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| Zoe Kravitz walking to train platform. |
I have just completed my breakout role in a major Steven Soderbergh movie. The movie titled Kimi stars Zoe Kravitz.
I was hired as an extra, which can lead to exciting possibilities or to editing extinction. Extras are seemingly assigned to background roles randomly, and I joined the passengers waiting for the train group, or Company Peach. Names of colors were the organizing tool to move large numbers of people in a chaotic setting, much the way kindergarteners have buses designated as the Bluebird or the Goldfinch bus.
Movie making starts early as even extras are subject to wardrobe, hair and makeup calls. Even though we were told to bring outfit options, a high percentage of us were redesigned anyway by the wardrobe people. I regretted having obediently dragged along a small carry bag with alternative clothing as I was deemed perfectly outfitted on my first try. Everyone, however, passed through the hair and makeup department with no changes and nothing added which left us with several hours to wait patiently for our action time. Normally it would be entertaining to chat with fellow extras during this down time, but covid favors introverts and we were separated by a mandated space that made conversation difficult. The required masks not only discouraged idle conversation, but made it almost impossible to understand all the shouted orders by organizers. Humans are highly adaptive. If our leader waited for us to do something, we formed a line; otherwise, we politely stayed in place.
There were twenty of us in Company Peach; most of those twenty people looked to be well under age forty. There was a dearth of senior citizens in the entire gathering which surprised me. When the mostly young Company Peach was called to action, we headed down to the train station platform. Five of us would board a train car with Zoe, the only movie star involved in the scene. Several more would board adjoining train cars. The rest of us were relegated to milling about as passengers waiting for the next train. As we practiced all the variables of milling about, another woman and I were motioned over to the up-bound escalator. Halfway up the stairs beside us was Zoe, the movie star, waiting to descend.
At the given signal for action, my new best friend and I are seen going up the escalator as Zoe passes us on her way down to the trains. We repeat this action at least seven times before Zoe gets it right. My companion and I were perfect on the first take.
