The Society Boys By Connor Matthews
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Chapter 200 – Part One
After a week to recover from Blake's party, we had a quiet Saturday, despite it being the day before the second season of Blurred Lines' was to begin shooting. J.P., Blake, Marvin' and Garren seemed chill about it, while I was processing anything we still needed to do. I was about to do my first professional acting. This should make them rethink that idea in the future.
"You're sort of restless today," Colin said as he looked up from his computer. Probably watching cat videos or something. He seems the type. Please don't tell him I said that.
"Yeah, not sure why. Probably because all the guys are heading to the studio tomorrow. I think I'm gonna miss our normal routine."
"We have a normal routine?" Colin laughed. "Anyway, you know they come home at night, right? It's not like they're flying to Thailand to live in the jungle for months."
"I know, but it just feels different."
"Aren't you and Jason on set with them all this week? I thought all three of you were going to be in the season premiere."
"We are. I'm just thinking ahead," I replied.
"You do realize that you could just visit the studio whenever you wanted, right?"
"Think they'd let me do that?" I asked.
Colin just paused and stared at me. "You're kidding, right?"
"I guess that was pretty stupid, huh? I mean it's a show about triplets, and I'm one of the triplets," I laughed.
"That...and we own the studio," he added.
"Yeah, but do the people on set know we own the studio? I thought J.P. and Blake were keeping that to themselves."
"J.P. might get away with it as his last name is Pelletier, but Blake is a Worthington-Masters. Won't be difficult to connect the dots as to who he's related to."
"I nodded my head. Yeah, I guess I am a big name in the entertainment world, eh?" I chuckled.
"True, but we don't do porn at the studio," Colin replied without cracking a smile.
"Ow, ow. Call for the paramedics and fire department. That was a sick burn," I laughed.
At dinner we talked about tomorrow, and I found out everyone would be picked up together being the first day. I guess they do introductions and a read through of the first episode. I always thought they just got sent a script, memorized their lines, and headed to set for filming. Apparently, they do table reads where they all sit around reading the script to each other, while trying to get tones and inflections correct. Then they move to the week of filming, sometimes doing scenes several times to get it right. Who knew?
"It should be fun having all three of us there. Everyone gets to see that we really are triplets, and add some credibility to the show," J.P. reasoned.
"What do we do when we're not actually filming?" Jason asked.
"If there's a long time between scenes, that's what our trailer is for. We go rest in there. Others, like extras, do their scene and go home, or hang out in the holding room waiting for their next call."
"I'll hang out with the best boys, and those guys that have good `grips'," I replied.
"Those don't mean what you think they mean," `Marvin' commented.
"They will by the time I'm done visiting. Are you in this first episode, Garren?" I asked.
"Yeah, I have a three-episode arc, so I'm on for at least the three weeks."
"Hopefully longer," `Marvin' said with a smile. "If we can show he fits in, and his character makes you want more, maybe he can become a regular this season, and get promoted to main cast next year. Assuming we get picked up for a third season."
"Are they getting picked up for a third season, Colin?" I asked.
"No idea. That's up to the studio and the ratings the show gets. Nothing to do with me," he replied.
"I'm sure if you told them to keep the show going, the show would keep going," Troy said bluntly.
"Lots of factors in that. Is the show profitable? Do all the actors want a third season? Some may go on to another project that moves their career forward. Do the viewers want another season? Not as simple as me saying do it. Let's get the guys through season two first, shall we?"
"Ten episodes baby!" Blake blurted out. "Ten weeks of me being a total bad ass."
"As opposed to what you are now? Will you be wearing a sign so we know which is Duane bad ass, or Blake bad ass?" Jason asked, getting a small laugh from everyone.
When we finally got to bed, I think Colin had heard enough about the days ahead, especially when I kept looking at him, going `and action', just as he was getting to something fun. Although for this I'm not complaining about the multiple takes we did.
Day One The next morning the guys were up early, and if you know Blake, as you should by now, when he's awake, we're all awake. I moaned as I opened my eyes hearing Blake using our bathroom. "You need something?" I croaked from under the covers. His head appeared from the doorway.
"No, just getting ready for work," he replied holding Colin's electric razor in his hand. "The car is coming at 6."
"Six? What time is it now?" I asked trying to focus enough to see the bedside clock.
"5:10," he replied.
"Don't you have your own bathroom?" I asked trying to be reasonably quiet, as Colin was still sleeping.
"Yeah, but I don't have a face razor. Figure I should look as good as possible for the makeup person. Are you getting up?"
A face razor? What the hell is he shaving? His face is smoother than a polished bowling ball.
I groaned again. "Shit. Are we sure I couldn't just skip this part and show up later? Do you guys always have to leave this early?"
"Come on. Get up old man," he chuckled and disappeared back into the bathroom.
"Yeah, get up old man," Colin laughed from his side of the bed.
"Shut up. This is why I'm not an actor," I said wiggling up against him.
He opened his eyes to look at me. "I thought you weren't an actor because you can't act."
"Shut up. Wanna see me act straight, and not take care of this," I replied as I grabbed hold of him under the covers.
"Thought you needed to get up and get ready?" He said as he leaned in and kissed me.
"I do." I reluctantly got out of bed and headed into the bathroom to take the required morning pee. Blake was leaning in close to the mirror to check out his face. "You know if you have to look that hard, there's probably nothing to shave."
"Maybe because I already shaved it. Think I should do my pubes?"
"What pubes? Anyway, I don't think you'll be required to get naked in front of anyone, and even if you did have to change, they aren't going to be doing makeup down there," I assured him as I finished peeing and started the shower. "Why does everyone need to go in so early?" I asked.
"That's just how it is. Normally you get everyone there early for hair and makeup, so that you're ready when shooting starts. We get call sheets depending on what is being filmed each day. J.P. works the most as he's playing three characters, so he's there almost the entire time. That's why he gets paid the most."
I finished showering, dried off, and used my own razor to shave. Even at 23, I don't need to shave everyday, which I think is good. Maybe one day I'll grow a beard and go for the gangster look, but right now, I like looking younger than I am. "You staying naked, or are you going to go get dressed?" I asked Blake.
"You think they'd be okay if I showed up naked?" he joked.
I put my hand on his face and rubbed both sides of his cheeks. "I think you got both of them."
"I was thinking I'd make a great Spider-Man. Wanna know why?" Blake said grinning at us.
"Why?"
"Because we can both shoot sticky white stuff out of our bodies," he giggled.
"Groan. Where do you come up with this stuff?" I asked.
"The white stuff, or the joke?" Blake asked still grinning. "Because if you don't know where sperm comes from, we have a problem. The joke I saw in a meme."
"Go get ready Spider-Man," I suggested.
He grinned and took off. By the time I got dressed and downstairs, the rest of our actors were already there, seemingly excited to get going. Only Jason and I appeared to be less than enthusiastic. This must be the actor versus non-actor in us. I'm quite happy to stream the show at a time of my choosing, while they seemed happy being up before birds to make the actual show.
The limo pulled up into the driveway right on schedule, and we all headed for the studio. The car must have some sort of identification or something, as we drove right past the main gate with just cursory acknowledgment from security. First time I tried to go to the studio, it took several calls before I was cleared. After that, Colin got me an I.D. badge that gets me into everything.
We stopped at studio 4 and unloaded.
"Home sweet home," Blake said as he stretched and looked up at the massive building.
"I know how you feel, little brother," `Marvin' said put his arm around Blake's shoulder.
Blake spun away from him. "Hey, don't touch me homo!"
"Blake!" I said, completely shocked.
"Just getting into character, Dad. Duane's not a fan of gay guys, remember. Blake on the other hand is absolutely fine with being touched." He leaned in and gave `Marvin' a big hug.
"Isn't that the truth," J.P. laughed as we headed inside, being immediately met by security, and checked in. We were shown to the conference room that had been set up for the table read. We grabbed coffee and pastries as we met others that had arrived. When it was time to get going, we all found our assigned seats which had place cards with our real first name, and the character we were playing. Mine said, Justin, and in italics `Keith'. Jason's said Kevin, while J.P.'s had all three character's names.
"Welcome back everyone. Before we get started, we have a big announcement that I'd like to share. This season, we have been moved from the main network to the streaming service."
"What's that mean for us?" Someone asked.
"It means that the show can now take a different approach. We can take a few more liberties than with a cable show. The language and themes can become a lot more adult, allowing us a lot more freedom. You'll see this reflected in the scripts each week. The first thing you'll notice is that we are no longer restricted on the language we use."
"Fuck yeah," another person blurted out, with others laughing. I had half expected that person to be Blake.
"The other is a change in the amount of nudity we're allowed. That will mostly apply to background actors, but scenes of intimacy can now be a little more revealing and realistic. That's the big new for all of us, and the move to streaming likely means that the network has confidence that our show will be worthwhile for them. Let's give them a good season. We have a few new faces this season, so we'll go around the table and introduce yourself. Just your real name and the character you'll be playing, or the position you hold as crew."
It began with some older guy named Clive, who was the Executive producer, followed by four more older people who were Executive producers, which led to five producers, and someone who would be producing the show, a lady named Kelly. All I can think is that either all these people better be able to get along or they ain't producing shit. Clive seemed like the `go to' guy as he sort of commanded a presence in the room. It was either that, or it was because I felt like he was staring at me like I was a runt gazelle, and he was the starving head of a lion pride.
From the producers, we moved down to directors which was a much smaller list than the producers. I think I heard casting director, technical director, and actual director, named Harvell. There was a first assistant director, second assistant director, and second second assistant director. Guess if you aren't first and don't want to be third, second second is the negotiated title. Those were the people whose parents insisted everyone get a reward after competitions. Fucking participation ribbons. I better get one for participating in this show. I've been second second a lot behind my two brothers though.
There are some positions I still find interesting. As I mentioned to the guys' I'm a fan of the Best Boy and Grips, but then there's a Dolly Grip. I don't know what that position does, and frankly, I'm scared to ask. I almost chuckled at the guy who introduced himself as the boom operator. I could already see him operating. The director calls cut' and he yells out, BOOM, baby! That how we do it', or just Boom' when anything interesting happened. Not sure you need that, or maybe he's part of the H.R. motivation team. He could be fun in bed. He cums, slaps your ass hard, and says Boom! That's a wrap, baby.' The gaffer could be a good one too. Maybe he's the guy that gathers up all the blooper reels and turns your `gaffs' into DVD extra content. That could be a fun job. Oh, get this one, they have a child wrangler. I can see them yelling yee-haw and lassoing kids to put them into a corral somewhere. I'm guessing that one is pretty easy to understand. You film with kids; they are probably scurrying all over the place like mice. Someone needs to keep them in place. Blake is gonna love being controlled by one of the child wranglers. In case you're similar to Blake...that was sarcasm.
We could likely cut payroll in half if we just eliminated some of these positions. Like why do we need 10 producers? Seems like they just toss those positions out like Halloween candy. I guess someone knows something I don't. Then they have tons of managers too. From stage manager, floor manager, location manager, transportation manager, production manager, craft service manager. You don't even need to manage crafts. Just throw out some glue and glitter and most would be happy for hours. Location manager? Really? We're in one building. How easy would that job be? `Go in there.' Job done. There were tons of other introductions from camera persons to runners, personal assistants, makeup persons, and so on. I had no idea it took this many people to make one show. No wonder my streaming services subscriptions keeps going up.
Then it was introducing the `talent', (and me and Jason), to everyone. While most of crew people had been standing around the room filling it out like they were at a concert, the rest of us were seated around the table. Harvell pointed at J.P. to begin.
"I'm Jean-Paul. J.P. for short. I'll be playing the roles of Keith, Kevin and Kriss Griffin, the triplets," he said then looked at me.
"Uhhh...I'm Justin. I'm a doppelganger for J.P.," I grinned, and got a laugh from most around the table.
The director spoke up. "Jason and Justin are J.P.'s real brothers, who this season will be on set for a few cameos. It will speed up some of our production, and allow us to eliminate some trick angles with body doubles. Justin will play Keith Griffin when on set, and Jason will be playing Kevin. Sorry to interrupt the introductions, I just thought we should clear that up early."
"I guess that makes me Jason, playing Kevin," Jason said to the room.
`Marvin' went next introducing his character as Scott.
"I'm Garren and I'm a new guest character, Farris." He turned to look at Blake.
"I'm Blake and I'm this season's bad-ass, Duane."
Victoria introduced her character, Wendy, who I recognized from last season. There were new cast members, Ian as Braden, Thaddeaus Ek as Crash, and Tamara Smart as Becky. They also had a few other guest stars that I sort of recognized. Cameron Mann was guesting as Kevin's best friend, Eldon, in a recurring role. London Cheshire was playing a football jock named Shayne, while Aiden Arthur was appearing as Ashton. The two female guest stars were Saniyya Sydney playing Tamica, and Lia McHugh playing Paisley. By the time we got through everyone, I'd pretty much forgotten all their names, including my own at this point. It's bad enough meeting people for the first time and trying to remember who they are, but each one of these people had at least two names, maybe more. I'm just gonna call them all buddy, guy, dude, bro, or `hey, how's it going'.
Once all the introductions were over, the crew cleared out to go about their business, while the rest of us remained behind with our scripts. I'm still sort of concerned about what that dolly grip is going to be doing, and should we be worried at all?
"One thing to note for Jason and Justin," the director commented before we began, "on the read-through, your scripts have been highlighted for the lines we'll be asking you to say in this opening episode. All the other lines for your characters will be handled by J.P. as usual. Not a lot to read, but you'll still need to memorize them, and know your marks. Let's begin at a quick review of how last season ended."
He played the last few minutes of the season finale last year up on the monitor, and then turned to the scripts in front of us. We began the read-through on page one with an introduction to the setting, which was read by one of the assistants. We'll call him the table narrator. Line by line we went through it with each person reading out their character. The director stopped us several times to explain the inflection or emotion that was being looked for. I found it all pretty interesting as you sort of just imagine everyone showing up, filming, and going home. There was a lot more to it than that. I was now looking forward to being on the actual set. Not sure I'm gonna be any good, but it should be fun anyway.
It was a couple hours of reading, re-reading, adjusting sentences, and sometimes moving entire paragraphs for `a better flow'. (That's what she said!) What? I'm tired and starting to get giddy. We finally took a break and I honestly thought it was time to go home. It wasn't. I wandered over to the craft services area where tons of food was laid out. Totally not a glitter and glue thing. This might be my favorite part of the whole acting job. I think I'll show up here just for the food each day, working or not.
Blake was already there, standing talking to Aiden and Saniyya. They were already into whatever they were discussing when I approached.
"Hey Justin," Blake said smiling. I guess he's not calling me dad at work. Listen to me...`at work'. "Did you know Aiden's big brother has the lead role in the new TV series Chucky?"
"Younger brother," Aiden corrected. "I'm a year older. He just looks older."
"There you have it. The scoop of the day," Blake grinned. "Who knew...and this is my onscreen girlfriend, Tamica. Saniyya in real life."
"Nice to meet you. You're got stuck playing Blake's girlfriend? You should get a new manager," I laughed looking at her. They were both playing 13-year-olds, but I'm guessing she was closer to 15, maybe 16. I did love her dark skin though and how perfect it was.
She smiled. "I liked the role when I read it. Blake's character, Duane, is a bit complicated, and I think it'll be interesting to play his girlfriend."
"She's going to be the one to try and reign me in, while Garren, Thad, and London are going to be my `gang'," Blake grinned.
"This will be interesting. How does a girl reign in a 13-year-old boy?" I asked.
"Hey! I'm almost 15," he complained.
"I think he means your character," Aiden said jumping in.
"Oh, right. I guess hanging with the boys at that age still takes priority, so you're gonna have to work hard to keep me focused, Saniyya," Blake grinned as he fist bumped Aiden.
"We're gonna get together and run lines so we get the whole relationship thing to come across properly on screen. One of the first things we're shooting is Aiden's getting a black eye when I catch him kissing her."
"Sucks to be you, Aiden," I acknowledged.
"It's all good. That's when we fight and become friends."
"Nothing like the real-world `fight to become friends' scenario you see all the time. TV," I said shaking my head as I picked up some food and a bottle of water.
We finished the read, and once they were satisfied it sounded right, they said the rewrites would be sent to us tonight, and any sides would be in our trailers in the morning. I learned that the sides were the shots they were doing that day. Seems they use a lot of film specific lingo. I guess I'll have to learn it all, now that I'm an ac-tor! I'm thinking tomorrow I should wear aviator shades with a long scarf around my neck, and maybe create a cool walk. I'll plan the look when I get home, dahlings. Now someone bring me a martini...shaken, not stirred.
