Working on a feature film with an 86 year old lady

Last week I had the good fortune to work on "Five Year Engagement", a feature film written by, and starring, Jason Segal, and Emily Blunt. I worked as a precision driver, and with the splinter, a.k.a. second, unit. On my last day, we shot a night scene as New Year's eve party revelers on a cable car. It drove us up and down steep San Francisco hills. Every time we came to the corner with cameras, we were to holler, blow our party horns and look like we were having a good time. At one point we were parked uphill and a few more actors climbed on board. One of them was an 86 year old cheerful woman named Beverley, who told us laughingly: "No, we didn't have dinner, just this chewing gum!".  She hung on with the rest of us as the cable car laboriously climbed the street.

The next scene we shot we were patrons at the terrace of a North Beach restaurant, and I got really lucky: the Assistant Director partnered me with Beverley. We were mother and daughter. We were served Tiramisu and Crème Brulée and told "Mangia!". I had a great time that week: I got to work, with friends, some I hadn't seen in a while. It always feels like a privilege to me to work on any film; we're busy creating a parallel reality, each film is different, and happens only once. But of that whole week, the best time I had was when I shared dessert with Beverley. I knew the cameras were on us but I forgot about them. I could've sat there and enjoyed asking her questions all night. She told me about enjoying her life, the vegetable garden she was about to plant...she made that whole week with early call times and little sleep completely worth it. I had a great time working on "Five Year Engagement". The best part was meeting and talking with 86 year old Beverley. What a sweet beautiful inspiring lady!

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