The Longest Birthday: Working With Tom Cruise
Feb 07 '03
The Bottom Line No animals were harmed in the making of this film, but some of us humans had it pretty rough.
Foreword:
I actually worked three days on "The Last Samurai"; Tom was present only on the second of these (my birthday). I include descriptions of the first and third days for those interested in more details about movie-making in general and this Edward Zwick film in particular.
Day 1: The Stand-In
Prior to the actual filming on the Warner lot, director Ed Zwick & D.P. (Director of Photography) John Toll did screen tests to see how the various 19th Century costumes looked on the actors when filmed. I was to stand in for two of the Japanese actors, Masao Harada and Hiroyuki Sanada.
What a stand-in does is pose for the camera between takes while the camera and lights are re-adjusted for the next shot. The stand-in just needs to match the actor's height, build, race, and hair color. Usually one doesn't even need a special costume. The job's a no-brainer, except that one must always be close by the set, listening attentively for the signal to go on. For this the stand-in gets a slight pay-bump ($25 per day more than extras), but a stand-in can get many more days of work: as many days as the actor he's replacing. (Extras are rarely used for more than one day of shooting.) But getting all that work can be a mixed blessing when the days are extremely long, as they often are on huge productions.
To me the biggest payoff of being a stand-in was social. As a member of the Cinema Dept., I was no longer an untouchable: the crew actually spoke to me for a change! As an aspiring screenwriter, the networking potential made my head swim. One of my scripts (set in the Spanish Civil War) would've been a good fit for an epic producer-director like Zwick. Alas, I was not chosen to return as a stand-in, and I'll never know why. Maybe it was because I wasn't exactly the same height as the actors; perhaps I took a second too long to respond to my cues or was otherwise inconvenient, who knows? With the enormous talent pool in L.A., filmmakers can be as finicky as they want.
But I would hardly call the day a total loss. I got to see some terrific Western and Japanese period costumes by Ngila Dickson, whose New Zealand company designed costumes for the "Xena" & "Hercules" TV series and Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. I also got to see a couple of actors I recognized: Billy Connolly and Timothy Spall. Actually I didn't realize it was Spall at first, not until I saw him in a kimono. Suddenly I remembered him from Mike Leigh's "Topsy-Turvy" and I called out, "The Lord High Executioner!" Tim smiled back. Later I recalled that his character actually played the Mikado, not Koko, in that film. Still, it was a very pleasant moment, and I would see him again.
Day 2: The Longest Birthday
On November 1st, my 42nd birthday, I arrived at Warner Bros. at 7 AM, a typical call-time (I'd only get up that early for show biz). I had a costume fitting days before, so I knew I'd be playing a retainer in the Emperor's palace. The other Japanese extras were cast as retainers, servants, & guards. After donning my costume, a simple but elegant black dress uniform, I had my hair and makeup done. I wasn't too thrilled with how they slicked down my hair with gel & spray until it resembled a hard candy shell, but oh well.
The soundstage containing the palace set was crammed with equipment and materials. Our holding area was just a collection of folding chairs in a corner. The palace interior took up only half the building; a gigantic array of hot lights and air-conditioning blowers consumed most of the remaining space. The quality of detail inside the palace was staggering: the woodwork, the murals, the tatami floor mats, the shoji screens, everything was top-notch. We were all instructed to wear paper booties (for clean rooms) between takes so as not to dirty the mats.
During the long wait before our scenes, I learned more about the story. In the 1870s, Civil War veteran Capt. Woodrow Algren (Tom Cruise), now a spokesman for Winchester Arms, goes to Japan to advise the Meiji Emperor on the modernization of his armed forces. To unify Japan under imperial rule, the last rebellious samurai (presumably of the Tokugawa shogunate) must be vanquished. When Algren is wounded and finally meets the samurai, led by Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe), he learns about their ancient, noble tradition. This makes Algren question whose side he should be on.
I thought to myself, Sounds cool. Let's hope it's not "Dances With Samurais." Fortunately Zwick has a quality track record: "Glory" (1989), "Legends of the Fall" (1994), and "The Siege" (1998), among many others. He may not be a household name now, but I suspect he hopes to change that with "The Last Samurai". It has Oscar-bait written all over it. The Japanese are certain to eat it up, and I can only hope the American audience will be as receptive to an epic in which most of the actors perform in Japanese with subtitles, except when speaking with foreigners like Cruise.
Finally it was time to go on set. We retainers stood at attention along the path leading to the Emperor's throne. This scene was Algren's introduction to Emperor Meiji (Shichinosuke Nakamura). Simon Graham (Tim Spall) was present as a translator & liaison to help Algren with the Japanese customs. Masao Harada looked very dapper in a Western suit as the defense minister Omura. Once Zwick and Toll were satisfied with the camera and lighting, out went the stand-ins. The actors took their places…
And in walked Tom Cruise. Now I've seen plenty of stars over the years, and I don't usually make a big deal of it, but Tom belongs to the pantheon of demi-gods, so it was hard not to stare for at least a few moments. The long hair and scruffy beard you've seen him in lately are for this movie. He wore the blue dress uniform & sword of a U.S. cavalry officer and moved with easy confidence, not as if he owned the place. In case you were wondering, it's true that he's shorter than the average leading man, about 5'8" or 5'9" (one can't know for certain when he's in boots, possibly with lifts inside).
