Extra Time

There are no movies being filmed in Guanajuato this summer. Too bad. I could use the extra cash working as an extra like I did in 2002 when Robert Rodriguez came into town to make Once Upon A Time in Mexico. We spent long hours in the courtyard of an elementary school waiting for Robert’s assistants to come for us to run through flaming debris shouting “Long Live the President” to Spaniard Antonio Banderas. In another scene, I helped carry a glass coffin with a wax figure of Cheech Marin. Later, I helped capture a jeep from an armed Mexican soldier with an uncomfortable “Day of the Dead” mask covering my face. We could barely walk off camera with the masks on. I can’t believe civilians would consider wearing them throughout an entire insurgency.

Some extras were issued six foot fibreglass skulls that they hefted above their heads during the parade scene. These props made excellent shade for napping while we waited along the street for another opportunity to run past the camera. It became sort of game to see if we could frighten people as they walked by one of the giant skull masks by saying boo and shaking it when as they walked past. We entertained ourselves for hours making mimes jump on their way to work and provoking old ladies to smash the object with their purses.