Episode8

October 17, 2000

So I was out shopping, wandering the book stores, when a dear friend of mine called and said she booked me on the X-Files as a waitress. Suddenly the books didn't seem that thrilling any more. Oh, I still purchased some books but after much jumping about! Twenty-four hours till XF!

October 18, 2000

I still had to spend the day teaching middle school since my call time wasn't until 6:30 pm. I arrived on the set early and met up with a friend of mine. When transport came to pick us all up in the parking lot, the driver asked if one of us was the waitress. It was exciting to be the one who answered "I am!" Out of all the extra work I've done, this was the first time I wasn't just another face in the crowd. We checked in then headed to wardrobe where they gave me a typical waitress dress. They gave another girl the same dress and while getting ready we discovered we had the same name. Very trippy. Next they shuffled us both over to hair and make up. They spent about 15 minutes or more putting my hair up into some kind of twist. During that time the guest star of the week came in to have her hair done. Her name is Saxon Trainor according to the call sheet. Anyway, we sat and chatted while they worked on our hair and she talked about having to give birth on camera. When they were finished I headed back outside and ran into Mac, the locations scout. I hadn't seen him for a while so we chatted and caught up until Lisa, the person in charge of extras, came to fetch the two waitresses and the two chefs.

She walked us to Sam's Famous Deli. We were shooting in LA around Grand and 9th Ave if you want to go check it out. She told me I would be behind the counter clearing away some dishes when Doggett would come in and ask me for some coffee before heading over to sit with Scully and Skinner. Michelle, GA's stand-in, and Mitch's stand-in were already seated at a nearby table. They were setting up the camera outside to shoot through the window so we just had to stand in our places to help them set up for the shot. During this, one of the extras came up to Michelle and asked to have his picture taken with her. Michelle paused for a moment, looking a little awkward then told him she wasn't Gillian. He was shocked, I don't think he really believed her because he kept staring at her and wouldn't leave. For those of you who haven't seen Michelle, she bares a very striking resemblance to Gillian. Many times on the set people have been excited when "Gillian" walked by and I had to laugh because they had no idea it was Michelle. Anyway the guy wouldn't leave so I thought I'd jump in and help her. So I asked Michelle if this sort of thing happens a lot and she said yes. I asked her if she ever just said yes she was Gillian and she said never. Then we started making up headlines about the trouble that could be caused over Michelle impersonating Gillian. The guy finally left but I don't think he was entirely convinced he wasn't talking to Gillian.

To keep ourselves entertained while we waited, we started playing this IQ came that was on every table and scattered about the counter. It was wooden and it started with a peg in every hole but one and the object of the game was to remove jumped pegs until there was only one left. Sounds fairly simple but we kept leaving three or four pegs. Finally, I solved it. Michelle and Mitch's stand-in were impressed. It had to be a fluke though because I couldn't do it again. After more talking and IQ testing, they broke us for a meal.

I met up with my friends again and got in line with the other extras, behind the cast and crew. That's how most sets are; the extras eat after the cast and crew. I hadn't waited long before Lisa told me I should cut to the front of the line. I declined, saying I was talking with my friends. She told me to move anyway because I was in the next scene they were going to shoot and I needed to be ready. Feeling a little awkward, I cut to the front of the line. I tend to be shy around large groups of people I don't know and try to blend in with the wall. This was not helping. When we finished eating I saw Mitch and Robert Patrick finishing up their meals. We actually ended up walking behind them back to the set. Saxon caught up with me and we talked as we walked. I have no idea what we talked about but she did start laughing and said, "You're fun!" Why thank you so much. :-)

Gillian still wasn't around but we did see Kevin. He's DD's driver and a couple of my friends know him fairly well. So we chatted with him, asked him about DD, and asked what he was doing here if DD wasn't. He was sitting across from the Deli not too far away from two people I assume were XF fans who'd come to watch the filming. We were on our way to talk to them when we saw Kevin. Since we didn't get to talk to you there, Hi fellow X-Philes.

