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Extras, extras

Hudson-Catskill Newspapers

NEW LEBANON — The line slowly snaked through the crowded room. The final destination, a chat with two people from casting, seemed like it might take days to occur.

I was in New Lebanon with my wife, Kara, to try and get a part as an extra in Ang Lee’s new film, “Taking Woodstock,” which is being filmed in Columbia County in August.

We had just finished filling out the required paperwork, which included such questions as “willing to do nudity?” and “willing to camp on location for a period of time?” I answered “no” to the first question and “yes” to the second.

A long line of people, many dressed in 1960s-era clothing, were ahead of us Monday at the casting call, which took place at the Church of the Immaculate Conception.

Photographs of Catholic Cardinals and others lined the wall next to where we were standing. Below that three images from Woodstock had been pasted up, making for a strange dichotomy.

Some of those in line looked as if they had been at the actual 1969 music event that came to define a generation. Others looked too young to even remember the festival redux in 1999.

The guy behind us, Rick Bossard, an Albany native with long hair and a beard, said he had missed the original concert. “I got turned away by cops on the Thruway,” he said.

Bossard, a retired state employee, said he had come to the casting call just to see if he could get in. “I’ll take a 100 bucks a day to act like I’m having a good time,” he said with a laugh.

He said he expected “tedium” if he was picked to be an extra.

“It will probably be the constant reshuffling of people in a field,” he mused, adding it would probably resemble what we were now experiencing.

The line moved forward a few more inches and I struck up a conversation with the man in front of us.

Fred Crisp, from Canaan, said he and his wife had come to the casting call “for fun.”

“Wouldn’t be a lark to get in,” he said, “I’m getting old. How many chances do you get to be in a movie?”

I asked Crisp, who had short gray hair and was dressed more conservatively than those around him, what role he was going for.

“A townsperson,” he laughed, “what else could I go for? Give me a break.”

He kiddingly muttered something about “dirty hippies” which elicited a “hey, watch it pal” from Bossard.

Crisp said he had been running a local Dairy Queen, which he and his wife owned, at the time of the original concert.

By this time we were nearing the area where the filmmakers were taking digital photographs of all the potential extras. There was a series of numbers on ring binders next to where the people stood.

I was number 147.

After the photographs we were shuffled into another line.

Almost two hours after we had begun our journey we were face to face with the woman from casting. Ten seconds later we were done.

She asked us a few questions about our availability, whether we would grow our hair and if we had previous acting experience.

Walking out of the church Kara and I discussed whether we had been chosen or not. The answer seemed to be — “wait and see.”

To reach reporter Andrew Amelinckx please call 518-828-1616 or e-mail aamelinckx@registerstar.com.

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