Cinderella in Kimonos: Filming Memoirs of a Geisha (Part One)

On January 3rd, the casting office called at 5 PM to offer me a two-day stand-in gig in Sacramento starting the next morning – unusually short notice, even in this business. Despite the distance and the lodging expense, I figured saying yes would help me get more work later on. Instead of riding my motorcycle, I caught a Greyhound at 1 AM to reach Sacramento before my 4:30 AM call-time. Then chartered buses took the extras and crew from the Sheraton to the film’s base camp near the American River at Pilot Hill, one hour away.

Due to recent torrential rainstorms, our camp, an array of enormous trucks and trailers, stood in a sea of mud. Oh, joy. Except for me and two other male stand-ins (Michael & Eric), the extras were Asian females of various ages, plus a few children and their parents. Michael’s face seemed familiar – to my chagrin, he reminded me that years ago he did the casting for Kung Phooey! – the most insipid, moronic film I ever worked on. My taking a role in that god-awful movie was the sort of regrettable decision every actor makes sooner or later.

After a catered hot breakfast, the extras were turned into peasants by the wardrobe, hair, & makeup people. What surprised us all was that several volunteers were needed to go into the freezing cold river; even with a small bonus and a neoprene wetsuit under the costume, this was not a prospect anyone relished. (Maybe that’s why we weren’t warned in advance.) But we had enough wannabes willing to do anything to be in the movies. Alas, I had to wear a bulky one-piece rubber drysuit under a cotton kimono, just in case a dunking was called for.

All of us were shuttled in vans to the set by the river. The road was so muddy we had to go around vehicles that had gotten stuck; our vans bounced and slithered through the turns, wheels flinging mud like an SUV commercial. I heard later that truckloads of gravel were brought in to make the road drivable again; one tractor sent to pull a truck from the mud got stuck as well, requiring yet another tractor to rescue both.

The actual set location was amazingly picturesque: the kind of place river rafters stop to have lunch and admire the lush green hills. Naturally upon arrival we waited hours for the set to be completed. These scenes involved workers rinsing newly-dyed fabric in the stream; in the background, the long sheets were hung up to dry, suspended between bamboo poles on shore. The script excerpt I read indicated flying bombers would be reflected in the river (CGI, of course), and blood-red dye would flow in it, too. Yeah, real subtle. The water rescue team gave us a safety lecture; to prevent hypothermia, no one would stay in the water more than a few minutes at a time, and we had a tent with a heater to warm up in between takes.

One actor played the chief Kimono Maker supervising his workers; that’s why I, as his stand-in, had my diving suit on (which at least insulated me from the weather). Doreena, Ziyi’s stand-in, was encased in a similar outfit. This shared ordeal led to our teamwork at the Porta-Potties; we took turns unzipping one another each time we had to relieve ourselves. Our drysuits had horizontal outer & inner zippers between the shoulder blades that could only be zipped with the wearer’s arms extended. Ironically this turned out to be the closest thing to work I did all day; since the production was running late, they went straight to rehearsal and shooting without us. Evidently the actors decided against getting wet, a wise choice in my opinion.

If you’re wondering how well Ziyi acts in English with a Japanese accent, I really can’t say. From my vantage point I couldn’t hear her, but I can confirm she is a pleasure to watch, even in Sayuri’s down-&-out postwar phase. Ziyi wore colored contacts to simulate her character’s mutant blue-gray eyes; I don’t expect this to become an Asian fad, but you never know how far some of us will go to be honorary white people.

Michael, standing-in for Koji Yakusho (Sayuri’s sugar daddy, Nobu), was so appalled by the substandard conditions we had to endure that he refused to return the next day. He had a valid point, but I chose to maintain a cheerful attitude and view this as an adventure. Certainly the crew had to work harder than we did, and usually without the comforts of propane heaters and folding chairs. Eric, a first-timer like many of the extras, had a fairly sanguine attitude like me. When he and his girlfriend Gloria learned I might be staying overnight at the Sheraton at my own expense, they generously offered to let me stay at their house in Sacramento. So despite the weather, the mud, the rubber suit, and the lack of a proper lunch break, I figured things were looking up. By the time we returned to Sacramento, it was as dark as when we started. Rarely have I been as grateful for a hot dinner and a shower as I was that night!

Day Two: Sayuri and Nobu

After a short snooze, Eric, Gloria, and I were ready for further punishment. This time, preparations at the set went more quickly, the weather had improved slightly, and the muddy roads were less treacherous. Taking no chances, I scarfed down a delicious omelet made to order; with six or more hours between meals, pigging out is a survival strategy (obesity is an occupational hazard). Best of all, Doreena and I didn’t have to wear the rubber drysuits! Hallelujah!

This day we found ourselves doing the stand-in work we’d been hired for. With 20-ft. long sheets of colorful kimono silk gaily rippling in the breeze, we were ready for the scene of Sayuri meeting Nobu after the war, when he tells her it’s time to quit her peasant day-job and return to geisha business. Eric, now standing in for Koji (Nobu), was issued a matching fedora and coat. I stood in for Jimmy Leung, playing a youth who informs Sayuri of her visitor’s arrival. It didn’t seem to matter that I was taller than the actor; Doreena was also taller than Ziyi, I think.

Our director Rob Marshall, always courteous and professional, rarely had to address us directly, but at least made a point of greeting us by name. As in an army, we had a chain of command, so orders came via the D.P. (Director of Photography), the 2nd A.D. (Asst. Director), and the two P.A.’s (Production Assistants) assigned to herd the extras. I realized that with over 150 people in our cast & crew (many with walkie-talkies), communication had to be restricted to essential talk within the hierarchy.

My job was to listen for cues and walk or stand as directed until Marshall and the D.P. were satisfied with the blocking, composition, lighting, focus, etc. Then Doreena and I would step out, and the actors would rehearse and shoot the scene. What looks simple and takes only a minute of screen time can take hours to film; that’s one reason the budgets are so ridiculous.

Lunch was a huge improvement over the previous day, since the caterers were able to bring their full BBQ grill and buffet table down to the set. Though stand-ins may schmooze with the crew, I chose to hang out with the extras, the untouchables of the Hollywood caste system. Some of them were so new to movie work, they did not know (& should’ve been told) that asking actors for autographs and taking pictures on set were verboten. A few of their photos surfaced on the Web, naturally, for ex.: http://www.helloziyi.us/Movies/memoirs-of-a-geisha.htm

In the afternoon, I watched the filming of the Sayuri-Nobu reunion; their voices were subdued, so I couldn’t hear them (no doubt they wore radio mikes, or they’ll loop their dialogue later). Koji in makeup didn’t look nearly as disfigured as Nobu was described in the book; he had both arms intact, and on the right side of his face was a ruddy venous pattern that one might call distracting rather than eww, gross. Well, that’s Hollywood for you.

Though I was offered another day of work in Sacramento on a train station scene, I had to decline; two days of sleep deprivation and exposure were enough – I needed to go home. After work, Eric & Gloria kindly gave me a lift to the bus depot; I returned to S.F. about 11 PM, and slept like a log most of the next day.

Part Two: Filming in San Francisco