"Now that we've done the read, we'll give everyone the set tour. We have some adjustments to the previous set, and a few new ones as well. Following that, we'll show everyone their trailers. Then we'll break into smaller groups for final costume fitting, and a trip to hair and makeup in preparation for tomorrow's first day of shooting."
First up was a full tour of the sound stage, which included not only the big main stage with all the sets on it, but several offices, a couple conference rooms, washrooms, and the craft services area with all the food.
The sets surprised me. Some of the stuff I thought they'd actually filmed at a real school, or in a house, but here they were right in front of me. We had tons of school sets like classrooms, a gymnasium, locker room and showers, a cafeteria, and library. Many of them were designed so you could walk from one set to the next as if you were really in the school. Other sets, not so much.
Then there were the home sets with kitchens, bedrooms, living rooms, and such. There was even a backyard set. I learned that we would be going on location a few times, so I guess I owe that location guy an apology. Looks like he does have stuff to do. It was also interesting to learn that they filmed multiple scenes when they were on location. Sometimes for different episodes even. I guess that makes it cheaper if they only have to rent a location once. Then they sprinkle that footage throughout the season. Same with external shots of houses.
I learned that the football stuff they'd be doing was actually going to be shot on the backlot right here at the studio. Apparently, we have a lot of various outdoor sets like that. All you had to do was dress them for whatever scene you were replicating. I also learned that having these backlot sets was cheaper than having to rent an actual location each time. They have some basic sets that many films use, such as mansion facades, a town main street, and the football field. I already knew we had theme sets like a western town and European village. Guess that's also cheaper than flying to the actual location. The indoor sets all had tons of lighting overhead, which I guess made more sense than having to roll lights in like they do for outdoor scenes.
The main cast were assigned personal assistants who would be responsible for getting the actors to and from set, making sure they were in the right outfits. They would also run to get things the actor needed, from water and snacks, to props, relay messages, and probably fluffing, when required. The second A.D. was showing us around, and stopped at J.P.'s dressing room first.
"I always wondered why you use trailers. Wouldn't it be cheaper to build dressing rooms inside the building?" I asked as we looked around the space he'd been given.
"Each production's needs vary, so space in the studio is maximized for consistent requirements," she explained. "Offices, conference rooms, largest space possible for sets, etc. It's better to have trailers that can be added, removed, or relocated when needed. This studio has a proper layout where trailers can be placed under canopies that allow actors to walk to set without getting wet in the rain, or to stay out of the hot sun."
"Makes sense," I nodded. "Guess if they spend hours in make-up only to get wet, it could slow things up. Does everyone get a trailer?"
"Cast regulars and guest stars do. Extras will stay in the holding room. Sometimes when we have a lot of guest stars, we have to share space, but usually the schedules vary enough that we don't have people on top of each other, or we just bring in more trailers.
"Do Justin and I really need our own trailer, considering how little we'd be on set?" Jason inquired. "We're pretty used to sharing. I'm sure J.P. and Blake wouldn't mind if we used theirs."
"I'm fine with that," J.P. replied.
"Uh, no!" Blake said quickly. "I'll be hosting regular events in there, and I can't have you cramping my style. I'm main cast this year, not just recurring regular, so I get moved up from a triple to a double trailer."
"Huh? How is a double bigger than a triple? Isn't that backwards?" I asked, confused.
"It relates to how many dressing rooms are in a trailer. A triple means there are three dressing rooms, a double means two dressing rooms, making the doubles larger. A full trailer is usually reserved for large productions and A-list celebrities, and a honey wagon is mainly for recurring cast, but not regulars. A honey wagon is the smallest trailer," the A.D. explained.
"Thanks. Makes sense now, although a honey wagon sounds kinda sexy." Everyone ignored that comment as we kept going.
"So I'm moving up to a double, and I'll have way more space this season," Blake grinned. "Some shit won't exactly be running PG, Dad. If you're gonna pull that sharing card, I'm gonna pull out my contract.
"Dad?" The second A.D. said looking at us.
"That'd be me. Blake's my son, and these are his uncles," I acknowledged.
"I had no idea. Should we go check out Blake's trailer next then?" she asked obviously trying to avoid the topic at hand.
"Yeah, this'll work," Blake said as he looked around the trailer he'd been assigned. "I'll just have to make sure we have Twix and Hot Pockets for when I get hungry, and the fridge stocked with root beer as well. Make a note, please."
The A.D. added it to the tablet she was carrying.
"Can't you just get things off craft services?" Jason asked.
"And walk all the way over there when I'm hungry? Not really my thing," he said trying to stay serious.
"You're not being a diva this early on, are you?" I asked.
"It's okay. Lots of actors have requests for their trailers. This is nothing compared to some things. I'll pass the information along to your personal assistant, and it'll be in there for you before we start shooting tomorrow," she assured us.
We were shown the rest of our trailer assignments, and I wasn't complaining that Jason and I got triples as they were nice enough. J.P. got the double, identical to Blake. We then stopped in the hair and makeup trailer, where they had Jason, me, and J.P. all sit side by side as they quickly trimmed our hair to match. It wasn't like a haircut, just a little snip here and there, to make sure we all looked the same. Then they did some skin matching for makeup. I really hate makeup if I'm being honest. All I can hear are my pores screaming, `boys, they're clogging up the exits. Get the dynamite, we're gotta blow through this. Then the next thing I know, I've got zits like craters on the moon. I've had three zits before and let me tell you, they're not pleasant at all. Fortunately, I wasn't in any scenes where I had to be dressed up like an alien, or be put in a skin tight superhero suit, or football spandex. I will, however, volunteer to help the costume people squeeze the boys into those pants.
They scheduled everyone through there at some point to ensure they knew which actor required what shade of makeup for their skin tone. I had no idea that it was so exact. Me, I'd just slap on some paint and consider that my new colour. Probably why I'm not a makeup artist.
"Your outfits for each scene will be in your trailers each day," she told us. I like how they just look after you all the time. You know where to go, and have someone to get you there, and someone to make sure you're dressed correctly before you go. I'm seriously re-thinking having a man-servant, probably a boy servant. I'll post the ad tomorrow.
We were shown a few more technical things around the set, and given a chance to interact with our surroundings before we were all let go for the day, and told to watch for the rewrites in our emails. I'd be studying my lines all night, both of them.
Day Two - Monday Monday morning arrived with the excitement of a Monday morning. Lots of groaning and complaining about getting up so early, although in fairness, it seemed to only be me that had complaints about it. Today, Blake used his own bathroom. I guess he didn't need to shave again, as once every six months should do it.
We skipped breakfast as we were arriving in plenty of time to grab something from craft services. Apparently, they make you anything you want. Wait until I ask for kippers, marmite, Froot Loop pancakes, and baked beans, just to put them to a real test. Kippers smell terrible, and marmite sounds too much like termite, so I'm not ever going to try that. What's the one that is similar to that? Vegemite? That sounds like vegetarian termites, so that's not happening either. Actually, I'm probably too nervous to eat much. I'll probably just have a bacon sandwich with a side order of bacon, and a coffee. Maybe some orange juice and strawberries too. I also wouldn't mind a waffle...with whipped cream.
The limo arrived as it had yesterday, and we were whisked off to the studio. First stop was for food. The second was to hair and make-up. They slapped a coating on all of us, and by the time they were done, I looked more like my brother's than ever before, which is saying something. It looked like one of those mirrored funhouses as we looked at each other. At times I couldn't tell if I was looking at J.P. and Jason, or myself. Where's that production assistant with my Percocet? In fairness, we did all have our hair combed differently to distinguish us on set.
From the hair and spackle trailer, we were off to our own trailers to get dressed. We were allowed to change on our own, but then a costume person came in to check to make sure we had everything the way it was supposed to be. I guess they had to do that for continuity. I had a backpack as a prop, and was wearing a necklace. I suppose if they were in one shot and not the next, it could be noticed by viewers. I'd hate to be the continuity people in shows where costumes changed a lot, or got dirty or damaged in one scene but had to be in perfect condition in the next, if they filmed out of order.
When it was time to be on set, the second A.D. took us in. We were called the first team. I was hoping for A-Team, but I'm guessing that's trademarked or copyrighted, something like that. The idea is that the first team would rehearse the scene just to see how it would flow. Then when we were done, they called in a second team, who stood in our place so that lighting and cameras could be adjusted for the perfect shots. I noticed that our stand in people were roughly the same height and size as we were. I guess that makes sense if you're looking for lighting and shadowing. Personally, that seems like a real waste of money, but I found out later that these were extras. Since they get paid a flat rate for the day, it made sense to use them, instead of just letting them be bored in the holding room.
They were finally ready for the first team to do our live rehearsal. This meant we were still only rehearsing, but they'd roll cameras anyway, but ideally not use that footage. We were beginning with the Triple J's in the kitchen of their house, which to my surprise was right next to the school locker room. I don't know who does zoning in this town, but it seems like you'd want more space between your house and a school. They also need to fire the architect as the stairs to the second floor went only to a small platform, and not to the bedrooms. In fact, the entire second floor was right beside the kitchen. Note to architects and builders...if you're gonna just put everything on one floor, you don't need stairs.
I'll be honest, at the start our scene my heart beat was about ten times faster than usual, while J.P. looked as cool as...as...as someone who's really cool. Look, if I've got time to think up analogies, I'll spout them off, but usually I don't, so we just accept the obvious. I'd say cool as a cucumber, but not sure how cool cucumbers are. Maybe lonely housewives enjoy them, but mostly, vegetables don't make it to the `cool' list.
The only thing I was focused on was timing my first line correctly. I'd basically been practicing all night. I want this in one take as I don't think my nerves, or my heart, are to be strong enough for multiple takes. I'm already sweating nervously, and these lights aren't exactly helping.
Everyone indicated we were ready to go, and I was sat at the kitchen island next to Jason. J.P., was leaning back against the fridge with a glass of orange juice in his hand. I had one in front of me, but I wasn't allowed to touch it. It's a prop. I just wondered if my prop was actual orange juice or something fake and toxic, like Sunny D. J.P.'s drink was real as he was supposed to take a few sips of it as we talked.
Know what's sort of creepy? There is no ceiling in any of the sets, and sitting here it was hard not to look up to check it all out. Even creepier...is that there are crew up there looking down at us. Totally felt stalkerish.
"Sound up. Roll cameras, and...action," the director called and my heart skipped two beats, and I think I blacked out for a microsecond until I heard J.P.'s voice.
"Guys, I was thinking. What if we all go to the same school this year? I think our secret is out about us being triplets, so what if we just go with it."
Here we go. My turn. "No," I said adamantly. Nailed it! You have no idea how many different ways I practiced saying that to get just the perfect sound. I got this shit down, baby.
"I'm with Keith. I like my school," Jason added.
"I like my school too, but hear me out. How about we rotate schools for a couple days? The first week we all go to our regular schools, to sort out the semester, but next week we rotate. I'll go to Kevin's snooty school. Kevin goes to Keith's drama nerd school, and Keith goes to my..."
"Gangster public school," Jason laughed. "I'm in, but we'd really have to clue each other in about friends, and classes."
"I think we could pull it off. At least I hope we can. Keith, I have gym with Scott. Think you could act straight around him in the locker room, and refrain from kissing him again?"
"Yes, I mean no," I replied grinning, as I delivered my second line.
"Cut!" The director yelled. "The line is "No, I mean yes."
"That'd be a lie," I said trying to not show I was nervous.
"Lie away. Back to J.P.'s line, I think we could pull it off." There was a short pause before action was called again.
"I think we could pull it off. At least I hope we can. Keith, I have gym with Scott. Think you could act straight around him in the locker room, and refrain from kissing him again?"
I focused. "No...uhh, I mean yes."
Jason/Kevin laughed. "Make sure when we swap, Keith gets gym day. I wanna see how that messes him up. Would we tell Scott we've switched?"
"No," J.P./Kriss replied. "We don't tell anyone. No one. Three-pact," he said moving to put his index finger out towards us. Jason and I interlocked our index fingers with him as we'd rehearsed. Seemed lackluster to me. Surely we could have come up with a cool triplet secret handshake or something. "I'll set it up. You guys make sure you make notes that we all have to know about your school."
"What if we run into a situation that we didn't know about?" Jason asked.
Why is he getting all the lines? Seems like someone doesn't trust my acting skills. They obviously only want me for my token gayness. Actually, it was J.P. that gets to do the gay stuff on screen, although I still have veto power if we get a really hot guest star that Keith is supposed to hook up with. They don't know I have the veto power, but if they refuse to recognize it when the time comes, I still have an ace up my sleeve. We own the studio. Let them mull that over if they think of saying no to me getting down and dirty with a smoking hot actor. To add authenticity to the show, I'll offer to do the guy for real, just so they have all the proper reactions required. I'm just that dedicated to making this a good show. I lost focus for a moment as that all played out in my head.
"If that happens, just act hungover. Pretend you've forgotten things. Always works if I get mistaken for you guys. Alright boys, here's to our senior year of high school. Let's goooo!"
"Cut. Good, give us a second for review and reset," the director said as people huddled around a monitor while J.P.'s juice was topped up with the few sips he'd taken, and everything else was prepared for a second take. I even had someone pat my face with a sponge thing. Turn down the heat if you don't want me leaking. In fairness, the second he yelled `cut', the lights went out on the set. Guess it saves money.
"Alright, we're good with that. Let's go for take number one," the director announced, and we did the exact same thing again. This time it was for real, although I honestly couldn't see the difference between that and the rehearsal version. I nailed my lines this time though. No bloopers on me.
When it was over, he yelled cut, I got off the chair and prepared to leave the set, but J.P. told me we would be going again. What the fuck for? Didn't we just do it twice? Like this was 30 seconds of the show and it was taking forever. In my opinion, which means zero out zero around here, this could take weeks to film, and being that it's a weekly show, well, you do the math.
They did let us leave the set as the second team came in and took our places, while they repositioned some cameras and adjusted lighting. I found out the first shots only got Jason and me from the back and sides, and now they'd be filming us head on, with J.P. getting the minimal shots. So, no pressure then.
When they were ready, we were back on our marks. That's what they call the spot we have to be in. A mark. That's what I call a twink heading into the bushes. Like I said I have to learn the film terminology, or I'm gonna make a serious mistake one of these days. `Get on your mark' could get me into a lot of trouble.
We shot the exact same thing again, and as short as it was, we ended up needing one final take. I've only been at this a few hours and I'm already exhausted. I like doing things once and moving on. The notches on my belt would prove that as my mantra for life.
The director finally said he had what he needed. "That's a wrap for Justin and Jason," he said singling us out, which for some reason got a round of applause from the crew. I didn't think I'd done that good. Found out later, newbie actors got this sort of encouragement after completing their first scene. I liked it. Made me feel like all that work paid off. It got me pumped for our next scene which was in the same room, only now we had returned from school and were talking about it. I think I'm starting to understand actors in interviews who say they haven't seen their show at all. I'm like `dude, you were there when it was filmed'. Now I get it. They only did the scenes, but never saw it all spliced together, or with effects added. Interesting. I'm definitely gonna watch the show though. I'm mostly gonna try and figure out if it's me or a body double in the shot.
I was starting in the kitchen, while J.P. would enter the house through the front door, and Jason would be coming down the stairs from the little nowhere platform. We did the rehearsal, and I was excited and ready. I looked identical to how I'd been in the morning, whereas J.P. looked like he'd been rolling around on the ground. Jason had changed into lounge pants and a t-shirt. I guess he gets home first from his prep school, but my art school is probably more fun. I was supposed to be checking myself out in a wall mirror as my brother's entered.
"Action," the director yelled and we began. J.P. tossed his bag on the floor, Jason bounced down the stairs and leapt over the railing at the end to stand next to J.P. before they moved into the kitchen. They yelled cut and reset. Now the entire focus was in the kitchen, where I was still in front of the mirror.
"Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the ugliest of them all?" Jason/Kevin teased, as he moved to grab chips from the counter, while J.P. got drinks from the fridge. This was one of my big scenes. J.P. was going to slide the drink towards me on the counter, and I was to turn and grab it perfectly before it slid off onto the floor. We'd practiced this a lot earlier, so I was sure I was ready. I'd even wiped my hands on my pants to make sure they weren't too slippery. The trick that I don't think the camera would pick up, is that there was a smaller mirror I could look at, to see the exact moment J.P. launched the drink at me.
He sent it and I turned, nervous as fuck, considering the entire crew was watching and filming. I caught it perfectly, and I mean perfectly. It shot off the end of the counter into my hand as I turned around to face my brothers.
"I still think you two share a brain," I said as I moved to grab some chips out of the bag that Jason had his hand in.
My biggest cinematic moment yet. Notice the total coolness in my moves, as if I do this all the time. I think the idea is to show how in sync we are as triplets. At home the can would have sailed off the end of the counter, while I walked away oblivious to the fact it had even happened.