Finally it was time to start shooting again. Mitch came in and took his place at the table. I've talked to him before but it had been a long time. Then Gillian came in looking gorgeous. Someone asked if he could bring her anything and she asked for peppermint tea. She then took a look around the place and commented about the hanging lamps. They *were* very cool. No one knew if they belonged to the Deli or if XF had brought them in. They were round and looked like paper mache string made out of glass. (Does that make sense?) Anyway, they were cool.

Kim Manners then came in and told Robert what he would be doing. He was to walk up to me and ask me for coffee. Then Mitch pointed to the customer sitting at the counter and said, "Then he's going to kick this guy's ass." They laughed and said actually he would then go sit with Mitch and Gillian. He was also told that customer would be crossing in front of him. We rehearsed that a few times and it was very cool to have Robert Patrick look right into your eyes and ask you a question. Pure human reflexes made me answer him with a "sure" or "Um-hmm" everytime he asked. They were filming through the window at this time so I didn't get in trouble for talking. They cut after Robert sat down with Gillian and Mitch and everytime he joined them they all burst out laughing. Kim came in once and told them not to laugh. That was shot a few times and once Kim actually came in and told me what to do! How cool is that!? Kim Manners directed me! :-)

Next they shot Robert pulling up to the Deli and going in. Gillian and Mitch stayed where they were and talked to each other. I had to keep myself from staring and eavesdropping so I continued playing the IQ game and talking with the customer, the only other person in the Deli. The other waitress and the two chefs weren't in the scene so they were sitting in the next room. At one point, the customer and I were talking and we both started laughing. Gillian and Mitch looked up at us startled. I guess they thought we were eavesdropping so I apologized and went back to talking with the other extra. Color me embarrassed.

Earlier Mitch had been joking with Robert that he was Mitchaphobic. Kim told Robert to pat Mitch's shoulder when he sat down as a "hi, how ya doing" type greeting and Robert did it awkwardly then didn't do it at all. So Gillian and Mitch were laughing about that while Robert was filming outside. Then (good news for shippers!) Gillian said something to the affect that Robert doesn't like to touch her either. She demonstrated what he does by using Mitch as herself. She stood up and put her hand on his back like she was looking over his shoulder at something then awkwardly removed her hand and stood as if she didn't know what to do with her arms, finally crossing them. They both laughed. So Robert isn't a touchy type person. Hopefully we won't see any Mulder type touches to her face, small of her back or any other place that makes shippers sigh.

They finished shooting Robert getting out of his car and coming into the Deli and switched to filming Robert leaving the Deli. Gillian follows him to talk then Mitch finally exits to join them. While they were setting up for this, everyone left the Deli except for me and the customer. (We should have introduced ourselves, I have no idea what his name is) Anyway, Mitch came wandering back in so I grabbed my chance and this is the conversation that ensued:
              "Mitch, can you do me a huge favor?"
              "Sure, what?"
             "Well, I have this picture that has the autographs of everyone from the cast on it except for yours."
             "Oh, well I can fix that."
So I handed him the picture and a sharpie and he signed it. Then he said,
            "Wow, you even have Bill Davis'."
             "Yeah, he was great. I even got a picture with him. (Thanks Hal!)
I showed him a few pictures and he said,
            "Oh you got Chris."
             "Yup, and here's me with Tom, Bruce and Dean."
He continued looking at the pictures so I said:
            "There were all from Triangle but I didn't see you there."
            "Yeah, I was probably hiding." <laugh>
             <smile> "My friends saw you, but I don't know where I was."
Then he handed the pictures back and I thanked him.

Here's the scene they shot next. Doggett storms out of the Deli, Scully follows, they talk, then Skinner joins them. In between takes, Mitch and Gillian came back in the Deli to wait for their cue. There was a bowl of candy and Gillian popped one in her mouth. (Of course I too had to eat one. Later though. I also grabbed one to keep as a souvenir. Here's a picture of them. I'm such a geek!) Everyone had one or two during the course of the night and a debate ensued over what the flavor was. Butterscotch of some sort won.