If the tabloid press is any indicator, Tom's suspected homosexuality is a topic of public interest. I find this curiosity distasteful and have no observations to make about him on this issue. Consider that even now, gay actors have to live in the Rock Hudson era, in that coming out is still career suicide insofar as playing straight roles are concerned. Yet straight stars can play gay characters with impunity (example: Ed Harris & Meryl Streep in "The Hours"). Because of this viciously unfair double standard, I'd rather that actors like Tom Cruise & Jodie Foster be left in peace.
Cruise stayed focused and professional at all times, just like Zwick. Fortunately they had a very friendly rapport - it was a productive collaboration rather than a clash of Godzilla-sized egos. Most actors behave more responsibly at work than you might expect. Those who've been around as long as Tom don't need hand-holding: they show up knowing their lines, ready to work. That's a big relief for meticulous directors like Zwick, who can focus instead on the numerous details of getting a perfect shot: the composition, the blocking, the pace, the way light falls upon a face at a crucial moment, all the minutiae that go into every Panavision frame. Tom had a similar devotion to detail, not for the sake of looking perfect, but for the good of the picture. He cares about how he looks, of course, but I think he knows the best actors make each other look good, like musicians in a band - one of the keys to getting that elusive movie-magic lightning to strike.
As for us extras, the lengthy multiple takes were grueling. I stood at attention in one spot for so long, I left footprints in the carpet. Tom and the other actors of course had bigger burdens, but they also enjoyed comforts that we did not. Between takes, we often had to remain in place with the stand-ins while assistants hovered around the stars, fetching them seats and drinks.
The one great equalizer on a movie set is the food. We eat the same delicious catered meals together, peasants & royalty, and at this high-prestige project, we ate even better than usual. Of course pigging out has its downside: one tends to get drowsy afterward, which does wonders for standing at attention. Later that evening, we did another major scene, which I believe was the grand finale. Zwick & Toll set up numerous angles on Cruise and Nakamura and fine-tuned their performances more than usual. I won't give the ending away.
How long were we there? We finally wrapped at 4 AM the next day. Deducting 1 hour for lunch, that's 20 hours. Yeah, we raked in the overtime, but imagine how we felt - my brain was fried to a crispy golden brown. Even Tom was getting cranky: "Come on, let's shoot this thing!" After editing, this day's work might be just ten minutes on screen. That's show biz.
Day 3: Earning Smoke Pay the Hard Way
On my third day of work, I was playing the same retainer on the same set (modified) in another part of the story. This scene had only Japanese actors in it: Watanabe, Harada, & Nakamura. Fortunately, this time we retainers were seated the whole time at a huge conference table. Since many of us (myself included) were not fluent in Japanese, Zwick walked us through the dialogue so we could listen for our cue to react.
Basically the rebel samurai Katsumoto shows up with a sword wrapped up to give to the Emperor, and Omura gives him grief because carrying a sword is forbidden in the palace. The guards arrest Katsumoto and take him away. The retainers react subtly to the angry words exchanged. I'm sure it'll all make sense if you see the movie.
The nasty part was that Zwick wanted as many of us to smoke as possible, for atmosphere. I don't smoke normally, but I used to (it was never really a habit), so I volunteered. We had a choice of cigars or cigarettes, and I chose the latter. But Zwick needed more smoke: that meant stogies for everyone. They were cheap, crummy cigars, but hey, we Japanese are a stoic people. "Action!" Puff, puff, puff. Big clouds of blue smoke filled the air. We listened and reacted on cue. The air-conditioning went on between takes, but it malfunctioned at first, bathing us in warm air. Just what we needed.
After many hours of this, we all felt pretty sick. My mouth tasted like an ashtray, but I got just enough air and water to handle the nausea. Zwick apologized profusely and assured us it would soon be over. Yeah, we got a little "smoke pay" bonus, but normally movie smoke is generated by relatively harmless machines. This time we did it the old-fashioned way. I'm sure it'll look great on the big screen.
Afterword:
This was an ordeal, but it was also one of the best gigs of my life. None of us extras will earn residuals, but we get a kick whenever a movie feels like something important. For all we know, this one could become a classic. The production is now in New Zealand to shoot the battle scenes, which should be spectacular, esp. if Zwick follows in Kurosawa's footsteps, as I suspect he's trying to do here. If all goes well, "The Last Samurai" will be released before the end of this year. I'm definitely checking it out.
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