"You wish," Jason/Kevin retorted.
J.P./Kriss just laughed. "Dumbass, why would he wish we shared a brain? Basically, he's saying that by calling him ugly in the mirror, you called us ugly too, since we're identical."
"No, the mirror would call him the ugliest. Are we doing the school swap thing or what?" Jason/Kevin said, defending himself.
"I'm into it," I nodded as I sat down with my pop and chips. Now this is where shit went wrong. I was supposed to open the pop and take a sip. Maybe someone in the prop department should have warned us that practicing several dozen times with a can of coke might shake it up a bit. Like a lotta bit.
I snapped the opener ring, and all hell broke loose. The can exploded pop everywhere. Jason and J.P. began laughing hysterically, and I sat there positively horrified. Jason and J.P. high-fived, and almost couldn't control themselves. I wiped the pop off my face and looked at the counter. I'd been warned repeatedly never to look directly at the camera, and I was having trouble trying to obey that, as I was sure I was about to be hauled out of there by security, beaten senseless, and thrown off set.
"Cut!" The director yelled. "That was perfect."
"Perfect?" I asked as an assistant ran to give me a towel and wiped my face. "I think I just fucked up a lot of shit. Our outfits are soaked."
"Sorry, Justin. We wanted to get a real reaction from you, and that was absolutely it," Harvell said grinning.
"You all planned this? You two are so fucking dead," I said sitting there with coke now soaking into my crotch.
"Keep that emotion, Justin. We're going to go off script and let you react to it. Chase your brothers around the kitchen and start a food fight. There is flour and sugar in the cannisters on the counter, a jug of water, eggs, and a bowl of spaghetti in the fridge. Just have fun and keep going until your dad enters and yells at you. Then freeze in place and let the moment sink in."
The crew set back up while I stayed where I was. Jason and J.P. returned to their last positions. I faced further humiliation as the set director apologized and poured a small amount of coke on my head, as if it had just happened. Once he was off camera, action was called again.
"Assholes!" I screamed using the line I'd been told to start with. Being off script meant we were free to do whatever the hell we wanted while the cameras rolled. I jumped up, grabbed the can of Coke, and shook the remains all over Jason. Meanwhile, J.P. had grabbed another two cans of pop, yelled at Jason, and thrown him one. They shook them hard before opening them at each other. I was in the middle but ducked down to miss the main spray. I remembered what the director said about the cannisters, so I grabbed one, pulled the top off, and started throwing flour at them. We escalated quickly and began racing around the kitchen. Eggs began flying next, followed by the jug of water and spaghetti, which made a horrible mess, and a very slippery floor. Jason wiped out once and went down hard, but that didn't stop J.P. from pouring the sugar all over him.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THREE IDIOTS DOING?" A large voice boomed from the entrance to the kitchen. We froze as we'd been instructed, and several seconds later the director yelled cut.
Then the laughter started. We were a total mess. The set was destroyed and I was covered in spaghetti, egg, and flour. I looked like a cooking show gone wrong. Jason was the worst as he was completely covered in both sugar and flour, not to mention spaghetti and eggs.
The director called for a medic to check Jason because he'd gone down so hard, but he insisted he was fine and the medic cleared him to continue. We weren't done yet as we had to address this with our `father'."
Without much tweaking to the mess, we resumed the positions we were in when we froze, and the scene continued with new camera angles, and we were back on script.
"Sorry, Dad," J.P. said as he wiped his face.
"Sorry? This needs more than a sorry. I'm thinking military school, or leaving the three of you on a deserted island. Maybe a prison barge offshore somewhere. What the hell were you thinking?"
"We weren't?" Jason said as he slid slightly closer to J.P. using the wet floor to propel him.
"You three are grounded for a week, and if this isn't cleaned up and spic and span before your mother gets home, it'll be two months. That includes your clothes. MOVE IT!!" he bellowed at us.
We were now to leave the kitchen and go off camera. Our dad just shook his head as the camera panned around at the mess. Then it zoomed in on him, showing a grin form on his face.
We took a break and went back to our trailers where our assistants helped us undress and bag the clothes up. I'm guessing they're going to laundry. I was told to take a shower and jump into the next outfit provided. This time it was lounge pants and a t-shirt similar to what Jason had been wearing earlier. Once I was ready, I was taken back to hair and makeup. It was the wet hair look for all of us.
Once back on set, we filmed several short scenes of us cleaning up the mess. Between takes, they had the crew do the actual cleaning, so that by the end, the kitchen was spotless, and we just leaned against the counter admiring the job we'd done.
"Anyone want a coke?" J.P. asked, laughing. We all began to chase each other around the kitchen again, only this time with no food or drink. The director yelled cut and we were done.
The premise for that scene was to show how the triplets interacted with each other, and I think someone came up with that on the fly to utilize the fact that we were all on set at the same time. It would be hard for J.P. to play all three roles on that scene. Not only that, it would have taken a lot of costumes changes and camera work to make it look believable. We'd knocked the whole thing out in a couple hours. Let's face it, I'd totally do the same thing at home with them, so this wasn't a real acting stretch. I was actually proud of part where I spun around and caught the sliding can of pop. That was impressive.
The next scene was Wendy and Becky talking about boys. They had done the same thing that we had. Rehearsed, had the second team stand in, then rehearsed again on camera, then done the real take. They had used three cameras for their shot, like they had for us, but they didn't do a reset. The girls were able to finish in just two takes. Sounds fast, but it was still over an hour for what could easily be less than a minute of show. Apparently, this was setting the scene to let everyone know that Wendy, Scott's sister, was still dating Kriss, while Becky was dating Scott. Wendy kept insisting she didn't want to know about what Becky was doing with her brother, while Becky bragged away.
She complained that Scott was a really bad kisser, but she was teaching him. This is obviously fake news, and she had never actually kissed Scott, or she'd know he was an amazing kisser. I've kissed `Marvin' dozens of times, and unless he's doing really badly at kissing girls as Scott, she can't possibly be complaining about it.
I leaned over to whisper to J.P. Has Becky...uhhh...Tamara actually kissed `Marvin'?"
"Not yet," he grinned. "They have a scene later where they interact together in the school hallway. I'm in that scene."
"What do you do? Join in?" I smirked.
"No, but this is one of the scenes where Keith swapped with Kriss, and Scott doesn't know. Should be some fun jealousy that ensues."
"Damn, that really will be a blurred line," I said with a quiet chuckle as we watched the girls finish up. It was a pretty boring scene, but I'm guessing it set up some plot lines.
Blake had a scene with Aiden and London later that I was going to stick around and watch. I figured I'd go out to the lounge area they had near the trailers. I sat outside on one of the loungers watching everything going on. It's quite busy if you really pay attention. People coming and going to all the different production trailers, all seemingly in a hurry to accomplish their mission, or make last minute changes to things. I saw Scott's girlfriend, Wendy, heading into her trailer followed by, what seemed like, a very nervous crew member. He looked around before actually entering the trailer, and closed the door behind them. Do people really do that? It's the surest sign of guilt you can have, so naturally I was curious. I think Wendy's real name is Victoria, but it gets confusing a lot of the time, so I'm sticking with their character names. I still think that's better for me anyway, so I don't blurt out the wrong name on set by accident.
I waited a couple minutes before heading over towards her trailer and, not wanting to look like a stalker, I slipped around the back to listen. Yeah, I realized as I was standing with my ear to the trailer, it looked more stalkerish hiding behind the trailer than just sitting casually out front, but in the moment it seemed sensible. I couldn't hear everything, but the way the trailer was moving, and the muffled moaning coming from inside, it was pretty obvious what was going on. Someone was getting it good.
I returned to my viewing chair, and it wasn't long before the crew member exited the trailer, looking a little dishevelled. I guess if you have long days, like they do in these productions, that's one way to unwind. I was about to go do something else when I saw a second person arrive at her trailer. He knocked and quickly entered. I think I recognized that guy as one of the minor role actors. I stuck around out of natural curiosity. It was barely ten minutes later when he exited. I didn't have to wait long before something else happened. This time it was a guy and a girl that entered her trailer. This is almost better than watching the filming of the show.
Jason came over and sat down beside me. "Blake's scene is up in about 30 minutes. Are we heading home after he's done?"
"Huh?" I said, taking my eyes off Wendy's trailer to pay attention to Jason. "Yeah. Sure. I just want to see the scene, and then we'll go," I repeated back to him.
"What are you so focused on?" He asked looking across the production lot.
"Just Victoria's trailer. She gets a lot of visitors."
"Maybe that's just how it is on set. I mean everyone is here 12 hours a day or longer, so maybe they just hang out with each other between takes."
"Maybe, but it seems like they're only staying 10 minutes at a time," I replied.
"Could just be script changes, or some production notes thing," he suggested. I'd never thought of that actually.
"I'm going with she's either a hooker or a drug dealer in her spare time," I reasoned.
"You would think that. Likely it's just something show related. Watch the other trailers and you'll see the same thing. People are going in and out all the time."
"You take all the fun out my imagination. You know that, right?"
"Sorry, Justin, but some people do think of other things besides sex," he chuckled as he patted me on the shoulder.
"Would suck being them," I replied.
We wasted time talking about the show until it was time to head to set and watch Blake's next scene. He was with Aiden and London for this shoot. They were doing a video game hangout in Blake/Duane's room. The set looked a lot smaller than I thought it would, and it was interesting to see that the walls could move. I guess when the shot is directly on them playing, they're actually just staring out at nothing, but when they reset for the reverse angle, the wall was put back with a TV setup on it.
Once they got rolling, Aiden was the first to speak as they played their imaginary video game. This looked tougher than my fake orange juice prop. They were actually having to fake playing a video game, while also remembering to say lines.
"Who did you get for math this year, Duane?" Aiden/Ashton asked.
"Mrs. Awefulmeyer. She's like the least favorite teacher in the entire school. As if math isn't hard enough."
"I think it's pronounced Hoffenmeyer," London/Shayne replied leaning in to push Duane with his shoulder.
"Nope, it's Awefulmeyer. I heard last year her tests were so tough that no one passed. Then she tried to run some kid over with her car," Duane told them.
"Uhhh...that kid jumped out in front of her car to protest the homework she'd given," Aiden corrected, "but I heard she's a ballbuster too."
"That would suck. I've got a lot of balls to bust."
"Those marbles wouldn't take much busting," London teased, with Aiden agreeing.
"Not marbles, boys. Golf balls," he bragged.
"Golf balls?" Aiden asked frowning. "Sure they are, Duane."
"Hey, what can I say," he shrugged. "You know girls like dimples, and you ever seen how many dimples are on a golf ball? Boys this is our year."
"Hell yeah it is!" London said, and the boys all cheered each other on before the director yelled cut.
"Yeah, that flows better than the original. Nice. Let's do that one more time. Let's have more facial expressions reacting to the game you're playing. Little more energy boys. You're pumped for the school year."
"Who'd be pumped about that?" Aiden commented, getting a round of laughs.
"You're pumped about being older and having more control in school now," he clarified. "Remember, your characters are changing from the innocent kids of last season to angsty teens this season. As it gets going, you're going to start to swear more, and get into the darker side of growing up."
"Fuck yeah we are!" Blake said with grin.
"Okay, back to first positions," the director said, and they went again with more facial expressions and enthusiasm. I actually did like the second take more, so it seemed like a good call. Not that the director needed my approval or anything. They did the reverse shot a couple times and called it a wrap.
They quickly reset the cameras and rehearsed the next scene which was still in the same location of Duane's bedroom, but now they'd lit the hallway outside his bedroom door as well. `Marvin' as Scott was doing his scene in this.
It began with Scott walking along the hallway, and turned to look through Duane's bedroom door as he got to it. "Hey. I'm home."
Duane dropped his controller and jumped up to go to the door. He grabbed it and slammed it shut, while at the same time yelled, "Fuck off," before returning to his place on the floor between his friends.
"It's your turn to cook dinner tonight," Scott yelled from behind the closed door.
"Still fuck off!" Duane yelled.
"Are you still pissed at him? What the hell did he do?" Shayne asked.
"Nothing. Let it go, or you can leave too," Duane snapped as the boys returned to the imaginary video game.
"Cut. Good start. Let's go again. Give me a real solid door slam and a bone jarring fuck you. This is still a raw nerve for you even though it's been months since the incident that turned you against your brother," the director said giving Blake his review.
They went again, and Blake slammed the door so hard he broke part of the set and they had to pause and repair it.
"You said you wanted hard," Blake said after apologizing to the crew.
"Halfway between that and your first take," the director said with a bit of a smile. Note to self, don't let a film crew build your house. First the walls are removable, which may or may not be a feature you want, but also they're so thin, shit flies off them when you slam a door.
They did another take and it went perfectly. They had that in the bag, and after a couple of reverse shot angles, they had what they needed, and it was a wrap.
Next up was a scene in the school cafeteria set. This time there were lots of people, which I'm guessing are the extras. There had been a lot of work to get this set ready, as trays had food on them, and people were scattered around the cafeteria in various places. Some were waiting to get food, others with half eaten items. I wonder who ate the other half. The practice part was hilarious and I almost laughed out loud, then checked my ears to see if I'd maybe gone partially deaf. The extras were talking, or appeared to be talking, but nothing was coming out. They were simply faking it. I wonder if they have lines for that, or are they just told to pretend? I wonder how deaf people who lip read would react to that.
The scene was a typical lunch at school with J.P. as Kriss, talking to several of the guys about plans for the weekend, and the girls. Once that was done, the scene was reset for the girls who talked about their plans and boys. In the background, you could see the boys, who appeared to be doing their scene again, only this time they weren't actually saying anything out loud. This whole thing took hours as they filmed from various angles, had close-up shots and then panoramic shots. Each time they cut, everyone had to return to the starting position to go again. That took the most time as they had to ensure everything was reset. The worst was the guy that kept getting tripped and spilling his food. That guy is going to be sore tomorrow.
I still have no idea what this episode is about, but I'm guessing once it's all stitched together, it'll make sense. When they wrapped that scene, I thought they were done, but it was all reset to film another scene, also in the cafeteria. All the actors were sent off to change into the next costume, as I guess it's going to be different day in the show. They definitely spent a lot of time on this cafeteria set. Those lunch ladies are sure earning their minimum wage.
I was back outside near the trailers, standing next to Blake, when I saw Wendy heading to her trailer with yet another guy following her. "Damn Wendy's popular," I said.
"You mean Victoria?" Blake corrected, using her real name. "Yeah, she's popular alright. You almost have to make an appointment if you want to visit her trailer. But it's worth the wait," he said almost sighing.
"What is? What's she doing in there?" I asked.
Blake looked at me as if I'd just arrived on the planet.
"You are losing your touch, Dad," he smirked. "Normally you know things even before the person it involves. Victoria loves checking out the guys, and probably girls, but I can't confirm that last one. She says the more people you make happy as an actor, the more roles you'll get in the future."
"I could see that. If you're personable and easy to get along with, people would enjoy working with you," I nodded.
"Thad and I are going to hook up with her later."
"Which one is Thad?" I asked.
"Crash," he replied using the character name.
"Oh right. Wait, the stoner boy?"
"His character is the stoner boy. Thad is just awesome. He and I were talking about Victoria, basically comparing notes, and he pitched the idea of us all hooking up together. He asked if I thought she'd be into it. I have no idea, but we're getting together later, hopefully to find out. Should make for an epic finish to a long day."
"Sounds more like Wendy...uhhh...Victoria is going to get to know everyone on the cast and crew by the time she's done."
"Her and me both," he giggled. "I'll let you know how it goes."
Eventually, they were down to just a couple more scenes to shoot to end the day, but it didn't require any of us, so we were free to leave. We all stopped by our trailers to grab our things, and I saw yet another person leaving Victoria's trailer. Jason must have been correct, as this time it was one of the executive producers. He was one of the older guys, Clive, I think, so my fantasy idea of her being a relief centre for stressed actors, or a drug dealer, were shot.
By the time we piled in the limo, I was exhausted.
"Geez, Aiden's a fast mover," Blake said as we relaxed on the ride home.
"Why's that? He trying to take your role or something?" Garren asked.
"No...my girlfriend, Saniyya. Every chance he got; he was glued to her. Well, her and Tamara. He said he likes black girls. "If I'm not careful, he might scoop her up, and I'll have to give him a black eye for real."
Then all of a sudden, Blake changed into a southern gentleman, or more accurately, Forrest Gump talking about his box of chocolates. "I never had me no black woman be-fore. I'm imaginin' they taste like good old fashioned cajun chicken, like we had back on the bayou. Mmmm, I'll bet them pussies are some good eatin'."
The whole limo froze for a micro second, and then burst out laughing. "Holy fuck, Blake. That was all sorts of wrong. Wildly inappropriate, racist, probably some sort of PETA violation," `Marvin' said to him. "Funny as fuck, but so wrong."