While waiting for the camera to move to a new position, Mitch asked me for a straw. He then started shooting spitballs at the two crew guys who had sat down at the counter I was behind. He got off a couple of good shots before they too grabbed straws and started a full blown spitball war. Mitch even shot some at Kim Manners. Of course, Kim was outside so they just hit the glass wall. When Gillian started to walk in, Mitch turned to the crew guys and said, "Get Gillian." Wisely, they didn't. We had quite some time to wait so Mitch sat down at the counter and started playing the IQ game. The two crew guys were also playing. No one had won yet so I had to throw out the challenge.
            "Um, just to give you something to shoot for, I've solved that game twice now."
They laughed and said, "Yah, but what's your average?"
            "Oh, I usually leave two or three." <smile>
Then Mitch said, "I'm playing for genius level."
The variation of the game is to leave eight pegs in the board with no possible jumps. We worked on that together. First we figured out the only pattern that eight pegs could possibly be left in the board with no jumps possible. None of us solved that one. The most we ever left was six. One of the crew claimed he left seven. But no one actually saw it. ;-)

They were finally ready to shoot that scene and since they could still see inside the Deli, I was told to wipe the counters. Kim came in and told me exactly what area they could see and told me to stay within that area. That part of the counter has never been so clean! I might just be a blur in the background but I really doubt I'll be seen at all during that part.

For the next scene, I was left alone in the Deli with one or two crew members scattered about. They were filming outside. Here's the scene: Doggett gets in his truck, pulls a U and drives away. Scully gets into her car which has the guest star of the week in the passenger seat, also pulls a U and drives away. I sat down at a table by the window where I could see the monitors and the live action. Just on the other side of the glass was Kim Manners. I alternated between watching the monitors and the real people for a while, playing the IQ game and trying to watch Gillian inconspicuously. Finally I pulled out a book and read the whole thing. Yup, there is that much waiting around on the set. I read somewhere an actor saying, "I act for free, I get paid to wait." Don't know who said it but it's so true!

Watching eventually got tiring so I curled up in a booth and tried to sleep. That didn't last long. They were finally going to start shooting inside the Deli. Lisa came in, told me to get back behind the counter and told me what was going to happen. She showed me the script, said Robert will speak, Gillian will answer and that's when I walk up to them and set the coffee down in front of Robert. Then she said, "Here, why don't you keep this." Then she handed me the sides of everything we were shooting that night plus the call sheet. For once I didn't have to sweet talk my way into getting a call sheet. Very cool!

Bear came in, asked me my name and asked if I was ready to go. I said yes, except that I didn't have the coffee I was supposed to serve. (For those of you who were on the set of Fight Club, Bear was the AD with the megaphone who kept telling us to be quiet. For those of you who weren't on the set of Fight Club, Bear was the AD with the megaphone in Hollywood AD who asked Craft Service what Tea Leoni's shoulder was made of.) Anyway, he made sure someone took care of me, got me the coffee I was supposed to serve, etc.

First they shot with the cameras facing Mitch and Gillian. It ended up being very tight quarters. In order to get where I needed to be, they sandwiched me between the two cameras and directly behind me was the counter. They decided Robert needed to start from the same place. So here I am jammed into a tiny spot and then Robert Patrick joins me. We shot Robert joining Gillian and Mitch, they spoke, then I walked up to their table and set down the coffee. Wow, my big acting break! They all look at me then Robert says "Thanks" I smiled and walked away. Well back to the small space between the two cameras. At one point, Robert and I were standing about two inches away from each other, facing each other and Robert said, "Are you okay?" I answered, "Yah" but for some bizarre reason my voice was about two octaves too high.

That's where I stood while they filmed the whole scene. Gillian was right in my line of sight so I tried not to stare at her too much. I didn't want to make her nervous. While looking around, I noticed that Robert was wearing white boxers covered with dogs. I don't know if those were Robert's or if they were supposed to be Doggett's. The scene took place at 3:30 or so in the morning and Doggett was woken up and asked to come to the Deli and the script said he dressed in a hurry. Which would probably explain why his boxers were visible in the first place

