Actor describes work day on Dec. 9, 2011 at PARX Casino SAFE shoot

FROM:
TEX ALLEN

MEMOIR OF SAG MOVIE ACTOR ROLE AS HOWARD RUTLEDGE (GAMBLING CASINO OWNER/ MANAGER) IN THE MOVIE TITLED "SAFE" (2011 LIONSGATE FILMS) STARRING JASON STATHAM, DIRECTED BY BOAZ YAKIN, PRODUCED BY KEVIN SPACEY
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DEC. 10, 2010
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I got up at 3 AM in my Columbia (Lancaster County) PA USA 17512 apartment, and got on the road (US Rt. 30 East) at about 4 AM. Went east to Lancaster PA, turned north on PA Rt. 222 and got onto the PA Turnpike about 20 miles north of Lancaster PA.

Drove about 65 miles on the PA Turnpike (one coffee stop on the turnpike about half way), and got off the PA Turnpike at the "351" (miles from the start of the PA Turnpike at the far western end where the Ohio Turnpike ends and the PA Turnpike begins...all PA Turnpike exits are now maked by "mileage" signs based on mileage from the beginning of the turnpike, which ends at the NJ line and intersects with the NJ Turnpike).

I got off at "Exit 351" (formerly "Exit 28") at the Philadelphia suburb of "Bensalem PA," famous as the location of the Philadelphia Park racetrack, and now (last two years since gambling was made legal in PA) as the location of the PARX Gambling Casino.

The Casino was located at 3000 E. Street Road about two miles south of the Turnpike, easy to get to and find.

The trip from Columbia PA took about 2 hours and I arrived early, and was the first actor in the "Big Tent" Actor's Holding Area where the breakfast food setup was already completed at one end of the tent (heated by three large portable heaters), but the far end of the tent wall hadn't yet been closed in by the two tent setup workers still working on setting up the flimsy plastic tent walls.

Very cold morning. I immediately got myself a cup of coffee from the "Premiere Catering Co. (Serving the Motion Picture And Television Industries)" truck outside and sat down at a table in the tent with a white haired IATSE Union camera operator pro there early, and eating a bowl of corn flakes, along with his young man assistant film loader who drank coffee only.

Only the food service man was in the tent, and he was busy looking at his cell phone/ Blackberry portable computer screen, which he huddled over....it was cold.

The two camera techies said little, and drank my second cup of coffee of the day (already had a cup on the road) quietly, and watched the scene unfold.

Report time was 7 AM, and actors and tech personnel arrived mostly about 15 minutes before that.

The catering pro fixed very good omlettes over a portable butane stove...egg he spooned out with a ladle, and mixed with big hunks of mushrooms, green peppers, and onion chunks.

I ordered one of his omlette specials, and covered it with ketchup. Very tasty.

I also fixed myself a bowl of Granola cereal with milk and enjoyed that. Also very tasty.

I got a chocolate custard filled do-nut also, and all that was breakfast for me.

The Production Assistant young man who signed actors in didn't know roles or role names, and had no master list. I had copied one from the computer website (Heery Casting in Philadelphia PA hired all the actors), but didn't bring it with me.

We each were given the usual actors' pay voucher to be signed and OK at the end of the shoot day. The name "Empire Films, Inc." was on the voucher, a name I had never seen before (actor money is usually handled by a Chicago IL area based organization called "CAPS Inc." but they got into bad trouble a year ago or so, and maybe they are no more!).

We were all quickly guided out of the "Big Tent" set up on the Parx Casino (Bensalem PA suburb of Philadelphia) parking lot, and into the PARX CASINO building.

The shoot for the day was scheduled to occur at two different locations inside the massive (several acres under one roof) ugly casino building filled with flashing lights, chandeliers, and leggy, scantily clad young female cocktail waitresses, and slot machine style video gambling machines numbering literally in the thousands.

The Casino, opened two years ago (2008) when gambling in the state of Pennsylvania was first legalized), is the main gambling location for the greater Philadelphia area, and is located about 20 miles north of downtown Philadelphia, right next to the Bensalem Exit of the PA Turnpike.

The Casino building was decorated on the outside with massive LED style television screens perhaps 30 feet high and 50 feet across....three of them providing a light show of neither charm nor interest to those approaching the hideous warehouse architecture casino building.

Acres of parking lots surrounded the Casino, like a sports stadium. "Free valet parking" was promised by signs.

The Casino is open 24 hours daily, and mornings are a low traffic time, so the parking lots had few cars, and the inside of the casino had few customers, mostly old people and minority females sitting at the slot machine style video gambling machines, each equipped with well upholstered ergonomic style chairs.