"I'm still gonna be pissed if he shreds her before I do. That would suck, considering she's my TV girlfriend. I do have one advantage that he doesn't though," he said as he sat back grinning.
"Which is?" J.P. asked
"I'm cute as fuck, and I have a big dick," he bragged.
"Isn't that two things?" `Marvin' pointed out. "You said you had one advantage, that would be two if Saniyya was looking for that."
"Actually, the advantage is that she's my on-screen girlfriend, so we can hangout in my trailer going over lines. Maybe practice making out so we come across comfortable when the cameras are rolling."
"I'm pretty sure for your character, kissing, if it happens at all will be a quick peck, and probably designed to look as awkward as hell. You're not experienced Blake for that, you're Duane with an attitude, but still only 13 and inexperienced in the girl department," J.P. reminded him.
"Yeah, maybe Duane is, but Blake is fully experienced. I can take Saniyya back to my trailer and waste a couple of hours the good way. You know what they say guys, if my trailer be rockin', don't be knockin'. I expect that'll become action central for some seriously wild sessions. Not gonna rule anything out."
"Why would we think differently?" I said shaking my head.
"I have a feeling Aiden's baggable too. Not saying he is, but lots of guys my age are now unlabelled, so they're more open to things when the mood's right. I figure a couple girls in my trailer, a bowl of M&M's, some Cheesy Poofs, and Aiden will be in the mood."
"Did he say he's unlabelled?" Garren asked seemingly interested.
Blake just laughed. "Wow, are you all boomers or what? If you say you're unlabelled, that's a label, so uhhh...no, he wouldn't say that. He would simply say that he's still figuring it out."
"And is he still figuring it out?" `Marvin' asked.
"How would I know? I just met the guy. After our scenes tomorrow, I'll have a better idea. I'm gonna invite him to hang out with me in the trailer between takes."
"I thought that space was reserved for Saniyya?" I asked, starting to get my usual confusion headache that you get in a conversation with Blake.
"It is, but I have to know Aiden's plans first. Maybe it works that we team up right away, and make a plan, or I let him hide in the closet, and let him listen as I shred Saniyya first. It could be that he's just into me, and we bang out a couple rounds before returning to set. You never know."
"True. You never know," Jason nodded as he smirked. The rest of us just mumbled a `you never know' in agreement.
"Something tells me tomorrow is going to feel even longer," I commented as we arrived at home. As we entered the foyer, Colin was waiting and gave Blake a nice hug. I got a hug AND a kiss, so that was nice.
Blake continued emptying his brain into the air. "I know it sounds racist, but I really do want to know what a black girl looks like naked. I've seen boys, and it always looks so cool seeing the different skin colour. It makes it feel like they should taste different too, but they don't. I wonder if it'll be like that with a girl. Do you think their pussy is still all pink on the inside, or is it darker too?" He asked looking at us.
I fake hurled. "Oh my god. No one needs to know that."
"I do. I want to watch my super white cock enter a black and pink pussy. That would look really hot. I'm gonna go up and research it."
"Ahhh, just the internet search history we want to find when we check your computer as responsible parents," Colin sighed. "Is a black pussy pink on the inside?"
"Hey, at least you aren't seeing does the dog get pregnant if I cum in it? or how to remove cactus needles from inside your ass'."
"What sort of day have you guys been having that generated this topic?" Colin asked looking at all of us.
"Blake's girlfriend on the show is a very cute black girl, and all he's been thinking about is what it'll be like taking her to bed," J.P. explained. "It's guaranteed that the most they're ever going to do onscreen is kiss."
"Who's talking about onscreen?" Blake interjected. "I'm talking about back in my trailer. It's guaranteed that she's gonna spread `em for me. I just wanted to know what to expect."
"Maybe tone down the Blake and Duane personas, and go for a quiet shy nerd thing to avoid you getting into real trouble," Colin suggested.
"Dad, once people in real life see Duane as a bad-ass, Blake is gonna need bodyguards to fight off all the girls wanting a piece of me."
"Not boys?" I asked.
"I doubt it. Duane is going to be a homophobe from what the script indicates. If gay boys think that, I'm going to have a lot of publicity to deal with. Maybe even some real-world hate mail and threats. I'm not worried though, as I'm going to put some stories on my Insta to show I'm okay with gay guys."
"What sort of things?" I asked quickly.
"I got permission to film behind the scenes stuff and take pictures. I just have to run them through the marketing and publicity people first to make sure I'm not dropping season spoilers. I figure I take pictures of all of us together. Maybe me hugging `Marvin', or the Triple J's and me hanging out together."
"I think that would be good stuff to post ahead of the season premiere," `Marvin' nodded. "Your fans will relate to your character as if it were real. I have plenty of comments both good and bad."
"Yeah, I got some hate stuff after season one, but those were only a few. Most were positive, and almost all of them were from girls thinking I was cute. I am, but it's nice to hear from random people," Blake said grinning.
"If I could," Garren said. "I was `Marty from the party' for a year after that episode aired, and every time my character did anything fans didn't like, I got mail and messages about it. They say to never read the comments about yourself, but it's pretty hard not to. My advice is to read them with someone that knows you and has your back. In your case, maybe your dads or uncles. I now have a person who reviews things for me and sends comments he thinks I'd like to see. It's been way better for my mental health."
"Thanks, Garren," Blake grinned. "I'm sort of looking forward to seeing how people react to bad ass Duane. I heard that if you get strong reactions, either good or bad, you're doing your job as an actor."
"That is true. Trouble is many fans have trouble distinguishing between your character and you. That's where the trouble lies. I think you're smart to be launching your YouTube channel though. If I can make a suggestion, get that up and running before the season premiere, and have your current followers aware of it. That'll show the real world you, and hopefully minimize any misinformation out there about you."
"That's great advice, babe," `Marvin' said giving him a kiss. "We'll even go in one of your videos if you like, so they can see us outside of our characters. We can show we're good friends and not just warring brothers."
"Yeah," Blake said excitedly. "We should do a video that drops the same day as our premiere. That should get lots of likes and attention."
Day Three - Tuesday The next morning, we were up even earlier, only this time I was ready as I'd gone to sleep early. In fact, I went so early neither Colin or I got our night time sex. At least I didn't. I was a lot more energized this morning and bounced downstairs as if it were 9:30 and not 4:30. The others arrived soon after, and by the time the car arrived at 5:00, we were waiting for it.
I noticed security seemed a lot tighter, starting at the gate, where our I.D. was checked thoroughly. Then again at the actual sound stage, before we were allowed access. A large group of extras were getting instructions, probably for an upcoming scene. I wonder if they hire more extras than they need. What would they be called extra extras?
"What's with all the security today?" I asked the guard at our studio entrance.
"I guess the `owner' of the studio is making a surprise visit today. The director said he can make or break a production, so they want to make sure everything is perfect for his visit," he replied.
"The owner, huh?" I grinned as I pulled out my phone to text Colin.
`You coming to studio today? Apparently, the owner is surprising us with a visit.'
`So, not really a surprise anymore,' he texted back.
`No one here knows we're connected to you. We could have some fun with that.'
`Agreed. I'll keep the secret. Wait, who is this?'
`Nice. c u later Mr. Worthington.'
`Mr. Worthington, sir,' he replied.
I went and told the others to pretend they didn't know Colin when he showed up, and they all agreed. The only one that did know there was some relation to us was the second A.D. that had shown us to our trailers on the first day, but that hadn't seemed to have been spread around. I dropped by my trailer to read the sides they'd given us for the day. Those things allowed me to know when I was due on set and what my lines were. I honestly can't imagine how an actor remembers all their lines and actions. I usually get two or three lines at most, and I still barely remember them. Once I was satisfied, I knew what was expected of me today, I left to head to set to watch. As I exited my trailer, I saw Victoria heading for hers with Thad following. Damn that girl is popular. Thad seemed over eager for so early in the morning.
The first scene of the day was J.P., as Kriss, playing video games with Scott while they talked about their girlfriends. I think I jumped when the door to the bedroom set flew open and Blake rushed in...sorry...Duane rushed in.
Scott yelled at him. "Get out of my room, Duane!"
"Wanted to see if you are doing more of your homo crap. Which one is this?" He asked sitting on the bed with them.
"Kriss. Now leave," he snapped again.
"Which one is the one that kisses boys?"
"How many times do I have to tell you, it was one kiss. Guys experiment when we get older. Sometimes in college, sometimes in high school. Doesn't always mean someone's gay. There's a full range on the spectrum."
"It's still gay. You don't see me kissing boys," he said still glaring at Kriss.
"Don't see you kissing girls, either. Maybe you just have a shit personality, or you're too ugly to date," Scott said to him.
"I get lots of girls. Can I have a turn?" He said as he looked at the video game they were playing.
"You get lots of girls, and then wake up," Scott teased. "Do you wanna get lost. No one invited you."
"Let me join in, or I'm telling mom and dad that you kissed a boy," he said trying blackmail.
"Big deal. They already know. I kissed you plenty of times."
"NO YOU DIDN'T," he yelled. "He didn't!" He added, looking at Kriss, who was giving them both a small grin.
"Sure I did. We've even taken baths and showers together. Someone even needed help wiping his own ass. Probably still does."
"You guys fight like me and my brothers," Kriss told them.
"You're a sick homo," Duane said as he stood up and stormed out of the room, with Scott yelling at him to close the door behind him. He didn't, so Scott went and did it before lying on the bed next to Kriss.
"Is he really that freaked out about you kissing Keith?" Kriss asked.
"He seems to be. I mean it's been months and he's still going on about it. Why do you think I don't invite Keith back here at all. If he barged in when we were experimenting for real, he'd turn into a sociopath."
"Not sure I'd want to walk in on that either though, so I see his point."
"Yeah, but would you go all rage crazy, or just make some simple comment and leave?"
"It's none of my business so I might say something and then leave. Are you and Keith doing it for real though?"
"No. I'm straight and I have a girlfriend, Becky. I just enjoy spending time with him as he reacts to things differently than a straight guy."
"Aren't you two having sex?"
"No. Why would you want to hear about it anyway, considering it's your brother and all?"
"Not really. Just curious."
"Are you sure? I could give you a blow by blow," Scott teased.
"Okay, we're done talking now," Kriss said quickly.
"Keith said you guys are totally identical. Does that mean you kiss the same too?"
"Holy fuck, dude," Kriss said pushing Scott. "No. Gross. No offense. Identical on the outside only. We have three very different personalities. I'm sure if my girlfriend had sex with each one of us, she'd know which one was me."
"DUDE! That's my sister you're talking about," Scott warned.
"And your point? Considering you've just been talking about you and my brother."
"Fair enough. How's it going with you and Wendy, anyway?"
"Great. Solid relationship. We have a lot of things in common too, which is nice," Kriss replied as the boys concentrated on their video game.
"She seems to hang out with a lot of other guys. Doesn't that bother you?"
"Nah. Why should it? We're mature enough to have friends of the opposite sex and not be jealous about it like some couples. Does Becky know about your relationship with Keith?" Kriss asked smirking.
"Not a relationship," he replied quickly. "The only ones that know anything are you and Kevin, and hopefully that's where it stays," Scott warned.
"Totally. We are even trying to keep the fact that we're triplets a limited secret. Not like we want to draw more attention by tossing your shit into it."
"You're gonna toss my shit?" Scott smirked. "Nice. Warm up your hands and let's get to it."
"Shut up. Seriously," he said as the boys began wrestling and fell off the bed. I learned another movie trick. They didn't fall directly onto the floor. They fell onto mats. Then after they cut, they remove the mat and film the boys lying on the floor. I'm never seeing shows the same way again. First, everything is filmed out of order, now no ceilings and disappearing walls.
"Cut."
That was the end of the scene and some bell rang to let everyone know the cameras weren't rolling. At least I think that's what it is, or it's like school, it's a change of class. I beelined my ass to craft services. I mean why not, right? Free food just there for the taking. I let Blake go in front of me and had some fun with him. Every time he picked something up to put on his tray, I took it and put it on mine. The first couple of times, he just looked at me and grabbed another one. The third time, he stopped and stared at me.
"What are you doing?"
"What? The stuff you're choosing looks good," I replied as he took back the item I'd removed from his tray.
"Then get your own. You want to have your snack with Blake...or Duane? You decide!"
When I took his bagel next, he turned to glare at me. "You know there's a clause in my contract that allows me to have one cast member assassinated per season. You're awful close to me activating that."
I didn't want to be assassinated, so I behaved for the rest of the break. Well, not really. I think I went a little overboard when I wet the corner of my napkin with my tongue and went to wipe his face with it, as told him he had `a little something' on the side of his mouth. I don't think he found that as funny as I'd intended, or as the others received it. I may have just activated Duane permanently.
I was crossing the soundstage and saw the extras getting instructions from the assistant director. I smiled when I saw North in the group. I guess he was about to get his first scene. I waited until they broke up and went to talk to him. He saw me approaching and gave a big smile and a wave.
"Hey North," I said acknowledging him.
"Hey Justin. This is awesome, right? I had no idea it was like this behind the scenes. We just got told to go over to wardrobe to get our outfits for the scene."
"I'll go over with you. Great to see you here. Yeah, it's pretty impressive, but you get used to it quickly," I said trying to sound like an expert.
"Maybe I can ask you," North said as we walked over to wardrobe.
"Ask me what?"
"The first scene we're in is the locker room. I think we're getting changed from a game, or practice. Something like that. Because I'm 18, they're giving some of us the choice of what part we play in the background. Some of us will just be shirtless, or in pads talking to the guys. Others will go down to jock straps and show off our ass on camera..."
"That one!" I grinned enthusiastically. "Do that one. They'll have to move the camera back for you."
He gave me the finger. "Or we can go fully naked. It was actually on the information sheet I had to sign, letting us know that nudity may be required. Not sure what they'd actually show on screen though."
"Likely wouldn't be a prolonged shot, just enough of a flash to let the viewers know that the guys are actually naked. Which one of those are you thinking about?" I asked curiously.
"That's what I wanted to ask you. Which do you think I should do? Would one be better than another if I decide to do acting in the future?"
"I'm not the best guy to ask, I'm sure. From what I know from the guys, I think the more willing you are to do things, and maybe put yourself out there, perhaps the more roles you get, which would lead to getting noticed. I'm guessing?"
"They pay a bit more if you go fully naked," he added. "More money is always nice."
"True. How much do you get paid?"
"$250 for the day, and an extra $50 if we strip off completely," he replied.
That doesn't seem like a lot of money for a full day of work like this, but I kept that thought to myself. I think we're getting something like $6,000 for the week. "If I didn't have my brothers to worry about, I'd go naked for sure, but that's me. "You just have to ask yourself what are you comfortable letting your friends see when it airs?"
"Or my family," he added. "Most of my friends are on the team, so we've seen each other enough that I wouldn't care. Now if my mom sees it, that's a different story."
"Sounds like you have your answer," I smiled as we arrived to get his uniform for the scene.
"I do. Fully naked it is, and I just won't tell my mom about this acting thing at all. I'll wait until I have lines or something."
"This week just got a lot more interesting," I teased.
After he got his uniform costume, we headed back to the holding room for the extras. They didn't have a trailer like we did, and there wasn't a lot of privacy for them in the large room. There were couches, tables, and chairs to relax during the downtime. It was a nice enough room, but when it came time to change, they didn't have a private area to go to. I guess they'd just have to use the bathroom or change in front of everyone. Guess it shouldn't matter unless they needed to change everything. Wardrobe would just show up to make sure everyone was wearing the right thing, and nothing that they weren't supposed to. I guess that makes sense. Can't really be carrying a cell phone in your pocket if the time period was the 1970's or something. That doesn't apply in this case as it was set in the current time period. I'm just giving an example.
"Do you have to stay in here or can you hang out with me until you're needed?" I asked.
"Actually, I'm not even allowed to talk to you or any of the other actors. We have to wait in here until we get called to set. Then we do what we've been instructed, and once it's over we have to return here again. We were also told not to eat off the craft table as that was also only for actors. We take meals in the dining hall after the cast and crew dine."
"That seems mean," I said surprised at how extras were treated.
"One guy told me we're just like furniture. None of us are to ever talk, and if we do get a line, we're considered actors at that point, but first-time extras never get given lines."
"I could probably pull some strings if you wanna hang out while you wait," I offered.
"You probably could, but they made it clear if we broke any of the rules, we'd get blacklisted as an extra, so I should probably stay with everyone else," he reasoned.
I lowered my voice to a whisper. "Gonna make it hard to fuck you if we have to stay here with everyone else."
He looked at me and shook his head. "I wouldn't do that in front of others. Guess you have to wait until we're not on set."
"Too bad. Well if you need anything, just text me."
