Guest Column
We go through life setting goals that become our priorities, like career, family, etc. And when we accomplish our goals, we continually work hard to keep them. On my 50th birthday four years ago, I started to think of all the things I always wanted to do that were a little out of the ordinary, and never had the time or thought it was just a silly idea.
I decided to try something I’ve always dreamed about – acting. I called a casting agency, gave them a photo and signed up. To my surprise, within a week I got a call to play a courtroom news reporter on TV’s “Law and Order.”
I hesitated, and then said yes. I was so nervous that I couldn’t sleep or stop thinking about what a fool I was about to make of myself. I never did this and started thinking maybe I’m just having a mid-life crisis, and not being rational.
But thanks to my wife and kids, they were behind me 99 percent. The other 1 percent they thought I was a little crazy. They said, “Just do it.” So I did.
I put my work on hold for a day, got my instructions from casting, went to the set at Chelsea Piers in Manhattan and I enjoyed every minute. It was incredible. I found myself sitting on a courtroom set, taking direction from the director, working in the company of great actors like Sam Waterston, making new friends my age and being a part of something I always wanted to do. Acting. I guess you can call that acting.
Now I don’t get nervous when casting calls come in; instead, I get excited like a kid with a new toy.
When I got the casting call for HBO’s “The Sopranos,” before they finished the sentence asking me if I was interested, I immediately said yes. I would be playing a made man of the Soprano family, having drinks in the “Bada Bing” with other mobsters.
The scene was shot at a strip bar called Satin Dolls in Lodi. After getting dressed to look like a wiseguy, they said, “Wait in the holding room until your number is called.”
It was funny seeing so many pretend wiseguys in one room – it looked like a wiseguy convention. The set manager walked in and said, “You’re all professionals. Please do not take any photos, do not talk to or distract any of the main players and don’t touch the girls.” There were about five actresses playing the part of topless dancers. No special FX there.
My number was called. They said to pick a spot around the bar and remain there until you’re asked to move to another area on the set. Of course, me being the show biz ham that I am, I looked for a spot in front of the camera. Later I was moved further back in the bar.
While I was talking to other fake wiseguy extras, a door opened and the real actors started to enter the bar – James Gandolfini, “Tony Soprano”; Michael Imperioli, “Christopher”; Tony Sirico, “Paulie”; and Steve Van Zandt, “Silvio.”
In the first scene, I was directed to walk up to the bar and shake the hand of another mobster standing at the bar. This went on all morning until we broke for lunch. The main players were bused to a restaurant and the rest of us walked. A buffet was set up and the cast and crew all had lunch in the same dinning room.
When I was at the buffet table with my plate in hand, I said jokingly to the extra standing with me, “Where’s the pasta?” A guy a few people down the line from me answered, “You ain’t kiddin’.” When I looked to see who said that, it was Tony Sirico, who plays Paulie Walnuts. He laughed, I laughed; then we continued to pick at the buffet.
The highlight of that day was when the director picked me out of about 20 extras and put me a barstool away from all the main characters. He said to me, “when Tony Soprano walks past you, wait about two seconds, then hand your glass to the barmaid, then act like you’re asking her for another drink. And don’t make any sounds.”
The thing is, you really never know if you’ll be on camera until the show airs. On one of the “Law & Order” episodes I was positioned directly in front of the camera for the entire shoot. All of my fellow background actors were saying to me, “you’re definitely going to be seen.” When the episode aired they cut that scene out and all you saw was my forehead.
I’ve done several episodes of “Law & Order – Criminal Intent,” been a party guest at the New York planetarium in “Spider-Man 2” and played a detective in “Law & Order – Trial by Jury.”
It was the premiere episode of “Trial by Jury,” and I had the pleasure of working with the late Jerry Orbach. I’m the detective sitting at my desk in the background while Detective Lennie Briscoe (Orbach) is talking to another detective in the foreground. It was such a thrill to me that I videotaped it and played that scene over and over again to just about everyone I know.
Most recently I was a pedestrian walking past a bar under the Brooklyn Bridge in the movie “16 Blocks” staring Bruce Willis. I never got to see Mr. Willis – he was a no-show that particular day.
I’ve been involved in many shows working with great actors like Dennis Farina, Vincent D’Onofrio, Kathryn Erbe and Marcia Gay Harden. I started taking a few acting lessons, try to go on as many auditions that time allows me during my hectic work schedule, and I was offered a chance to play a speaking part in the story “Code Name: Ginny,” a story that takes place during World War II, scheduled to start production soon.
Being an extra or background actor is probably way down on the scale of acting. Unless you’re an extra every day of the week, you’re not going to survive on what they pay you. But I’m not looking for extra money or to win an Oscar. At 54, I’m just doing something I always wanted to do. I’m having fun, meeting interesting people and it feels great to break away from my deadlines once in a while. So no matter what age you are, it’s never too late to do something you always thought about doing.
Stop thinking about it and “Just do it.”
Joseph Ianelli of Staten Island, N.Y., is the marketing director for Seasonal World Pool and Patio stores in Freehold Town-ship and Howell.