Smoking is permitted everywhere in the Casino, and even with the 50 feet high roof (at least), the place was smoke filled, and actors not used to working in smoke filled locations complained immediately. One actor later tried to demand "hazzard pay" due to a "smoke filled work location" but was denied that by the Production Assistant who approved his voucher at the end of the day and signed him out.

I was hired for a pretty big role in the movie shoot for the day.

I played "Howard Rutledge, Gambling Casino Owner And Manager," and the script called for me to interact and have a physical fight with the star of the movie, Jason Statham (a famous martial arts action star known as a "kick boxing" specialist of fame).

The scene called for Statham to stalk through the aisles of the Casino and brush past me and a female worker assistant I was supposed to be instructing re: some Casino management matter...and for Statham to carelessly knock me down on the ground (carpet, thankfully) not realizing I was the most powerful man in the Casino and could quickly avenge such a knockdown slight by calling the many security workers to "get him" after my own effort to fight with him failed.

I was introduced to Jason Statham, a nice, physically fit, rather short (5'9" tall) English born rather bald headed fellow, dressed mostly in black with a ready smile.

We talked briefly about the scene with the stunt co-ordinator, and got instructions about Statham brushing past me, knocking me onto the ground, and me getting up and grabbing him by the shoulder, holding him at arm's length and demanding to know "What do you think you're doing?"

Statham then brushes free of my hold, and keeps up his stalking walk (he is on the hunt for two Russian Mafia criminals meeting at a location on the casino floor and engages in a big fist fight with these two big guys after his fight with me....it's a fight movie...not very verbal most of the time!).

As Statham ignores my question and breaks free of my hold, walks (stalks) away purposefully, I go after him and so do two Casino plain clothes security guards and also one uniformed security guard.

They start to chase him and so do I.

He eludes us all weaving in and out of the labyrinthine aisles of endless gambling slot type video machines. We are all left behind, and I pull out my security "walkie talkie" and instruction the "Security Command Center" to "find the maniac who just knocked me down and got away" and "get rid of him."

The camera does a closeup of me as I bark these instructions into the wireless microphone I hold. Several camera setups had to be created for all this including a tracking shot showing Jason Statham stalking through the aisles, then another tracking shot showing me chasing him after he knocks me down, confronts me, and gets away, and I lead the security people after him.

Several still shots were set up during the knock down location scene, including full and partial closeup shots, and hand held fragment shots, all to be edited later so the scene would be fast paced and provide the video game type "action" pace that "action movie" fans expect and prize so much.

My close up scene showing me barking orders to the Casino Security Command office through my cell phone type walkie talkie microphone took a lot of time to set up, and I got a lot of attention from hair and make up people before the shot.

My hair is not close cropped as was true of Statham's and others in the scenes shot that day (the Russian Mafia gangsters, etc.), and had to look "current" and "no class fashionable" which meant it had to be combed all the way back away from my face, and "hard moussed" so I'd look sort of gangsterly (Casino owner/ managers are usually flashy dressers and look like expensive gangsters).

I had just gotten up from a fight with Jason Statham (sort of) and my hair had to be sort of messed up, but still handsome.

The set up for all this took place right out on the Casino floor and the movie shoot area was roped off for that, with the usual outsider gawkers gathered about the roped area asking question of the security guards assigned to keep normal Casino customers away from the movie shoot.

We shoot each fragment about four times each, and it all went well. The director, Boaz Yakin, supervised the entire sequence with his Stunt Coordinator, and each "take" done on 35 mm. film in a Panavision camera was also done in video format the director could examine immediately after each "take." He was satisfied, and thanked us all for our work, was particularly nice to me and thanked me personally for lookign so "realistic."

Thank you, Boaz Yakin (about 32 years old, short brown close cropped hair, very large semitic eyes, almost like a St. Bernard dog's eyes, and wearing blue jeans and black non-descript sweater...he had unusually bad posture...obviously not a movie actor who had become a director.....famous for action and martial arts type fight movies...and the writer author of the movie story script in SAFE).

The scene I was in was the very first part of the shoot day, and other segments of the movie were shot before the 4 PM "wrap" (end of the film shoot day) was declared.

These other segments included a big fight sequence which the hero, Jason Statham, has with Russian Mafia beefy looking gangsters (also with close cropped hair cuts) in the "Simulcast Room" which had about a dozen large screen sporting events on TV (race horses, wrestling matches, basketball games, football games, other athletic events) which gamblers always bet on and desire to stay interested in. A big bar style table is set up in front of the "Simulcast Room" wall of a dozen large TV screens, and gamblers are seen drinking and smoking cigarettes while they watch the TV screens.