"It should be all good. I'm just having fun being part of this. Can't wait for my first scene."
"Me neither. Especially if you're gonna be naked in it. Don't let money be the deciding factor though. If you actually need the extra 50 bucks, I'll give it to you. Do what you're comfortable with," I offered.
"Thanks."
I left him to mingle with the other furniture and returned to set, just in time to see one of the personal assistants running up to the director to talk to him.
"Everyone. Could I have your attention please," the director announced. "I've just been informed that the owner of the studio is coming to visit our production. He'll be here in a few minutes, so please put your best foot forward. He's one of the main people to decide whether we stay on the air or not."
I'm pretty sure Colin doesn't decide that, although he could.
You could feel things change in the studio as they prepared for Colin's arrival. I wonder if he has this affect on people wherever he goes. I mean at home he's just Colin, but I guess in the business world he's Mr. Worthington, billionaire. That probably generates all sorts of reactions, from respect to hate, admiration and jealousy, to rage. I never think much about it as Colin is pretty low key most of the time. He's not out buying high profile companies that attract media attention, nor is he controversial, but I guess billionaires are the easy target for those struggling to survive.
I smiled as soon as I saw him arrive. He was in his suit, with an open collared shirt. He looked perfect, as always. His suits fit like they'd been ironed on, and it showed off his body perfectly. That is what's likely to attract attention more than anything. If he ever fails at being a billionaire, he could be a runway model. He was being followed by an entourage, not the least of which were the executives of the studio. They walked over to our main group, who had gathered around to greet him.
"Isn't this the show with the triplets?" Colin asked one of the suits with him.
"Yes, sir. Blurred Lines has three male triplets, and the main plot of show attempts to show pressures youth are under, and how they handle them in a variety of different ways."
"I think I saw a few episodes last year," Colin nodded. "Does each triplet have a specific character?" he asked the director and producer.
"We primarily use just one of the three as the actor," Harvell replied. "The others only go on camera when we find it easier than filming the same scene three times. Saves money overall."
"Are you the main actor?" Colin asked looking directly at me.
"No sir," I replied, trying to act like I didn't know him. "I'm just one of J.P.'s brothers. That's J.P. there, standing next to Jason," I pointed out. They were also with Blake, who was having a conversation with Aiden.
We moved as a group over towards the guys, and introductions were given.
Blake, being Blake, stuck his right foot forward and did a weird bow. He removed a fake hat and waved it in front of himself. "Your highness. Happy to meet you," he said before standing up again, leaving his foot outstretched.
"What are you doing with your foot?" Colin asked, trying to supress a laugh.
"Oh, sorry your majesty. We were told to put our best foot forward for your visit, and this is my best foot. I like my left foot too, but I think my right one is just a bit better. What do you think of it?"
"Very nice foot," Colin replied, almost losing ground to suppressing the grin. "But just for the record, I'm not royalty. I'm just the owner of the studio."
"Sorry, they didn't explain how to address you. Just the foot thing," Blake replied as he pulled his foot back and stood beside me. "Was I supposed to have taken my shoes and socks off, or was this okay?"
"That was more than was required," Coin assured him.
Aiden wasn't as controlled as Colin, and burst out laughing. "Sorry. It's just that that was funny. I'm Aiden, sir. My character is Ashton this season. I'm just a guest star."
"Nice to meet you Aiden," Colin responded before turning to us. "What's it like being triplets? Does anyone get you confused, or do you try to trick people by swapping places?"
"The answer to both is yes, occasionally," J.P. replied.
Colin paused and looked us over. "I can see the difference. I can see why they chose you as the main actor. I think you have a better look for the camera than your brothers. No offense to either of you, of course. It's just that he seems more charismatic, with slightly better features that come across better on camera. Are you still filming today?"
"Yes, sir. They're just setting a scene," the director replied.
Blake stepped up to Colin and stared at him. "How do you get to be a studio owner? How come you have so many guys in suits with you? Are they bodyguards or just ass kissers? Is that suit tailor made, or just off the rack? Do you have any kids that are in movies, or do they just sponge money off you like most kids?"
"Blake," the director snapped. "Let's let Mr. Worthington have some breathing room. Aren't you supposed to be getting ready for the next scene?"
"I'm ready. How hard is it to slam a kid into a locker? Been doin' it my whole life," he grinned staring intently at Colin. He was really trying to see if he could break Colin, I'm sure. "That's why they hired me. Bad-ass in real life and on set. Makes my character resonate with the audience."
The director suddenly snapped his fingers and turned to the assistant behind me. "Let me see the cast list for this episode."
The assistant, made a couple swipes on the tablet she was holding and handed it to him. He studied it for a second, and then looked at all of us and nodded. "So, your last name is Masters," he said looking at me. "Yours is Worthington-Masters, and you're Mr. Worthington. Are you all related somehow?"
"Busted!" Blake laughed. "So much for the anonymity shit."
"Yes, we're related," I admitted. "Colin is my husband, and Blake is our son. Obviously, Jason and J.P. are my brothers as well."
"Whew, that's a relief," he said almost exhaling loudly. "I thought after Blake's antics we'd be getting cancelled for sure. Does this mean we're guaranteed a few more seasons?"
"I don't interfere with that," Colin answered professionally. "I leave that up to ratings. As long as there's a strong interest in what you're producing, you get the green light. I would change out the weird kid with the foot fetish though. That may not be the fan base you want."
"Hey! Fuck that, Dad. I'm the guy holding this whole thing together. The Triple J's are just the novelty hook to get people to pay attention to us. I'm the talent they stay for."
"Oh brother," Aiden groaned. "But seriously? Your dad is the owner of the studio. No wonder you're a main character."
"Nah, until now, no one even knew who I was. I auditioned on my own last season, and was only supporting cast. I didn't get promoted to main cast until this season," Blake explained. "And I really want it to stay that way, so please don't spread it around who my dads are."
"I promise. Maybe you can show me around the rest of the studio though. I don't have access to anywhere except our own sets," Aiden asked.
"Me neither," Blake replied. "I'd need an all-access pass to be able to show you around. Any chance of that, Dad?"
"Can I trust you not to destroy the studio and wreak chaos?"
"God, no. What kinda bad-ass do you think I am? So can I have a pass?" He blinked innocently.
Colin put his hand back and one of the suits handed him a pass. "First complaint that you're being a little shit disturber, and that pass gets revoked."
Blake looked at Aiden. "Once we finish filming, it sounds like we have three minutes of unfettered access."
"I'll see you back at the palace, your highness," Blake said giving the weird bow again, then taking off with Aiden.
"Is he always like that, sir?" The director asked.
"No, normally he's not that reserved. Guess he must like acting, so he's behaving for you," Colin smiled. "Do you mind if we watch the next scene being filmed?"
"It's your studio. You can be in the scene if you wanted," the director replied.
"Thanks. I'll stay behind the camera, where I belong."
We moved to the set that had been prepared, and waited for everyone to take their marks. It was funny looking at it, as there was this well-lit school hallway, with lockers and doors; but then on either side, in the darkness of the studio, actors were waiting at the door like sheep about to herded into a pen.
"Sound up. Roll cameras...and action," he called loudly. There were a couple seconds of silence, then a school bell sounded. That appeared to be the starting gun for everyone as they opened the doors and began filling the hallway. Some actors went for a locker, others met up with friends and moved aside to pretend talk to each other. One dropped his books, and others stumbled over them, making a mess. Not sure if that was planned or not, but they kept of going, so I'm assuming it was. The camera moved in on Kriss and Scott.
"Dude, you're way better at football than that lacrosse crap. Why do you keep going? The footballs team gets the cheerleaders, man." Scott said as he fumbled with something in the locker.
"Maybe, but our lacrosse team is at the top of the league, and the football team hasn't won a game all season. I may be better at football, but I like lacrosse better. Sorry, mister quarterback. Just how it is. Hey, Wendy," Kriss said as Victoria's character arrived into the scene.
She came over to stand with the boys. "Could you maybe do up a couple buttons, Wendy," Scott snapped. "You show any more cleavage and you won't even need the shirt."
She gave him the finger and turned her attention to Kriss as he spoke to her. "We still going to the party at Crash's on Friday night?"
"Yeah, I hear it's going to get pretty wild," she said running her hand over his chest. "You might want to stay home, Scott. Wouldn't want you to wipe your goody two shoes all over their carpets."
Scott gave her a face as he flipped her a finger in return.
"You're gonna get to see my new lingerie, Krissy," she said sweetly as she leaned in to kiss him, then whispered quietly, "the bra is quick release."
"Gross," Scott said, sticking his tongue out as if to hurl.
"Too bad you think so. Becky has the same one, and was looking forward to the party with you. Who knows, if the party gets wild enough, maybe you boys will see some girl-on-girl action. Later, babe," she said to Kriss, kissing him again, and fluffing up her boobs as she headed off down the hall and off camera.
"Hell yeah. I'm gonna need to shower and shave for this party. Do you think she's serious?" Kriss grinned.
"Dude, I'm not watching my sister make out with my girlfriend."
"You'll be the only guy that isn't," Kriss teased. "Hey, maybe that's when you could hook up with Keith," he teased.
"Shut up, asshole," he said as they headed away from the camera, and turned down the hallway at the end.
"Cut. Good. We'll go one more time. Let's do it without dropping papers all over my set this time," Harvell announced.
I guess dropping the books wasn't part of the scene, which leads me to ask why they let the actors do the whole scene. I guess only the production team knows for sure.
They went again, and to me it seemed exactly the same, just without a floor littered with paper. Honestly the first take seemed more realistic.
"Okay, let's move to the second scene. First team, places," the director said, sounding a lot more intense than normal. I guess he was trying to impress Colin.
The next setup was again in the hallway so I suppose it made sense to film them at the same time. It was going to be Scott and Becky hugging and giving each other a kiss against their locker. Although it was J.P. in this scene, it was my character he was portraying. In the script Scott and Becky were talking about the upcoming dance and how they were looking forward to it. Keith, pretending to be Kriss, came up to his locker beside them. They acknowledged him as he swapped out books, and then they kissed. Keith glared at Scott and then accidentally dropped his books on Scott's foot. It was almost amusing to note that they'd swapped out Marvin's' real sneakers for steel toed ones. I guess they don't want him being injured when J.P. drops the books. I'm sure Keith wouldn't agree with that. I think he'd want Scott to at least feel it.
The scene was, once he dropped them, it would cause Scott and Becky to break the kiss as Scott reacted to being injured. Becky would exit the scene and leave Scott and Keith alone. This all went according to plan as they filmed it.
"What the hell, Keith?" He said looking around, almost whispering.
"Kriss, remember," Keith said as he picked up his books. I'm guessing this scene is after the locker scene of earlier.
"I'm pretty sure you're Keith. Are you jealous? You know I'm straight and have a girlfriend."
"No need to flaunt it in front of me," he replied.
"I'm technically not. You're supposed to be Kriss, who by the way, doesn't care if I'm kissing my girlfriend at my locker in my school. None of which you're supposed to be aware of."
"Well, I am. You wanna hang out after school at my place? My parents don't get home until 6," Keith asked.
"I already made plans with Becky. Sorry. I promised I go shopping with her."
"Shopping?" Keith said, almost a little loud, checking himself as he looked around. "Shopping?" he repeated quieter. "I'm offering you this, and you want shopping. You really are straight."
"Yes, I am. I'm free tomorrow," he replied.
"I'm not Kriss tomorrow," Keith said almost grinning. "Wait until Kevin takes a turn here. You could have had the entire set."
"Something's off about your logic. First, Kriss and Kevin would never hook up with me. It'd only be you, even if you were pretending to be all three. I'm so confused," he said shaking his head.
"I could unconfuse you...but apparently you're going shopping," Keith said, sounding more pissed off than playful, before turning and taking off down the hall.
There were a lot of suggestions on how to play the scene better, some of which had J.P. actually getting closer to Scott and lowering his voice to be more realistic in a crowded hallway. That meant a little adjustment to microphones and lighting, and it was funny to see the stand-ins moving up so close to each other and just stay there. I hope no one of them have tuna breath, or worse, kipper pores (if that's a thing). They went again when things were right, and as usual, the second take looked a lot better than the first one. Although I think the first book drop looked more realistic. Guess they could just splice that together somehow.
Once the scene was a wrap, Colin thanked everyone and headed out of the sound stage. Blake and I followed him. "I guess I'm not anonymous anymore, huh Dad?" Blake said. "Does that mean I can have the run of the studio as your kid now?"
"No. It means you need to be even better behaved than anyone else in the studio as it's my reputation on the line. I wasn't kidding earlier. One misstep with that pass and I revoke it. The only access you'll have is to an outhouse on the western lot."
"Understood..." he said, then giggled as he bowed again, "your highness."
"Does anyone know if we have an active medieval set where he can be put into stocks and pelted with rotten tomatoes?" Colin asked. "See you at home."
He gave Blake a hug, and me a kiss before heading off with his entourage of suits. Even without a tie, Colin looked sexy hot as these guys all kissed his metaphorical ass. I doubt he'd be interested in any of them kissing his literal ass.
Blake turned to me and grinned. "If he's the king, does that make you the Queen?"
"No, but it does make you the court jester," I replied as I put my arm around his shoulder and we returned to the sound stage.
Blake was inspecting his all-access pass, and you could almost hear his mind deciding how best to use it. He met up with Aiden, London, and Thad, who all took off at a sprint. I don't blame their enthusiasm. I have two passes. The one I was given for this production to allow me to get on set, and the pass Colin gave me when we first acquired the studio. Mine had the same access as his, but I hadn't used it yet. I might one day if I hear of a A-list celebrity being on site. I'd even consider using executive override to hang out in their trailers if I have a crush on them.
We were back to hair and makeup again for the next scene. I think male actors have it pretty easy in this department. Mostly we just get a light coat of something to stop your face being all shiny under the lights, but the girls get painted, spackled, rouged, feathered, and tarred. They sometimes even have earlier call times than the guys because of how long it takes. Once we were done there, it was off to our trailers where our first outfit was waiting. I dressed and headed to set where things began like yesterday...with the first team running lines, before second team stood around to get lighting and positioning correct.
My first scene of the day, was again, not too overly dramatic. The Griffin triplets had put our different jackets on, and were carrying backpacks this time. Jason was in his private school blazer, while I had some wildly colorful jacket. J.P.'s was more a mainstream hoody. They really were making us dramatically different. Perhaps that's needed to ensure the fans knew which character was which. I guess if we were all identical, it could come across extremely confusing on screen. Even our hair was done differently. Kevin, being the preppy kid, meant Jason's hair was slicked back, making him look more like a total douche. Mine had a side part, with hair falling into my eyes a lot. It looked good, but I kept forgetting to brush the hair out of the way along the part, leading to it being a mess. J.P. was allowed to keep his hair normal while he was being Kriss. At least now I fully understood the reference of the previous scene. They really should do this shit in order so the actors know what the hell is going on.
"Action," the director called, and a few seconds later yelled cut. Apparently, I was the one to start the action this time. Oops, my bad. We were waiting outside the house waiting to come in. Someone should tell our parents that the front door of our house only leads to a green screen. They may want to discuss that with the realtor, or at the very least, the landscaper.
"Action," he called again, so I stepped forward, opened the door, and entered, with Kriss and Kevin right behind me. Should I call them Kriss and Kevin, or J.P. and Jason? I dunno. I'm sure if they give me more lines, I'm gonna screw up their names anyway. No wonder people have trouble telling triplets apart. It's confusing as fuck.
"I'm over it," I said as I dropped my backpack and jacket on the chair in the entryway. My brothers did the same thing. As soon as we were in, Scott/`Marvin' walked in behind us.
"I am too," Scott said as he walked through the house to the kitchen with us. The camera was in front of us backing up as we walked, and I was desperately trying not to look at it. Apparently, that's a real temptation for new actors, but drilled into you repeatedly. Don't look at the camera. Don't look at the camera.
I looked at the camera. Not once, but twice. First time at the camera right in front of me, which I think I might have gotten a pass for, but when the one in the kitchen rose into to the air on this hinged stand thing, how could you not look?
"CUT!" I guess the camera didn't like me looking at it either. You knew I was gonna do it though. I got told off and we had to reset from the start.
This time I was proud of myself for getting into the kitchen and back on my assigned stool. Scott/`Marvin' wasn't as fortunate. He sat on his seat and lost his balance, tumbling off.
"There's our first blooper reel moment," J.P. laughed as we began again.
Some scenes you can start over part way through, and others you have go right from the beginning. This is like a real-life video game with save points. Not sure who decides that, but I was learning just to do as the director told us. When we finally moved on, it was Scott to do the talking again.
"He's still being an ass. Couple days ago, the little shit totally trashed my room. I'm talking hurricane level disaster shit. When I went to beat him up for it, I got it from my parents that I was older, and should know better."
