Tuesday I got asked to return to Melrose Place. This time I was playing a bar patron so I figured the call would be a lot bigger. It was. I got there all decked out like they asked of me and once I hit wardrobe they told me they were “steering clear of black” and handed me this slinky, SHORT, silver, one-sleeved, short, off-the-shoulder, SHORT dress. I was like okay? So I put it on and they’re all thinking it’s fabulous. They give me huge glitzy earrings to wear. Trust me, nobody was not going to notice me in this little number. I can say I looked like a contrived mix of Cyndi Lauper via Girls Just Want to Have Fun and Zenon, Girl of the 21st Century.
So we go over to the set and get rolling. The first scene was in the Coal’s Restaurant/Bar, which is where everyone was eating in the first episode. If this place was real I would be there all of the time because it’s really super trendy looking. My first task? Holding a fake cocktail (a cosmo), walking down a set of stairs to the bar and taking a shot. Yup. Doing it 800 times really made me want a drink. Then we would wait and wait and wait and wait and then shoot a new scene. Mine next one was walking into this little lounge behind where the main cast was shooting and talking to a group of girlfriends after they had turned down two guys trying to hit on them. Turns out, one of the girls was from Rock of Love! haha! I kept thinking I knew her and then it clicked. Anyone remember Jessica? She was pretty normal and deemed “not rock enough” for Brett. She’s really nice and we hit it off. It’s funny though because for a long time I thought I might have gone to school with her!
After that scene we went back to the holding area. The holding area is awesome because it means FREE FOOD! This time there was a soft serve ice cream truck and then an assorted mix of fruit, veggie and cheese plates, as well as rice cakes, candy bars, coffee, etc. I mean seriously, so much money is spent on crap like that! I’m not complaining though. I mean, I was working really hard 😉 Pantomiming is annoying as it is, at least reward me with a free sundae.
The last and final scene was back in the restaurant, however this time I was sitting down for dinner. They use real courses and just freeze them to preserve their look. So we had a lovely little dinner for four starting with a tomato, basil and mozzarella plate, then our main courses were chicken, pork, steak and lobster raviolli. Mmm. They looked so good – I was considering digging in but remembered it was like 10 hours old.
During that scene I was on a “date” I guess and the guy I was sitting across from was really funny. I can’t tell if he was gay or not but he was making me laugh the whole time so it wasn’t awkward. Eventually we memorized the lines of the main cast so we started mouthing them to each other from across the table to simulate like we were having a very intense dinner convo. There is definitely a kitchen fight in this scene so we all had to react.
The people I got to see that day were Ashlee, the girl who plays Riley, the guy who plays Auggie and another dude who I know is a main character but I don’t know his name. Ashlee is so fricken skinny that I am shocked she is a mom. I mean have you seen Bronx? The kid is a monster baby! Huge! I’m surprised she can carry him! Even though I thought I’d be like “holy crap! There’s Ashlee!” It really wasn’t a huge deal. I consider that a huge step in my book. Before long she was just another actress that I had to walk by to get to my barstool to sit.
Anyway, I’ve been getting a lot of calls! So hopefully I can continue to work on set. I’ve been asked to be on Flash Forward, The Forgotten and Accidentally on Purpose but haven’t been able to do those due to work. I’m supposed to be on the 7th/8th episode of Melrose so I’ll be sure to warn you to see if you can spot me!
Kirbie Johnson 