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My Brush with Greatness
 
In 1988, Glenn Savan published "White Palace", a May-September love story set in St. Louis.
The older woman in the novel worked at White Castle, but that puritanical Christian-oriented family
company refused to have its name sullied with a story of extra-marital love, so Savan was forced to
make up a different name. He enjoyed a splash in the best-seller lists, but more importantly, he caught
the eye of Hollywood. Universal Studios greenlit the movie version almost instantly.

In 1989 I worked at Duff's Restaurant in the Central West End of St. Louis. The owners were offered
money to close down the restaurant so they could shoot scenes for the movie, and they accepted.
All the workers, including waiters, would be paid what we would have made anyway.
We were also offered parts as extras in the scenes. My career as an actor was finally skyrocketing...

;-)

The first two days were "hurry-up-and-wait"--literally hours between takes, twenty minutes during
the same take to re-locate the camera, adjust the lights, take care of electrical buzz from the ancient
circuitry in the building, you name it. It was the most boring thing I've ever 'done'--wait ten minutes
for "Action!", forty seconds of shooting, "Cut!" and wait all over again.

During the first day, director Luis Mandoki actually sat at our table between takes, making small talk.
This was his first feature film, and he was a bit nervous and very non-star-like...it was as if he was
just happy to be along for the ride. But when it came to analyzing takes between shots, he was all
business with the cinematographer and cast.

One moight, when the filming went late, they sent out for pizza. I remember a young assistant director
crabbing to Luis about the choice of company for pizza--it was Domino's, the notorious anti-choice
Catholic company. She made sure everybody knew NOT to order Domino's EVER AGAIN, and I never have.

By the third day, the cast and crew were really relaxed. No one was bothering any of the stars
with small talk or staring at them. Two crazy things happened that I found noteworthy:

Susan Sarandon had brought her and Tim Robbins' children to town for the duration of the filming.
Famously, they have never married, and I say more power to them for their personal choice. But:

James Spader and Susan Sarandon were standing at the end of the bar, necking, between takes.
For, literally, an hour or more at a time. When I mentioned this to that young assistant director I had
befriended by this time, she said "Oh, they're just keeping in character."

Yeah. Right. The scenes of their love affair had already been filmed, in the can...but they still
needed to be kissing? In public? Deep French kissing, like they're in a hotel room somewhere?
Whatever the reason, they really heated up the set. What made no sense to me was this:
during the shots at the restaurant, they were FIGHTING.

Cool...but this one is cooler still.

I was sitting on a chair against the wall, watching Sarandon and Spader stand together at the bar.
Above my head, behind me, high up on the wall, there was a shelf. Purses and knapsacks were piled up on it.

As if in a dream, Susan Sarandon approached me. She reached for the shelf above me.
I saw her coming and started to get up and out of her way, but she said, "Don't bother,"
and reached up right above me to dig around in her purse.

Her breasts were dangling right in my face...I sat there, squirming.
Cool as a cucumber, she finished and said, "Thank you," her eyes heavy-lidded and
avoiding mine, yet smiling. She walked back to the bar with her hands empty.

I'm sure she did it on purpose; I'd bet my house. I'll never forget it...Wow!

I also made it into the film as a driver. They shot outdoor scenes of James Spader walking into
the restaurant through the light flakes of snow. I sped by him in my 1978 Toyota Corrolla hatchback,
too fast to see the rust spots.

After three days of filming, they decided to RE-SHOOT EVERY SCENE I WAS IN, in New York.
Everything got cut except the exteriors. So much for my budding film career!

The film was released in 1990; as I said, compared with today, from publication of the novel
in 1988 to release of the critically-acclaimed film in 1990, this movie was made FAST.
 Later,
 Daddy-O!

I wonder about those "between takes" kissing scenes.

I remember years ago, I read in TV Guide that on the set of 24,
Keefer spent the first three days shooting bedroom scenes with Kim Raver.

But as the season unfolded, she was always at another location.
They only saw each other briefly - there were no loves scenes between them.

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