the same time.
We had strict and tight shooting schedule. 2, 12 hour days. A lot of
hurry up and wait. If I wasn't in a scene that was to be shot I'd be
back in my cabin waiting for "Jason" to murder me while I watched cable TV.
I also, once again did interviews with the cast and
crew for the "Behind The Scenes" DVD. We ALL came up with the idea
of me interviewing myself. With 2 cameras, you'd think it would be
EASY, but NOOOOOOOOOO! I fed the questions to the camera man's
daughter and then watched them on the monitor and answered them back
to myself dressed my in my "Boone" character's outfit. The hardest
thing I ever had to do was answer MYSELF. I was a complete babbling
idiot. Let's pray for good editing.
My first scene called for me to stalk Julia. Basically,
all I had to do was walk behind her. After I shot my takes Michael
said "CJ! That was really GREAT! You did that so well!" I laughed
and said "Michael, I've been WALKING most of my life. This wasn't a
stretch for me....."
No closed set for me when I did my big strip scene. I was
to terrorize Julia as she's strapped to table. They gave me creepy
yellow contact lenses for my lycanthropic transformation. The rest
would be computer generated by me standing in front of "green
screen". I was to come into the operating room and pull off my
T-shirt and flex my brains out. The whole cast and crew were
standing a few feet away as I did my strip tease. It was no easy
feat getting a black ball cap over all my hair and huge head either!
Talk about "special effects"! Anyway, it was like "I Was A Teenage
Wolf" meets Chippendales. I didn't eat all day so my stomach would
remain flat for the scene. Imagine my chagrin when they tried to
break for dinner right before the scene! I INSISTED we shoot the
scene first and THEN eat. Mike Miller, our cinematographer nearly died
of starvation in the process. Thanks Mike! If you see any pix of me
on this project without a shirt on they were taken AFTER I finished
the scene and gorged
myself . A little bloated....
Author, Christine Feehan and her daughter, Domini
stopped by to watch the filming on Saturday. Christine's daughter, "Manda,"
was an assistant and we couldn't have done it without her. I worked
with all 3 on the "Dark Symphony" shoot.
My other scenes had me terrorizing Julia in one way or
another. Lots of screaming and yelling. I've been getting a lot of
work lately due to the "CJ Look". From what I'm told I can look very
ominous. Bite the heads off one litter of kittens and everybody
thinks you're a bad guy!
The shooting ended as quickly as it started. I can happily
say it was once again a great experience. It wasn't like work.
Special thanks to all those involved. Circle of Seven Productions is
a dream to work with. Sheila Clover is a angel. Michael was so funny
and is now a pal. I hear the cast may be reunited for a commercial
soon. Gotta go and starting writing my Academy Award acceptance
speech.... Hey... it COULD happen!
Pictures
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