"He didn't catch it for what he did to your room?"
"Sure. They told him to clean it up, but he did more damage putting things back, so I threw him out. Then he stole my car. My CAR! He doesn't even know how to drive. Surprised he didn't kill anyone, or worse...damage my car."
Kriss laughed. "Damaging your car is worse than killing someone?"
"Sure. It'd be both, wouldn't it? He'd wreck my car and I'd kill him," he reasoned. "I appreciate you guys still letting me crash here when I've had enough of him."
"Anytime," I replied.
"That kid just needs to get laid," Jason/Kevin told him.
"He's 13. He needs a spanking," Scott/'Marvin' said bluntly.
"I need a spanking," I said, holding up my hand.
"Oh my god. Shut up," J.P./Kriss said shaking his head. "So, what's the actual deal between you two anyway? You caused this drama, so what's the plan?"
"There's no deal. It was a one-time thing. End of deal," Scott said directly.
"Was it though?" J.P./Kriss asked. "I mean I've never kissed a guy just to see what it's like."
"That's because you're worried about what people will think," Jason/Kevin replied.
"Yeah. No shit. Look how that's turning out for Scott."
"It's working out fine for me. It's just Duane that's freaking out. No one else cares."
"I care," I said with an appreciative smile. It said to on my script. Keith: (with an appreciate smile) I care.' It was one of the highlighted lines I had. I was appreciative of that. (insert another smile). I so got this acting thing. Don't look at the camera and say your line when it's your turn. Nailed it.
"Anyone want a little brother? He's available cheap. I'll even throw in all his crap so you wouldn't have to buy him anything," Scott offered.
"I already have two brothers. Mostly for spare parts," J.P./Kriss replied. "Any way, you forget that we know Duane. You can keep him. Speaking of your home sitch, Scott, what are we going to do about it?"
"I had hoped it would just end when I explained it to Duane. All he saw was me kissing one of you once, and I told him it was just one of those things that you try as you get older. I thought he was mature enough to understand, but I think some of the new friends he's been making are fueling the rage in him. Who gets that upset about a kiss? Even if it is with a same sex person."
"Like I said, he needs to get laid," Kevin repeated.
"I actually have a plan," he said as he looked at the three of us. There was a small pause and then we heard `cut.' End scene and fade to black, or whatever the right saying is for this setting.
They quickly reset and we went again, but this time only from when were all in the kitchen which made it easier. It was just dialogue and some different camera angles. At least they warned us when the camera was changing its focal length, or point. Something like that. I guess they want you to be aware of when the camera is pushing in close on your face. That would not be a good time to have a nose whistler, or to reach up and scratch your face. Seems we did pretty good as our scene was over fast. I'm must be getting the hang of this. I only have one question. When is my sex scene with Scott? I'll bang the fuck out of him so good that the entire crew will have boners...including the girls.
Next, the entire production moved over to the school locker room set. I think this is the one North was getting ready for. The cameras were centered on Duane and Ashton who were standing side by side in front of their lockers in their gym gear. A few `background actors', as we call them in the biz, were scattered around the set, in various states of undress; as you might find in a locker room. North was one of them, shirtless, but wearing football pants. He also had a towel in his hand as he stood with a foot up on a bench. Another extra was in front of him as if the two were in a conversation.
"Action," the director called, and Blake immediately began, surprising me a little as he went into a full rampage mode by slamming his fist into the locker. I have no idea how hard he hit it, but he dented the locker. He might actually get that spanking, but from the director this time. Found out later the metal was deliberately thinner so it would dent easily, and able to pop back out for any repeated takes. I guess the break between seasons hadn't calmed Duane down at all.
"It's bullshit, Ash. I'm telling you it's the fault of social media liberal bullshit."
"Now what are you talking about?" Ashton asked, as he pulled off his shirt and reached into his locker.
"You can't say things in case people think you're racist or some sort of queer basher, but steal one car and everyone is up your ass."
"Does that make the queer bashing easier or harder?" he asked as he lowered his shorts to leave him in his underwear.
"Huh?" Duane said, stopping suddenly as he pulled his own shirt off.
"If everyone is up your ass?" Ashton laughed as pants came out of his locker.
"Shut up. You're as bad as my brother. I mean he kisses a guy and no one says fuck all about it. As if that crap is normal. I trash his room and borrow his car, and suddenly I'm public enemy number one. Let's see how they'd react if I kiss some random homo."
"You'd kiss a boy?" Ashton asked frowning as he finished getting dressed. Duane had dropped his own gym shorts and began pulling on pants.
"No! Is everyone missing the point? My brother might be a fag and my whole reputation could be ruined. I am not letting him destroy that for any reason. I don't hang out with gay guys, not even my brother," he said loudly finished dressing and slammed his locker.
"Is he gay though? You said all he did was kiss one guy."
"Yeah. You don't go around kissing guys whenever you feel like it, unless you're a homo. He's a homo."
"Maybe he's not, and he's just not worried about things like that," Ashton reasoned.
"He's my brother Ashton! What the hell am I supposed to do? I don't want a gay brother," he screamed.
Ashton just shrugged. "Think the coach will notice your locker is busted up?" He asked as the boys looked at the dent Duane had made.
"Who cares? It was like that when we got in here. Come on. I'm starving."
As he said it, Cameron and Garren, as Eldon and Farris came around the corner with their school jackets on, and backpacks over one shoulder.
"Hey, shouldn't you pre-schoolers be off changing your huggies somewhere?" Eldon said as soon as they saw them.
"That's the best you can do, Eldon?" Duane replied. "At least we don't have dicks like preschoolers. Seems like your girlfriend appreciated that last night when I was with her."
"What the fuck?" Eldon said as he made a move towards the two guys, who turned and bolted.
Farris/Garren just laughed. "Dude, he burned you good. That's Saunders' kid brother. Pretty much ruled his elementary school last year. I've met him before, and I'm putting him in the category of most likely to become a serial killer."
"The only category he's gonna be in is `who dies before dinner' category," he said as the boys dumped their backpacks on the bench and turned towards the lockers.
The director yelled cut. "That was a good start. Let's go one more time, back to position one everyone. Tim, lose the shirt, and move two lockers to your left this time. Let's have you in frame right from the beginning. When Duane punches the locker, react to it, and then move off screen," he said to one of the background extras. I'd been watching North and it looked funny seeing him moving his lips without saying anything. The guys moved around only a little bit as the scene progressed in front of them.
Everyone went again, and after a short review, and a reset for different angles, we finally had the first scene in the bag, or the can. Speaking of being in the can, I really need to pee. That's probably an overshare at this point. As required, I told my P.A. where I was going as they apparently had to know where you were at all times. I just hope they don't need to know what I'm doing when I'm where I am. I went off to a take care of the business of me doing my business and returned.
They were now setting up to film a second locker room scene. This would be Kriss, Scott, Farris, and Brayden, played by Ian, another cast regular. Apparently, they were post shower, although they hadn't actually showered. The stinky bastards. All of them had had their hair wet down. Kriss and Scott were shirtless and both wrapped in towels. Scott/'Marvin' was in his street clothes, while Farris and Brayden were both in t-shirts and underwear. Farris/Garren, would begin the scene putting on a sock, while Brayden pulled pants out of his locker. They had done the rehearsal, resprayed the guys and done the take, talking about regular school things. Different background extras had been brought in, some of them actually down to jock straps with a towel over their shoulder. The camera followed the guys as they closed their lockers and headed off. The scene was ended and as expected they went a couple more times before calling a wrap.
They started up again with the guys entering the bathroom part of the lockers. This time a camera followed them until they were in front of a mirror. Kriss began combing his hair and parted it on the side as he did it. The three other guys stopped and looked at him.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Farris asked.
"What?" Kriss replied.
"Since when do you part your hair?"
"Just trying something new," he shrugged before quickly returning it to its usual look.
"Looks better like that man," Brayden commented. "What do you think, Scott?"
"Me? I don't care how he combs his hair. You two planning on becoming hairdressers or something?" He shrugged. The other two guys left, and Scott just stared at Kriss.
"What?" Kris asked frowning at him.
"Keith?"
"Are you high?" J.P. as Keith, asked as he shook his head and walked off camera. Scott followed and the scene was over. As always, a couple more angles and takes before it was done. Editors must hate directors. `Here's 30 hours of film. Make it into a good two minutes.' Seems a show would be more realistic if they just took the shot as they got it. Sure, do the rehearsal so you have two takes, but other than that, move on. We could be done in two hours instead of sixteen.
I saw Blake heading towards me and I froze. "Holy shit what happened to you?" I asked as he had a black eye, a cut on his forehead and a bruised cheek.
"Turns out Wendy wasn't into a three-way with me and Thad as much as we thought. If you think I look bad, you should see Thad. Check this out," he said lifting his shirt and showing me the large purple bruise on his side.
"Jesus, have you been to medical?" I asked concerned. I've seen medical shows, I know internal bleeding when I see it. This looked really serious, and I can't believe how casual he was being about it. He becomes a raging drama queen when he can't find the socks he wants to match his shoes.
He laughed. "It's makeup, Dad. For my next scene. Pretty realistic, huh?"
"Fuck, I'll say. Scared the crap out of me. Maybe next time have them pin a sign on you that says `in makeup. Do not call 911.' What's the scene?"
"Just out of a big fight with some druggies that were trying to roll me and Thad for our stash. Now we're on the lam as Thad shot one of them."
"How'd I miss all that?" I asked frowning. On the lam? Who says that?
"Maybe you were having a little `extra' fun when we filmed the fight. It was mostly our stunt doubles, but I got to do a few close up moves. They even allowed me to use my karate. Cool, huh."
"Sounds like it. Sucks that I missed it. Guess I `ll have to wait and see it on TV like everyone else."
"Or at one of the screenings," he replied casually. "Oh hey, since you actually brought it up, Thad and I hooked up with Victoria. That was fire. I mean really really good."
"Do I wanna know the details?"
"Yeah, you do. As soon as we got in her trailer, we undressed. I mean no point in pretending we weren't there for that anyway. I got to check Thad out, and he's got a decent body, and an even nicer noodle. Victoria said she liked boys with big dicks, and that's why she invited us both at once. I'm pretty sure it was our idea for the three-way, but we're not gonna correct her.
She started by kissing us, and then we did a three-way kiss, which was awesome. Victoria compared our cocks while we kissed, and then put them together. Thad's not as big as me, but he's about 7 inches. Then we got on the bed to fool around more. Thad and me ate her pussy together for a while, and then lay there as she slurped our dicks. So hot. Then it got really fun. I was lying up against Victoria kissing her, and Thad was down eating her pussy. A couple times he reached over and played with me, usually just before he ran the head of it up and down Victoria's pussy lips as he kept eating her out. She suggested we 69, so I spun around so she could suck my dick, while I shared her pussy."
"This is already well past an overshare, Blake," I said shaking my head.
He just chuckled, before continuing. "Thad lifted Victoria's leg, and entered her while I was still munching down. I got to lick his shaft and her pussy at the same time. He even held my head to steady me a few times. What was really fun was when he pulled his dick out and put it at my lips for me to suck. I did it for a couple thrusts before he put it back inside her. Then we switched around. Thad totally sucked my dick while I was doing it. He said there is no better taste in the world than a pussy flavoured cock," he said enthusiastically.
I'm pretty sure that raw octopus dipped in rat poison would be a better taste, but hey, who am I to judge what people like?
"He even had me spray my load all over her pussy so he could lick her clean. He said it was nice to have cream sauce with your fish. After that he spun back around and missionaried the hell out of her until he flooded her pussy. Victoria said that we would have to hook up again. That should be epic."
"So is Thad bisexual? He seemed pretty open about interacting with you."
"He said he's sexually fluid."
"Sounds like he enjoyed your sexual fluid," I teased.
"That's so not woke, Dad. Just means he likes what he likes when he likes it. I asked if he ever fucked a guy, and he said no, but one day he'd probably try it. So, I'm thinking we'll be hooking up later. He did say he doesn't plan ahead, and that he pretty much just lives in the moment. If something happens, you just go with it."
"Not sure how you do that," I frowned. "I mean it's only natural to think ahead as to what might happen."
"Yeah, not sure I could do that either, but it seems to work for him," he grinned. "I gotta run. Catch you later."
He took off, and I started planning on how to get Thad, without it looking like I had planned to get Thad. Maybe I could accidentally knock him out, then drag him back to my trailer and help him recover. Of course, I'd have had to undress him to check for wounds, and when he wondered why I was also naked, I'd explain that it was so he didn't feel as uncomfortable when he woke up without clothes. He'd be so appreciative of the help, and seeing me naked, that he'd be in the moment, and we'd go at it like we're being filmed at high speed. I didn't say it was a good plan, it's just one idea. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be. Let's face it though, aren't the triplet characters sort of the stars of this show? And aren't I one of the triplets? And wouldn't everyone want to do a lead character? I'll just go hit on him and see what happens.
Now that the idea was in my head, I had to go do something about it, or I might forget later on. Just look back over the past couple of years and see how many things I started, or the people I met and forgot about. It's like I have black hole void in my head where information just gets sucked in and is lost forever. I mean sure, friends come and go, and sometimes people you hang out with move on with their lives, but I just graduated as a psychologist and I'm already forgetting to go to work. Good thing Nate is more responsible than I am as he's got a full-time practice in just a few short months. Speaking of Nate, I should remember to check on Casey. I still like moderating his cam shows. Not because I like the modding thing, that's mostly boring. I want Casey to be more sexual, and I think I'm waiting around until he asks me to teach him things. I should go have a donut. I know I was about to do something, but it's sort of slipped my mind right now.
I went and got my donut along with a handful of M&M's at the craft services table, or, as we in the business call it...crafty. I had just opened a root beer when Cameron strolled up for one of the salads. Oh, he's a salad guy. Deduct 1 hotness point. Or is it add 1 hotness point because he eats healthy. I think he gets points if he has a fruity salad as that makes his cum taste sweeter, and loses points if he's eating broccoli in his salad.
"Hey Cameron. How are your scenes going?" I asked as I turned to acknowledge him, already dressed in his prep school uniform.
"Great. Umm, which character is yours? Sorry, I still can't tell the three of you apart. Hope that's not insulting or anything."
"Not at all. I'm Justin, playing Keith. Your character is playing Kevin's best friend at prep school huh?"
"Yep. My character is new this season, so I'm not sure where it's going yet."
"I guess they don't tell you that too far ahead of time, huh?"
"Probably to avoid any plot leaks," he reasoned.
"Probably. Is your character going to the party that they're doing? That should be wild to film."
"Yeah. Looking forward to that. I like group scenes, especially party ones. You usually get a bit more freedom to improvise," he nodded. "Are all three of you guys going to be at the party?"
"As part of the show, I doubt it. The guys all go to different schools so people treat them as individuals and not one of three," I reasoned. "In real life, we'll definitely be there to see it being filmed."
"Makes sense," he nodded as he selected more food.
"Do you think the party will have people taking their clothes off?"
"Probably. I know we're filming it on location where there's a pool, so if we're all supposed to be stoned, I'd guess there'll be people making out. Like they say, sex sells."
"Would your character be getting naked, or do they only have the extras go fully nude?" I asked hopefully.
"I think the most my character would be allowed to do would be a side butt shot. Would you ever do a nude scene?" He asked.
"In this case it'd be up to J.P., since he's the actual actor. Technically Jason and me are just the guest stars. I mean if you see one of us naked, you've seen us all."
"Are you guys really that identical?" He asked showing some interest.
"We are. There are very few people that can tell us apart."
"I probably could if I saw three of you together at the same time. I'm pretty good with details like that," he bragged. Now normally this is where I'd make him a bet, which would end up with him losing and giving up his ass, but I'm maturing.
"Says everyone," I laughed. "I noticed that your cast all seem to get along really well. I'm sure that makes for a good environment when working."
"Yeah. I guess it's good that we get along since we work with each other like 12 hours a day," he replied.
"I'll tell you who seems really popular is that girl Wendy, or whatever her real name is. I forgot," I said feigning some stupidity.
"Victoria. Why do you think she's popular?" He asked, almost suspiciously.
"Seems like she hangs out with lots of different people back in her trailer. Mostly guys from what I've seen, but it's not like I have 24/7 surveillance on her," I said trying to make a joke. "I'm guessing she's a good host as everyone seems to leave happier than when they go in. Who knows, maybe everyone's just smoking up in there and leaving buzzed."
"Maybe. I figured you guys being triplets would make you popular," Cameron said turning the focus back to me.
"When we're together, we can attract attention. Especially if we're deliberately trying to look alike. I think the three of us would have tried to create our own looks by now, but with J.P. getting this show based on us being identical, we'll keep that going at least until the show ends its run."
