My life as a background blur on tv

Banshee season 2 just wrapped up on Cinemax this month.  I made my way onto set a total of 5 times during the season.  It would have been more if I hadn't of been pumping milk for the first half of filming.  In the above frame, Rebecca (played by the lovely Lili Simmons) is snooping around the dressing room at the strip club.  I was sitting down in the background, putting my makeup on.  In the montage below, I am the gal walking out of the dressing room in the red shirt.  Clay Burton (played by Matt Rauch) is seen bypassing me in the club.  He is one of the funniest people that I have ever encountered while on set.  He is incredibly boisterous and loud, lol.  I got the honor of him singing the song "Brandy" to me.  Love him!  I hope he continues to be Kai Proctor's henchman in the future because I would hate for him to ever leave the show.  

I love my new hobby!  There were 2 times last year that I got asked to be on set directly by the casting director and I had to turn both times down though.  That royally sucked.  I was asked to be in Banshee's season 2 finale but I was on vacation in Orlando at the time.  The other gig was on the new movie that Kevin Smith filmed in Charlotte (Tusk).  I was in Raleigh to see Bon Jovi that day.  It was my only shot to be on Tusk so I was super sad about missing out.  Oh, and one time I got asked to be on Homeland but had to back out due to being sick.  Not cool.  Anyway, I can't wait to see what is in store for me this year.  I look forward to many more opportunities to be on set.

BTW, I got to take part in two other projects last year, The Novice (new series on USA Network) and Captive (a movie about the Atlanta court case where Brian Nichols shot a judge, fled, ran into a woman's home, and then had a change of heart when the woman read "The Purpose Driven Life" to him).  Clayton was also in Captive with me.

Banshee---Season 2, Episode 1 (1/10/14)

See that brunette in the bottom right corner of the screen?  Yeah, the one with the word "Banshee" on it?  That would be me.  I sat in the last row of this funeral scene, trying my best to not be seen on camera.  I was dying of heat stroke in a wool suit from my college days.  It didn't help that it was a size 0 and I was only 4 weeks out from having my last surrogate baby.  Yeah, there was no hope of buttoning the jacket.  My chest was humongous.  No one told me that that I would have to sit outside forever with no way to go pump milk in the car.  My boobs exploded multiple times while sitting there.  Between the excessive sweat and lactating bosoms, I was a complete mess.  This is all gross, I know, but I feel it necessary to set the stage on just how uncomfortable I was.  I knew after that experience that I could not possibly return to the set of Banshee until I quit lactating.  It was just too hard to work around.  I quit in June 2013, so I returned for episode 6 shortly afterward.  Hopefully, I will get some screenshots of my Amish and stripper characters.   

Yearly Ornaments, Colorado Spruce, & The Novice---12/1, 12/5, 12/10

On the 1st of every December, the elves ring the front door bell and run.  All we ever see is the bag of ornaments that they left for us.  I got the cute owl, the boys each got a penguin, and Clayton got a cool Santa.  This is a fun tradition for us and it will be good whenever my boys move out.  The thought is that they will have a collection of meaningful ornaments to start their own trees with.  Their grandma Christie sends them yearly ornaments also so they will definitely be able to decorate an entire tree by adulthood.  

When I got this unexpected gift in the mail from Lowe's, I cried.  It totally touched my heartstrings when I saw that it was a "Colorado" blue spruce.  I miss that state so much (though I love being near my family and I hated the long winters there).  I hope that we move that way again and that my parents follow us.  We shall see.

I have been doing a lot of background acting lately and it is so much fun!  On this day, I was working on the set of a new TV show called "The Novice".  I had already worked on the pilot the week before but got to return since I wasn't seen.  Unfortunately, I wasn't really seen this time either.  I was in the far background as a pedestrian during a scene where there was some action on the streets.  Clayton's car (the silver Corolla on the street) was left all day to serve as a vehicle waiting at a traffic light.  The people working in uptown Charlotte weren't too happy with us being there as this was a busy intersection that got blocked off for filming all day long.  Egad.  Considering that the show messed up the morning and evening commutes for many people, there were a lot of bad things said online, lol.  Anyway, this show will be on USA and is made by Fox.  It looks to be a pretty decent show.  The lead guy is a cutie named Shane Coffey and his father is played by Alan Ruck (Cameron from Ferris Bueller).  

A New Hobby---Background Acting

After my 3rd and final surrogate pregnancy, I found myself bored and had no sense of purpose.  Yes, I know I am a mom to my boys but I need something that is "all mine" in my life.  I stumbled across a casting director's page on Facebook back when I was pregnant and got interested in doing extra work.  Unfortunately, they never had a call for a pregnant gal so I had to sit out until after the birth.  In April, I decided to put my name in the hat and got chosen to participate in the season 2 opening episode for a cable tv show.  I was 4 weeks post-partum and lactating.  I had no idea that I would never be able to get to my pump during the day.  The engorgement was ridiculous after 7 long hours of filming in the hot sun (while in a wool suit, mind you).  I knew after that experience that I wouldn't be able to do it again until after I finished pumping milk.  In June, I decided to start trying again.  I have now been in 5 episodes (well, one of those just had my 4-Runner in it, lol).  It has been a blast working on the set.  I have made a bunch of friends.  It seems that background actors are very interesting people.  In addition to the show that I started with, I got a chance to work on a HUGE show recently (I think it had 11 Emmy nominations this year).  I ended up having to bow out though due to a migraine attack that included vertigo and nasty nausea.  Blah.  I hope to get the opportunity to work on the big show again soon.  The show that I have been working on is wrapping up in 2 weeks and I won't be able to work on it again before it finishes.  I am bummed to miss out on the season finale but the third season will roll back around next spring for filming.  I can't wait!