Last week I had the pleasure of spending a week with my sister in a part of Florida that I was totally unfamiliar with, the Gulf Coast, the part of it they call “The Emerald Shore”. I was enchanted with the incredibly white beaches, blue water and skies, and was feeling so relaxed I wondered how I could think about costumes for my weekly blog!
But then I remembered my 4 week stay in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 1992 while filming a TV movie called “Staying Afloat” with Larry Hagman. Other than the fact that it was August, when no one in their right mind goes to Florida (heat, humidity), I remember it fondly as a wonderful experience.
It was actually my very first film, and naturally I was nervous. As often happens, the first day of filming was not a simple one, but one of our biggest days with hundreds of extras. The location was the local racetrack, and we had spectators, horses, jockeys, trainers etc to deal with besides our stars Hagman, Claire Yarlett, Gregg Henry, and Dakin Matthews. But I had a good crew and all was going well until we were getting ready for our first shot with Larry. My assistant came running to me and said that Larry had just spilled coffee all over his trousers! YIkes! I didn’t have a double, so we had to clean off the pants as best we could and then dry them with a hair dryer, and get him back on set as quickly as possible. Actually, he was very embarassed and very apologetic.
Other days we shot on the beach in full sun, and it was all we could do not to strip off our clothes and run into the cool water! We went to Boca Raton for 2 days and shot there at the harbor, pool, and resort, and in a number of other locations around Fort Lauderdale. Since the series of movies NBC planned to film was based on around a renovated 1930’s yacht that once belonged to the Dupont family, Larry had wanted to film in different exotic locations, which was fine with me! (not that he asked).
I love going on location, especially if it is somewhere fairly civilized and for not too long a period. In Florida I was put up in a nice hotel on the 12th floor with a view of the beach and the inter-coastal waterway and could watch boats go by all day on my day off. My husband flew in from Los Angeles for a weekend in the middle of my stay, so we were not separated for too long. Location work is one of the things that has kept my life interesting, varied, and full of new places to discover. Though what I’m really waiting for is a film that shoots on the Amalfi Coast in Italy!
No comments:
Post a Comment