"Just out of curiosity, and you can tell me if I'm being too personal, do you all ever get hit on by the same girl that maybe wants to hook up with each of you?"
"Sure. Seems to be a fantasy for a lot of people, and not just girls," I chuckled. "You get used to it."
"Have you ever done it? Like all three of you had sex with the same person?"
"Yes. Once or twice," I nodded with a smirk. Sometimes once or twice a day, but I left that detail out.
"Would you do it like three different dates, or do you ever do them while your brothers are there too?"
"Someone's got a kinky mind," I teased.
"Sorry. Just curious. I've thought about group stuff at times, but I just wondered how it would work with triplets."
"If you could have twins or triplet girls, would you want them one at a time, or all at once?" I asked to change his perspective.
"All at once. God, you know how hot that would be to see some girl-on-girl action when the girls are twins or triplets."
"So, girl on girl on girl, action," I corrected.
He smiled and nodded. "Hell yeah. I'd wear my dick out."
"That's the same sort of thing a lot of the people want to see from us."
"Never thought of it like that. That'd be interesting. I think if I were you guys, I'd be filling all three holes at once if I was hooking up with a girl. Maybe share her pussy at the same time."
I laughed. "Not sure a hole could handle two of our cocks at the same time. We're bigger than most," I bragged.
"Says every guy until he realizes six inches is actually just average. I think a girl's vagina could take a lot though. I mean they push babies out of those things so I'm sure a couple of dicks, even large ones wouldn't pose much of a problem. Now shoving two babies in there," Cameron said laughing at his own joke.
"I'm never getting that thought out of my head," I said staring at him. Of course, now I'm imagining some girl giving birth. The father looks over at it and goes `fuck that's ugly, put it back.' Then it gets shoved back in. Yes, I'm considering getting medicated.
The filming stayed in the locker room set to prepare for another scene. I guess it's easier to get all of the locker room stuff out of the way in one go. This time, Blake and Thad were cued up and walked through their scene. The lighting had been lowered as I guess they were using the locker room after hours this time. It was interesting to watch how they lit the set this time as opposed to how they normally did it. They simulated a skylight in the ceiling, through which they put a beam of light to look like the moon. Then there were other small shadow lights scattered around to make it look like light coming from elsewhere.
On action, Thad, as Crash, ran into the locker room in a panic, followed by Blake/Duane.
"Lock the door!" Crash barked as he raced to the showers and turned one on. He stood under the stream of water fully clothed. He looked like he was covered in blood, which I'm hoping is fake and they didn't just ask one of the extras for a couple pints.
"What do we do, Crash?" Duane asked sounding as panicked as Crash looked. He was looking as messed up, just without the blood.
"Shut up. Let me think. Grab a towel for me," he said as he took off his jacket and shirt. A camera followed Duane while others kept recording Crash trying to wash the blood off himself.
As soon as Duane returned, Crash unfastened his pants and dropped them, leaving him in just his underwear. He continued to scrub himself the best he could. "Shit. What am I gonna do? I shot that guy. Do you think he's dead?"
"I dunno. He looked pretty dead to me," Duane replied. "It was an accident though, Crash. Like self defence."
"Cops will never believe that. I'm going to need money and a place to lay low. Plus, I gotta get this blood off me. Some of it is probably his."
"Dude, you should maybe go to a hospital too. You've got lots of cuts and bruises," Duane commented as he looked at Crash showering.
"I can't go to a hospital. That's the first place they'll look. Let me get showered first. He hit you pretty hard with that board. Are you okay?"
Duane took his shirt off to show the prominent bruise, as both of them looked at it. "It doesn't feel like anything's broken."
"Good. Do you have clean clothes in your locker?"
"Sure. I'll go get them."
He took off again, and the camera being held by the operator, followed him. Crash leaned his head against the wall and was doing a very believable job of looking scared as the water ran over him. As soon as Duane returned, Crash stood back up and looked at him.
"Check my back. Did I get all the blood off?" Crash asked.
Duane moved just inside the shower room and looked at Crash's back. "Yeah. Seems fine."
"Wait," Crash said as he made the move to lower his underwear. He was wearing another pair underneath, but once the outer pair were free, he held them up to toss them into the pile with his other clothes. The viewers would believe he was naked at this point. Duane quickly looked away, and moved back out of the shower area to stand at the entrance.
"Did any blood run inside my underwear?" Crash asked.
"You should be good," Duane replied, making it obvious he wasn't looking at Crash while he was naked.
"Dude, stop being a chick. This is serious. Check my back to make sure I don't have any blood left that could be used against me if I get caught. See if I'm injured any place I can't see."
Duane moved back into the shower and looked him over. "You're fine."
"Good. Anything on my face that you can see?"
"Nope. Your face and hair look clean. Maybe do one more shampoo though just to be safe," Duane replied.
"He really hit me in the nuts hard. I have a feeling he might have busted one of my balls," he said as he looked down. Duane looked as well, then quickly realized what he was doing, and looked up and glanced away, before moving back out of the shower area again.
He tossed Crash a towel when asked, and then waited until he got dressed.
We gotta burn these clothes," Crash said. "Don't touch them though. Wrap them in the towel and we'll dump them in a garbage bag first."
The boys quickly went to work on it, and I was actually impressed by how long this shoot was going. Once the clothes were in the garbage bag, the director yelled cut.
I naively thought they wouldn't need a second shot considering how much there was to this scene, but I was wrong. They reset everything. The shower area was dried out. Thad was changed into another outfit, identical to the one he had when the scene began, and the makeup people re-applied his `blood'. The cameras were changed slightly to accommodate different angles and for this take it was done in smaller segments. First the arrival and run to the showers. That was done at least three times from different angles. Then Crash's shower. Sometimes it was just him being filmed by the stationary cameras and then the portable ones that moved around him. I think he took his underwear off at least four times and I almost felt bad for him when he had to keep putting them back on. Nothing worse than cold wet clothes having to be put on. Thad did a great job, but by the time they called a wrap on the scene, he was shivering badly. They quickly wrapped him in a warm blanket before taking him back to his trailer.
Blake just came up to me grinning. "That was a fun scene. Crash is Duane's idol. At least that's how I'm seeing it progress. Wonder what's gonna happen?"
"I guess even the actors don't know what is going to happen with their character, huh?"
"No. We get to discuss things with the production team when they decide to change our character's personality. We might get to suggest how to play the scene, but in the end, we have to do what the director wants. I think having a friend who shot someone is gonna make me a total bad-ass though."
"Nice of homophobic you to check out your naked friend in the shower," I chuckled as I put my arm around his waist.
"Yeah, I got all sorts of direction on how to react to that. Like the eyes looking up rapidly, and the fast head turn. It's to emphasize that Duane isn't into checking out guys. Blake on the other hand, was kinda hoping Thad wouldn't actually have a second pair of underwear on," he laughed.
"I guess, like everyone else that sees the scene, you'll just have to pretend he was naked."
"Only until later," he grinned.
I didn't ask what he meant.
"Alright that's a 15-minute break," production announced.
It didn't seem like it, but we'd been at this for hours and only done three scenes. I'm guessing the whole thing is probably less than 10 minutes of the entire episode. I made another beeline to the craft services area. Not gonna lie...a whole table full of everything from junk food to health food was a good idea. I might have Merrick start doing that at home from now on. Who wouldn't want gummy bears or chocolate covered raisins for breakfast with their Cheerios, smoked salmon, warmed brie, and pickled asparagus?
"Just wanted to say that you're doing great, Dad," Blake said as he came up beside me.
"Thanks. So are you. You're really talented. I also think your fans are going to appreciate your increased number of shirtless scenes. It's going to show how much you've grown since last season."
"I think that's the idea. I'm not the skinny small 12-year-old I was portraying last season. Now I'm the bad ass almost 14-year-old."
J.P. walked up to us. "Boys," he grinned as he grabbed some food of his own. "Justin, you want to join me and `Marvin' for the prep for our next scene?"
"Which scene?"
"The one where they actually show us making out."
"Damn, they're really going all out on the skin scenes for the first episode," I noted, but was not objecting about.
"It's a typical thing in the opening episode of a season. Lure people in with something sexy, or controversial, and you'll ideally keep them for a few more episodes while you build the story for the season, ending in a climax or cliff-hanger."
"The way this show is starting, the climax is going to be a real splasher," I chuckled.
"True. Anyway, the intimacy coach is waiting for `Marvin' and me. Join us if you want. I mean who knows, maybe they'll let you do the actual scene."
"Oh my god. It's happening!" I said grinning as I faked overenthusiasm, and fanned myself. "I'm going to have onscreen sex. My dream of being an adult film star is about to be real."
"Calm down drama Mary," J.P. laughed. "It's all simulated. You wouldn't actually have sex on camera."
"That's what you think," I replied with a smirk as I took a bite of my donut.
We said goodbye to Blake who was more interested in the food than in my upcoming foray into porn. J.P. and I rounded up `Marvin' and went to meet up with the intimacy coach. Our P.A. introduced us and then left.
"I'm Lincoln," he said with a bit of an accent. "You can call me Linc. My job today is to help you with the intimacy scene between your characters. Which of you will be actually performing the scene, as we would only need the two of you for this training?"
"We're not sure, but we're all comfortable with each other. We live together," J.P. announced.
"Would you be okay having both brothers here at the same time, or would you prefer to do separate sessions?" Linc asked `Marvin'.
"No, I'm good. Like J.P. said, we all live together, so we're totally comfortable around each other in any setting."
I noticed that neither of them were admitting we'd actually had tons of intimacy together, so I followed their lead.
"Before we start, I want to just run over the scene as written. Then I'll have you sign some forms to indicate you understand what you will be doing together, and that you consent to it. If there is something you do not consent to, we can talk to the director to have it changed, or arrange to bring in a body double for the more intimate scenes."
"We're good with anything around each other," `Marvin' assured him. He needs to shut up. If J.P. can't consent to something, who'd be a better body double than me? Don't say Jason.
"Good. We'll see how that comes across when we practice. I'd like to use one of your trailers for the actual practice scene, unless you'd be more comfortable in this meeting room."
"I don't think this would make it very intimate," I said quickly as I looked around the sterile gray room. What is he expecting us to do, make out on the board room table under fluorescent lights. God, how 1980's of him. This looks more like an interrogation room than a romantic setting, although strapping `Marvin' down on a metal table while J.P. and I take him from both ends, could be pretty hot. We may have to save that for season three.
"We can use my trailer," `Marvin' offered, which was good because he had one of the doubles, and I only had a triple.
Linc was about 30, and from his look, I'd say he was of Spanish descent. I wonder if we'll get to practice with him first, because I'd be good with that.
Once we were in the trailer with the door locked to prevent any unwanted intrusion in our rehearsal, Link began the training.
"We will go through the scene step by step so that you have a feel for what is expected. Then once you understand how it flows, we'll the actual intimacy in increments."
That's how I do it at home, so this should be no problem at all.
Our first set of instructions was how to avoid the camera and just focus on each other. To prove what he was saying, he circled us several times. J.P. was obviously used to it, as he never once looked at Linc and only focused on `Marvin' who was equally as focused on J.P. When I did it, I glanced over at Linc a couple times, hoping that he might be about to lean in and start a three-way kiss. He didn't. I simply got called out for breaking my focus. Then he discussed head and hand placement to avoid it getting in the way of the cameras. That was very unnatural to act out, but I guess to get the scene they wanted, there had to be space to see things.
From there it was practicing how to remove each other's shirts. The script had one of us in a t-shirt and the other a buttoned shirt, so we had to wear that in order to practice properly. If this is how actors hook up, no wonder the divorce rate is so high. If this was the real world, we'd already be balls deep in a four-way on a live cam, and the ratings would be sending us viral. Currently, we're learning how to take the shirt of another person. By the time we get to the fucking, I'm going to need make-up people to touch up the gray hairs on my head.
We did eventually get to the kissing part, and even that had rules. We needed to look like we were French kissing, without actually using tongues. They do know that the whole idea of French kissing is the tongue, right? How is this at all romantic? Apparently, it was considered unprofessional to actually go the whole way on camera though. At least not in this type of scene.
Next the scene called for the boys to take their pants off and crawl on the bed together. This was also choreographed, and once they were on the bed, Linc showed them how to move around with each other. I watched closely, even though by this point, it was clearly obvious I was the understudy. Boy, are they choosing the wrong person for this scene. I could outperform J.P. for sure. Sorry, J.P., it's just a fact. I was allowed to try the rolling around on the bed scene though, especially when `Marvin' assured Linc that he was more than fine with it.
"So far, this has been the easy part," Linc explained as we took a small break. "Next, we get to the more intimate things. From where you are now lying on the bed kissing and feeling the warmth of each other's bodies, Keith's character will move his hand slowly down Scott's body, and slide his hand inside the underwear to make it look as if they are moving to something sexual."
"If he puts his hand into my underwear, it's gonna get sexual," `Marvin' grinned as he stuck his tongue out seductively at J.P.
"Hey, no tongue, remember," J.P. teased.
"This is where you need to go slow and careful. When you slide your hand inside the underwear, `Marvin' will be wearing a smaller pair underneath, normally flesh coloured. You must ensure that your hand goes between the two fabrics and does not directly touch his genitals.
"I'm okay if he does it though. Not like I'd freak out about it," `Marvin' assured him.
"You likely wouldn't feel the same when 20 people are standing around watching the scene. If you did become overly comfortable with it, we may have to stop the scene to allow you to cool off," Linc replied.
Not sure how the production people figure a small thin piece of fabric is going to change the dynamic between two people rolling around in bed together. I guess it's for their own peace of mind. Linc had `Marvin' put on a second pair of underwear and let the guys' practice. Fortunately for the three of us, we'd been together some much in the past that it was easy to do the simulated handjob and not get aroused by it. We were able to focus on the training, which seemed to impress our intimacy coach a lot. I'm guessing when he does this with others, he gets all sorts of different reactions.
From that scene we moved to us kissing and licking `Marvin's' body. No way to fake that, and the only instruction was to watch for the camera position and not block the shot, which Linc simulated by being close to us like he was the camera. How do I get his job?
"Are the three of you still comfortable with the setting we're in? Any questions so far?"
"I'm fine. No questions," `Marvin' replied, with both J.P. and I agreeing with him.
"Is the actual make out scene going to take this long?" I asked.
"Longer. A lot longer," Linc replied. "They will get the shot of each part of the scene in various angles. You'll likely have three or four shots where you go from beginning to end without stopping. Then each piece will be broken up into smaller segments as the camera gets reactions, making it as emotional and engaging as possible for the audience. There will also be plenty of stops to allow touch-ups of make-up, set refreshes, and also to allow the two of you to cool down between takes. Intimate scenes take the most time of almost anything else."
"That's why they're not usually arousing while you're doing them," `Marvin' commented. "Seems like they would be since you're so close to the other actor, but you'll see that it's not."
"Are you ready to move to the last couple of scenes? This will include nudity, so we have to be careful to respect your partner's comfort level," Linc said as he grabbed the script.
I took a look and grinned. Now we were going to get to the good stuff, although there was no verbal indication that the guys would fuck, their actions indicated that they might actually be doing it.
"The way this reads," I said, "it would actually be easier, and probably more comfortable and quicker, if we just actually fuck at this point. We go at it and let the cameras do their thing."
"No, that wouldn't be a good look on camera. We never want genitals touching. You want the viewers to follow you on the journey, but only to a certain level. We want them to imagine you have an intimate moment, but not the visual mechanics of it. Are all of you okay having your buttocks exposed on camera?"
I looked at J.P. and `Marvin' as it was their careers that would be affected by that decision, not mine. I'd be fine running naked with the bulls on Sportsnet if it came to that, but I've always avoided any sort of nude pictures because of J.P.
Both guys quickly agreed that they were fine with the `buttocks' being revealed. That's when Linc bluntly told us that they would like to ensure that our glutes are smooth and not hairy. We assured him that we were totally smooth.
J.P. and Marvin' resumed their positions on the bed. Marvin' was face down and J.P. was partially on top of him. The idea would be for J.P. to kiss down Marvin's' back, then pull his underwear down to expose his ass. Linc explained that Marvin' would be wearing a privacy sock on his front so that his penis would not show by accident. That's it. I'm out. If there's no penis, why are we even doing this?
I stayed anyway, just out of curiosity...mostly.
J.P. placed a hand on Marvin's' newly exposed cheek and leaned in to kiss it. Link explained that the kiss was to be more off to the side and slightly higher up. Seems oddly specific actually having the ideal' place to kiss a butt. Then J.P. was to remove his underwear and lie on top of `Marvin' as if they were about to fuck. Obviously, the underwear removal was to be faked so that when J.P. did lie on him, they wouldn't be touching genital to butt.