During the break while they moved the cameras, Gillian also noticed the boxers. She asked what was on them so Robert pulled them out a little to show her the dogs. Gillian then called him Dog Butt for a while. Gillian, Mitch, and Robert got along really well. They laughed and joked with each other in between takes. It was cool to see them laughing and giggling then get immediately serious when it was time to shoot. They teased each other too. They kept calling Robert "# 4", Mitch "# 3" and Gillian "# 2" according to their numbers on the call sheet. It was pretty funny and they all meant it in good fun. When they needed to move the cameras again they huddled together to do some game Gillian described for them. From what I could gather, they took turns writing something then they'd fold it down so the next person couldn't see it and they'd continue from there. I think they also took turns drawing parts of a picture. It took a while to do because they kept getting interrupted to shoot another take. Gillian started it, Robert took it next and Mitch finished it. While Mitch was finishing his turn Robert went out for a smoke. He told Gillian not to read it without him. Then they started getting silly, expressing how much he wanted to be there when they read/looked at it. When Mitch finished, they started yelling for # 4 so they could look at it. The three of them then huddled together in a booth and giggled like school kids.

While they were doing this, most everyone else was playing the IQ game. I finally solved it again and being the math teacher I am, I thought I'd figured out the sequence. So I tried it again and solved it again. One of the crew guys saw me solve it the second time and was impressed. I told him I'd figured it out and could solve it again and for some reason he didn't believe me. He bet me five bucks I couldn't do it again and by this time several crew members were watching us so I really had no choice but to bet him. I was a little nervous due to the crowd watching but I solved it again and he forked over the five bucks. Another crew guy told me to try it starting with a different space open. I thought for a moment, trying to figure it out then asked if he wanted to bet me. He said no but I solved it for him anyway.

It got pretty boring after that. I couldn't hear what Gillian, Mitch and Robert were laughing over, I'd read my book and solved the game so I had nothing to do but wait. I listened to Kim Manners and someone else discussing directing and upcoming projects, etc. Someone came in and touched up my hair which was cool. They don't usually fuss with the extras.

While waiting someone came around passing out scripts for the next episode. Someone left one laying around so of course I flipped through it. Wouldn't you? ;-)

Finally they were ready for the last angle. From where the camera was set up I had to hide behind a light stand to wait for my cue. We were all pretty tired by this time so we didn't do too many takes.

At 4:30 am they finally wrapped us! Bear said to say good-night to Gillian, Mitch, Robert and me! Very cool. I followed them back to base camp, changed out of my waitressing outfit and looked for an opportunity to grab a picture with Gillian. Unfortunately, getting my voucher signed took longer than it should so all I could do was helplessly watch as Gillian walked by me, got into her car and drove away.

All in all an incredibly awesome experience. I got home at 5 am, slept all the way till 6 am then got back up and headed to LA to teach middle school. The crew kept teasing me all night about having to work again so soon. I managed to stay awake all day and even lasted through Open House and having to deal with parents. By the time I got home at 8 pm however, I crashed. I slept very soundly till 6 am Friday morning. BTW, the hair people on X-Files are amazing. My hair stayed looking fabulous till I took it down Friday night. The other teachers said that for once I looked like a teacher and not one of the students. Is that a compliment?

Feel free to ask me anything. I'm sure I left stuff out. Hopefully I'll have another great experience on Tuesday on DD's movie.

Oh, I have major spoilers about episode 8 and 9 which I will probably send over to the Haven.

Hope you enjoyed this report. - Little Star

PS - Thanks to everyone who has emailed me. I will answer all your emails, I promise, I'll get to them this weekend. For now, here's some answers to a couple of questions most of you have asked me.

What kind of car does Gillian drive?     Forgive me for being misleading. Gillian was driven away from the set, she herself did not actually drive. As to what kind of car that was, um, it had four wheels? I'm really lame about cars but I think it was some kind of SUV, jeep looking thing. (Did I mention I'd been up for 23 hours!?)

Give me the spoilers about Episode 8 please! Um, I'm really reluctant about answering this one. Everyone of my friends that I've shared spoilers for this episode with has been distressed by them, including me. I guess I'll probably send them out with severe warnings attached to them. If you must have spoilers, I'll gladly give you episode 9. As for 8, I'm hoping the script has changed from what I have or at least it will look better on screen then on paper.

October 28, 2000

The Haven has my spoilers up, and I've also sent them to The_Spoiler_Files.