Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with Prince Chawmin's experiences as an extra on Ron Howard's CINDERELLA MAN, a boxing pic with Russell Crowe. Now, the fair Prince doesn't stay his hand when talking about Crowe's... well, Croweian antics onset. I've met the man briefly twice (once just after LA CONFIDENTIAL and once right before MASTER AND COMMANDER started shooting) and he was nothing but kind and generous to me and the many people who approached him asking for autographs and photos. So, it always puzzles me when I hear all this Bad Boy stuff about him. That being said, I'm looking forward to this movie, despite it almost being A BEAUTIFUL MIND 2 (as it is starring Crowe, directed by Howard and written by Akiva Goldsman). Enjoy the below from the fair prince!
Hi Harry,
Prince Chawmin' here, in Toronto, Canada with a set report from the movie Cinderella Man. Incase not everyone is familiar with the movie it’s a rags to riches tale about a young boxer who meets a handsome prince at a ball and end up falling in love. Wait… hold on. Sorry I’m getting things mixed up. Cinderella Man The story of Depression-era fighter and folk hero Jim Braddock, who defeated heavyweight champ Max Baer in a 15-round slugfest in 1! 935. (as per the IMDB)
I was a background extra on the set of this new and probably great Ron Howard film. I showed up at 9:00am for my call at the legendary Maple Leaf Gardens and thought I had been transported back in time. There I was surrounded by hundreds of people dressed in period costumes. I was really quite the experience. I felt like I was in that episode of Star Trek where Kirk & Spock go back in time and meet Joan Collins. Wasn’t that a kick ass episode? However this is where the magic ends.
We’re all shuffled off to hair and makeup to get a little touch up. Here I am, waiting in line and a lady comes up to me and says.. you’re hair is too long and we need to “trim” those sideburns. So she pulls me out of line and sits me down in the chair. We’re exchanging pleasantries and then BUZZ!! She cut them off. OFF! She said she was going to “trim” them but she freak’n cut’em off. Now I look like a fat Forest Gump. I mean those were my burns, my chops, my lady killers. They were what defined me as a man. I mean come on.. what are the ladies gonna grab on to when we’re getting freaky? I won’t go into the butcher job she did on the back of my head. Needless to say I had to spend the next day at the solon to fix up what they had done.
After a few hours STANDING in the holding area because Russell Crowe was late. (There weren’t enough chairs for everyone so some of us had to stand) we were all ushered in. There I was standing there into the fake Madison Square Garden. Lights, fake cement structures, signs, it was great. It was very impressive looking. There I sat with hundreds of extras and thousands of amputee inflatable dummies all dressed in painted on suits and tuxedos. It was magical.. well maybe not magical but it was every homosexual perverts dr! eam. (No blow up girls though.. I was very disappointed)
On set at 11:00am you could see Ron Howard coordinating some things and much to my surprise the Second Second Assistant Director was Darrin Brown the guy who got HIV in Degrassi Junior High back when I was a kid. That was uber cool. I mean that dude got to kick as Joey Jeremiah’s ass. I didn’t say anything though. I didn’t want to be one of those fan guys that crowd around. You know what I’m saying. (Canadian readers will understand)
Gradually throughout the day various other actors of note arrived on set. First was veteran Canadian Actor Nicholas Campbell and Canadian actor/comic Boyd Banks. Anyways.. soon after Russell Crowe finally arrived. Once the crowd of extras noticed a round of applause started. (Oddly enough no one even batted an eye when Ron Howard walked by 20+ times) Russell jumps in the ring as if in character and then Crowe (or should I say Jim Braddock) starts working out in the ring and the music kicks in. Blaring out of the loud speakers is Queen’s “Another One Bites The Dust”. Everyone is having a great time. Then the song re-starts Crowe then turns around and gives the guy the evil eye and they shut it off. This pretty much sets the tone for the day. (Can anyone say bi-polar?)
The setting for today was the fight between Jim Braddock Vs John Griffin. The actor playing Griffin had been in the ring all morning rehearsing with Crowe’s Stand-in so everyone was ready to shoot. Everything was going quite well until Russell started in with his famous hissy fits. The actor playing Braddock’s corner man (they guy with the spit bucket) was having troubles getting the stool & bucket through the ropes.&nb! sp; So after several takes and F* this and F* that Russell whips off his gloves and storms out of the ring. Ron Howard seemed to take it all in stride, never once looking upset or bothered by the re-takes.
This happened at least 5 times throughout the day. He would storm off when the corner man would mess up, when the fight choreography wasn’t working properly and I think just when he needed a cigarette. Wow that guy can smoke. Holy Sh*t! Since Russell had his boxing gloves on most of the day he was unable to hold his own cigarettes or light’em so they had a special guy there for that. (I wonder how much that guy gets paid.)
After 6+ hours without a break they finally let us have “lunch” at 6:00pm. I managed to get a hold of a handful of pasta a meatball and some lettuce. (Unfortunately all that was left when I was passing through the lineup although I did get 1 square inch of carrot cake)
Shortly after we returned to the set the fun started. Well not fun but the interesting stuff happened. One of the extras passed out from exhaustion! We were watching the wonderful Paul Giamatti rehearse his lines and a guy on the floor slumped over in his chair. No one really noticed at first because the guy was hidden among the inflatable dummies. Once the Second Second Assistant Director (Go Degrassi!) noticed, a medic was called in to examine the guy. Lucky bastard got to leave. The guy was helped to his feet and escorted out of the! arena to sign out. Unfortuately for the rest of us we were stuck in the 30 degree Celsius heat with our fedoras and suits. (Did I mention it was hotter than a mofo in there?)
Back to Paul Giamatti for a sec. Once again Paul looks like he’s going to put in a great performance. “POP! POP! BANG!” That’ll be the new hot phrase next year I’m sure of it. I’m starting to say it already. Giamatti plays Joe Gould Braddock’s trainer and looks as though he might steal the show. (Doesn’t he always?)
Around 9:00pm they let all the extras go. Yay! After 45 minutes in line to return the costume and leave I finally made it outside into the fresh air. I went home and collapsed. The next day I went to my hair stylist and spent $30 for them to fix the horrible job the Cinderella Man butchers did the day before. After taxes, my agents cut , subway tokens, a proper haircut etc.. I think I might have made $20.00 for 12 hours work! . SWEET!! (That’s Canadian of course)
All in all, Ron is a great director. And if anyone can make 5,000 inflatable dummies look real Ron Howard can. I’m looking forward to seeing it. Giamatti is da man. You have no idea how hard it was not to scream that out.
Best wishes from Hollywood North.
-Prince Chawmin'!