Linc did explain that when on set, there would be one shot where J.P., or me, would have the privacy sock over our penis, and the camera would be above us. It would clearly show our asses, to add more believability that we were totally naked together.
"This director is a little better than others," Lincoln advised. "He'll let you act out most of the scene before stopping. That way you stay in the moment. But remember, you are the one in control for these scenes. If you are finding something uncomfortable, or maybe difficult to do, ask for a break to discuss it."
"What if the scene actually gets one of us aroused?" J.P. inquired. I think he was asking that for me.
"You must ask to stop so that you can cool down," he said without hesitation.
"Can we keep going if we're okay with it, though?" I asked. I mean I'd be fine throwing wood and slipping it up inside `Marvin' while the cameras kept rolling. Talk about realistic reactions and emotions.
"No. It's a hard rule, no pun intended," Lincoln said. "Out of respect for the person you're acting with, you separate and cool down so that it doesn't become inappropriate, or awkward, between the two of you."
"Does it happen a lot?"
"It does happen. I think the first few scenes might be the most difficult, but once you've done the same thing over and over several times, you become a little less enthused about it."
We practiced the entire scene again, from the first touch and kiss to the final simulated sex. First with J.P., and then with me. To me it didn't feel overly sexual at all. Just mostly boring. I have a feeling Linc got the same sense though, because he had us do a few things over and over again, until he felt we had the right emotion out of it. At first, I thought J.P. was guaranteed to walk away with the doing the scene, but the more we practiced, the more Linc kept swapping me in for the scene. I kept hoping maybe he'd jump in and substitute himself for a few practices, but he kept professional and simply offered instructions.
As we finished what was to be our final rehearsal, I was on top of `Marvin' who was face down on the bed and naked. My head was by his ass, and my hand caressed one of his cheeks. I was trying to imagine doing this same thing while a few cameras were moving in on us, and a full crew watched us make out. I let my imagination get the best of me, and went so hard I'm sure I heard my underwear rip from the strength of my erection.
"Now you kiss up his back and lay on top of him," Lincoln explained. "The camera will follow you up until you're lying fully on top of him.
I did as he instructed and as soon as I was laying fully on top of `Marvin', he wiggled his ass slightly and turned his head to look at me. He whispered "someone's having fun".
"You or me?" I asked.
"Yes," he chuckled.
"Now you lean in and kiss him, and the scene ends," Lincoln explained. I kissed `Marvin' and we were told we had completed the scene.
"Damn that was hot. Even I felt it," `Marvin' commented as we stayed where we were and looked at Lincoln.
"I agree. I think you have it. I'll let the director know."
"Good, now both of you need to get out because I'm going to fuck him. No more of this fake shit," I said as I leaned in and kissed `Marvin' again, then thrust my hips against his ass a couple times.
"This is where we'd stop to let you cool down," Lincoln explained. "It would be inappropriate to go further at this point."
"GET OUT!" I said loudly, and reached for my underwear to shove it down, freeing the beast.
"Guys, you need to stop or it could be a legal issue," Lincoln warned, sounding panicked.
"Get out," `Marvin' said to him. "I consent. I consent. Now get out!"
J.P. just gave a chuckle. "We better leave before they try to fuck us next. Like we said, we live together. It's all good." He escorted Lincoln out of the trailer, and I gave `Marvin' some real intimacy training. You want realism in films. This is it. I screwed him hard for several minutes until I came and yelled cut. Then I sucked him to completion. It's only fair to help him as well.
We cleaned up and went off to find J.P., who was hanging out in his own trailer. "Did Lincoln have any comments about our intimacy training?" `Marvin' asked.
"He said we were believable, but that absolutely, under no circumstance, can we have real sex on camera. I think he was referring to you two," J.P. teased.
"Which of you is going to actually make love to me on camera?" `Marvin' asked as he looked at us.
"Me," J.P. said quickly.
"I'd agree. I'd be okay for the sex scene. But there's no way I could just simulate that. I'd be hard so much they have to stop every thirty seconds to allow me to cool down. And there's no chance I'd remember the lines and the intimacy actions at the same time. You need blood to run the brain for something that complex. I think I'm going to go practice some intimacy scenes with Garren. He'd probably enjoy someone to run those lines with."
"Garren doesn't have any intimacy scenes in this episode," `Marvin' revealed.
"Not following. Doesn't mean he couldn't use practice," I shrugged.
"Good luck with that," `Marvin' chuckled.
I'd actually enjoyed that training session as I'd learned a lot about how those scenes work on film. It was actually a bit disappointing that they'd destroy my fantasy of actors actually doing each other, but I still figure some of them actually do have sex at some point.
The day plodded along with various scenes, and trying to put the story together in my head was making me crazy. It's like a jigsaw puzzle with no picture to follow, and only one piece at a time. You don't get another piece until you place the one you have. I'm hoping some of this shit makes sense in the episode. I had to remind myself that this entire week of 12–14-hour days was just so we could make one 44 minute show to fit on TV. It would be an hour with commercials. We should stream it, and expand the episode to the full sixty minutes, but I guess someone has to pay the bills.
When it was time for the intimate scene with J.P. and Marvin', I stood at the ready in case I was needed at the last minute. The number of crew had been reduced to just those necessary. Everyone else had to leave, which I understand is common during scenes such as this. I was considered necessary, so I was allowed to remain. It would be stupid to remove me, since I'd not only practiced it with them, I'd had more sex with Marvin' in real life than J.P. anyway. Not that they factor it in, but I'm just saying...it'd be a logical reason to let me stay.
The scene, as promised by Lincoln, took hours, and there was absolutely nothing sexual about it at all. Except for seeing the guys completely naked (apart from their privacy socks), it was pretty much like every other scene so far. During takes, where they had to reset, the guys were given robes to stay warm, and the costume and make-up people kept ensuring that they were ready for close-ups. I chuckled a little when they powdered the guy's glutes so they wouldn't be shiny. A shiny hiney is apparently bad for the lighting.
They did finally get the shots they wanted, and the guys got a small round of applause when it was done. I made sure to congratulate them as well. There were a lot hot passionate scenes in it, and if you didn't know the whole thing was fake, you'd be totally drawn into the guys. Not sure where this scene places in the show yet, as so far it appears that the only thing Scott and Keith had done was kiss. This seems like quite the escalation from I'm straight' to I'm now a bottom'. There were a lot of scenes being done that I wasn't part of, so hopefully some of those tie this all together. I'm still concerned about Crash and the guy he'd shot. No one told me how that turned out yet. I have a feeling that scene is sort of like a cliff hanger for the next episode. Does that mean I have to come back next week to watch them film it? If I don't, you realize I'll have to wait months before the episode airs.
By the time I got home that night, I barely had the energy to climb into bed. Colin was really getting the shit end of the deal on this. He lost all three of us to the studio, so he couldn't even use J.P. or Jason as replacements for the sex I was too tired to put out for. Even `Marvin' wasn't available for him on weekdays. Weekends, I think we're all gonna screw the walls off the house. I did make sure to say hi to J.J. though, and I have to admit, it really put a smile on my face when I found him curled up with Blake the next morning. Nothing is better than seeing the two brothers continue to bond. If anything is going to get J.J.'s memories back, it'll be things like this.
Day Four - Wednesday Even though Jason and I were only scheduled for this one episode, it was taking up the entire week. We didn't need to be on set the whole time, and had actually been given call times. I ignored them, and went in each day with J.P. as I wanted to see the whole thing being filmed. So far it was interesting, but I couldn't imagine doing this every day for weeks. Wednesday was a bit more interesting as we moved the shoot to the school football field on the back lot. They transported us to and from set in golf carts instead of making us all walk. It was a full field with stands at one side of it. There was a building façade as well, which I'm assuming was meant to be the change rooms.
We headed over to the football field as they were just about ready for everyone. The cast played football for what seemed like enough footage to run one of the Monday night football shows. Some of it seemed scripted, but most of it just looked like a bunch of guys playing football, with girls cheering them on. North was one of the extras in this, and looked totally at home in his football outfit, although he wasn't the quarterback like in real life.
Eventually the scene was reduced down to three guys in full gear talking to each other at the side of the field, which was Crash, Farris, and some extras. I think they were doing some sort of a drug deal from what I could make out. From the script, Farris/Garren, is a drug dealer supplying to the other two. Their job is to sell it around school. That definitely sounds like another `blurred line'. Crash appears to have gotten his name as he is using some of the drugs. He's getting shit about it from Farris, as he's to sell the drugs, not use his own product. Not sure why a drug dealer would care, if I'm being honest. Wouldn't you want your salesmen using your product to show how good it is to other customers. Would you trust a Tylenol salesperson who only took Advil? I think not.
By mid afternoon, the scene had reset and I'm assuming this was going to be a different day of football when the actual episode ran. The first one seemed to be a practice, while now we appeared to be at a full game. This time it was raining though. Not real rain, but coming from overhead in a sprinkler system they'd set up. I think they chose this field because as it got wet, it got muddy. I'm talking really muddy. I hope they don't have to do retakes as the uniforms are never getting clean after this. The coach was brutal as he screamed things at them. I'm guessing players know what he's talking about, but to me it's like being at a drive thru speaker while you have cotton in your ears.
I had no clue what he was barking out. Good thing I had the script to follow along. Life doesn't give you a script most times, so it was a nice change. I'm thinking of having Blake scripted after this. On several of the scenes, they swapped out the main cast for stand-ins. These were the tackle plays. I guess they don't want to bust up a series regular with that kind of action, so they use disposable actors.
It took hours to finish filming, as they had to have plenty of breaks to let the actors warm up. I was getting really bored. It's bad enough just watching a normal game, but this was lacking the thrill that one team might win over another, followed by the excitement knowing we could follow them in to the locker room so we could end up in the shower together. You know...how regular sports work. What was brutally boring was when they did the exact same thing over and over again. It was like having your movie stuck in a repeating loop.
One of the last scenes on the field was where the team won, and they were all leaping around jumping on each other congratulating themselves. The coach gathered them to remind them that this was only game one and they had a whole season to go. Seems a buzzkill moment if you ask me, but I'm not the coach, or the writers for that matter. Then he quickly changed to enthusiastically being proud of them. He slapped a couple guys on the asses and told them all to hit the showers, and party responsibly tonight. The team took off together continuing to be enthusiastic until the director yelled cut.
Everyone returned back to the side of the field and waited as the filming was reviewed. I guess they were satisfied as they announced we were moving on to the next scene. It was a lot of off field interactions with other actors in the stands. A few were timed before the rain and others after. It was funny watching it rain only on the actors, huddled under jackets or umbrellas, as they watched the `game' in front of them. You'd just assume they'd have been there cheering during the actual game, but I guess it makes more sense from a filming standpoint to do it this way.
Before I'd gone to see them film in the stands, I'd followed the actors to the large production tent that had been set up, and watched as they were helped out of their muddy football outfits. One by one each item was removed and hung on racks with the actor's name on it. I guess this is probably to ensure they get the same ones again if we need to refilm anything. It took a while but eventually they had all the costumes back. Once the costume people left, the P.A.'s gave everyone robes and sent them off to their assigned trailers, or area, to clean up. I thought they were all supposed to be teenagers, but from the looks of some of these guys, they were easily mid-20's. I guess if they're professional stunt people or extras hidden behind helmets and shoulder pads, it doesn't matter how old they are as long as they can double for the main actor. I made my way back to the field to watch more filming.
I know it's been a few days now, but I'm still fascinated watching how shows were made. It does give you a whole new perspective when you watch a finished show. You wonder how many takes it took, what was real and what wasn't. I think I'd like to get on some big blockbuster thing like a Marvel movie. I hear the actors work mostly with green screens. I'd find that very difficult. Maybe that's why they get paid so much.
The one thing about being an actor is that there is a lot of downtime. The crew is always busy, setting things up, tearing things down, moving things and such, but the actors just had to wait until they were called to set, so we had plenty of free time. I should see if I can figure out a way to make it go faster. I like how it was done at the photo studio we were at. The photographer had each set operating like its own show, and he just moved from set to set to get what he needed and then moved on. They should do this here. Not sure if that's a thing or not but it seemed to take way too long to film even a five-minute scene.
When I'd wandered around enough, I returned to the studio and made my way to Blake's trailer. I knocked on the door to be polite and professional. At home I'd just walk in, but I figured maybe it was proper to knock in this setting. The door opened and Blake quickly put his index finger to his lips to indicate I should be quiet. He was only wearing his underwear, which for Blake is close to formal wear. I entered and he pointed toward where the bed was. I saw someone curled up, and assumed they were sleeping.
"Who is it?" I whispered.
"Aiden. We decided to take a nap before we were due back on set."
"And why are you both just in your underwear?" I asked as I slipped my finger into the back of his and tapped his crack.
He frowned playfully as he looked at me and whispered back. "What are you doing?"
"Checking to see if you've been a little ho," I replied.
"We're just napping. Nothing else. We took off our outfits so they wouldn't get wrinkled before the shoot. Wardrobe wouldn't like that."
I moved a little closer to check Aiden out. "He is pretty cute though. Nice shaped ass," I whispered. "Have you done anything with him yet?"
"No," Blake replied back quietly. "I've only just started to get to know him."
"It's too bad. With the shape of that, I'd love to slip those shorts down and take a better look.
"Me too," Blake grinned with a whisper, "but he'd probably wake up."
"Have you actually seen him naked at all?"
"No." He turned around, bent over, stuck his ass out towards me and lowered the back of his shorts. "You can check mine out."
"Blake, I know your ass better than I know my own," I said slapping it playfully. "Put that thing away." He stood upright and put his shorts back in place. "I'll leave you to your nap, but if you hook up with him, I want pictures."
Blake grinned at me. "Someone's easing up on the rules."
"I'm joking Blake. It's just a joke. You really have to learn tone, and nuances, and above all...sarcasm."
"You're a nuance," he giggled quietly. He walked me to the door and I went off in search of someone else. If I'd been into girls, I might have headed over to Victoria's trailer as it seemed like the rotating door had been installed. Today alone, I'd seen at least four guys visit her. I should figure out how to get invited so I know really know what's happening in there. I know Blake said she's having sex, but not even a gay guy could have that much sex. Maybe it's a mix of that, drug dealing, and just being sociable. Guess I'll have to do my snooping the old-fashioned way. Anyone got a drone I could borrow to look in the windows?
It wasn't much longer before they were calling it a day and we were free to head home. I was more than ready to hit the hot tub and warm up.
`Marvin' and Colin joined me which was nice. Colin was probably only there to make sure I didn't fall asleep in the warm water and drown. It would put a damper on the whole evening if that happened, especially for me.
"Is Garren okay?" I asked `Marvin'. "He was pretty quiet all the way home. I thought he'd have been happier considering he just got extended another couple episodes."
"He's definitely happy that his arc has been extended. I just don't think he's happy that he'll be doing at least one shower scene. He's not really a take your clothes off in public guy."
"We've noticed. But as an actor, you'd think those things would be expected at some point. Has he always been that self-conscious? Anyway, it's not like he's an extra. Not likely he'll be full frontal."
"No. I've seen tons of pictures of him when he was younger, and he was shirtless in plenty of them. I think he became more reserved when some paparazzi took pictures of him changing. I mean they didn't post anything revealing, except his jeans down a little low and his underwear showing, but it sort of freaked him out as he thought he was in a private place. Now he stays clothed, except where he absolutely knows it's secure."
"It's secure here," I reminded him.
"I know that, and I've tried to prove it by walking around naked myself. I'm sure he'll come around eventually," `Marvin' said shrugging.
"Is he concerned that someone will take nude pictures of him on set or something, because I'm pretty sure that's secure."
"No, he's just not looking forward to taking his clothes off around so many people at once. It's possible he's just self-conscious, or maybe had some sort of bad experience, but I don't push him on it. That's seems like something he'll just eventually deal with on his own. I invited him to hot tub with us, but he said he was exhausted and went to bed."
We gave the conversation a rest, but I could tell something was different about Garren. Maybe he is really just that freaked out about getting down to his underwear in front of a hundred cast. Blake on the other hand, was the opposite, as he recounted some of the interesting scenes he'd done. We'd been there for most of it, but I guess he just wanted us to know it from his viewpoint, or perhaps was doing it for Colin's benefit. We already knew that Blake would be more than happy to do nude scenes if they'd let him. Fortunately, he doesn't get that option until he's 18. He appeared even more excited that he was allowed to operate one of the cameras for a scene. That seemed to thrill him beyond the acting, but from his overall excitement, I don't think he cared as long as he was getting attention.
To be continued right after this message...
Fuck...now I need a message. Ummmm...don't do drugs. No, drugs are fine, mostly weed though. Make your dreams your reality. Yeah, that's cryptic enough to appeal to everyone. Do that.
Next chapter follows immediately.