Very attractive and leggy young cocktail waitress women carrying trays of colorful alcohol drinks and smiling flirtaceously with customers were a big part of the overall Casino decor and also part of the movie shoot.

The casting people had hired about half a dozen girls to be part of the shoot, and also hired several professional "glamour type" girls dressed as waitresses to be part of the shoot day.

These girls were very impressive and charismatic. The last time I recall such an army of sexy, scantily displayed female beauties hired was when I acted in the movie titled Wedding Crashers (2005 Warner Bros) starring Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams, and the casting pros had hired more than a dozen "Mrs. Maryland" beauty contest winners to be part of the movie as "trophe wife wedding reception guests."

It's odd, but in the action and political thriller movies so often made in the Washingon DC area, NYC and Philadelphia PA area (Mid-Atlantic USA Region) where most of my present actor work occurs, casting pros seldom hire large numbers of pretty girls to decorate the movie, and that's a shame. The girls always do a good job, and without them, the movies are "too masculine," and oddly the fact such movies have few girls in evidence is a reason that female movie fans seldom are as enthusiastic as male fans regarding "action movies" (the girls prefer "chick flicks" with femail protagonists and emotional problems part of the story...usually prolonged emotional problems).

The worst part of the long, long shoot day (started at 3 AM for me, and I didn't return home until about 7:30 PM) was the lunch break set up back in the "Big Tent" in the Casino parking lot, which hadn't been properly heated prior to the return of the actors and tech crew for the scheduled 1 PM - 2 PM hot lunch (a union requirement for both actor and tech unions....hot, sit down meals must be served every six hours......1 PM was 6 hours after the 7 AM start of the movie).

The day was very, very cold, and the three heating units in the tent worked badly. The door to the tent was left open and the base of the tent walls had not been sealed or weighted down so cold air got under the tent wall and into the tent.

The heat was almost non-existent in the "Big Tent" set up on a vast parking lot in an open plain area where the Casino had been built (a huge flat land area which could accommodate the very, very large...several acres inside....Casino building surrounded by many acres of parking area).

Actors ate at tables and one could see the breaths of people as they huddled over their (well prepared and delicious) food and talked back and forth. The Salmon served was particularly good, and so was been stew with large chunks of good quality steak part of the stew.

I made a point of eating only hot food (no bread, cold drinks, salad, or desserts), and getting out of the "Big Tent" quickly and returning to the Casino, even before the scheduled 2 PM return time.

The final part of the shoot day was at the part of the Casino floor reserved for live action "table gambling" overseen by actual people who were "dealers" and provided games at tables of roulette and "twenty one" as gamblers sat around tables.

My role as Howard Rutledge, Casino owner/ manager required that I stand to one side of the area overseeing the games (supervising) and answering questions from employees who approached me quickly with things for me to sign, questions, problems, etc.

This part of the shoot was to establish the overall identify of the Casino and was to be shown before the fights the movie star, Jason Statham had first with me and then with several Russian Mafia beefy gangsters in the "Simulcast Room."

The fight shots were completed in the morning and early afternoon hours before lunch, then the "establishing" shots of the Casino and the gaming tables doing "business as normal" were shot after lunch, until the 4 PM "end of the day" "wrap" announcement was made.

We all returned to the "Big Tent" and were "signed out" by Casting Production pros who approved and signed out "Actor couchers" from Empire Films Inc. which had been given to each of us earlier (actors are given copies of the signed voucher, and checks for work done are mailed to actor homes, usually within two weeks of the shoot date).

I was very tired at the end of the shoot day, and walked out of the "Big Tent" with my signed voucher headed for my car when I realized I had left my "actor's travel suitcase" (all actors take these to movie sets....extra clothes, playing cards, combs, cosmetics for the girls, etc. etc.) behind in the tent. I was so tired I had forgotten to take it with me back to the car.

I returned, got the small wheeled "travel airport type" suitcase, and took it to the car with me.

I said good-bye to several interesting actors I met during the day and chatted with at length. Each had interesting lives and stories to tell, and also vauable information useful for future work.

One recommended use of chewing gum (stick type) as a substitute for use of food and overeating on the set problems. I got a package of stick type chewing gum at the "craft services" stand (food always available right on the set during the shoot day for actor snacks during breaks not part of meal breaks).

The chewing gum advice was terrific. I found the chewing gum use was just as good as snacking on junk (or other) food, and obviously had no weight gain problems (usually I gain 3 lbs. per day when I engage in movie actor "location shoot" work).

I'm grateful for the "Chew Gum Advice" I got from my smart actor colleague friend during this shoot.

I also met a woman who had just returned to actor work after a ten year break for a marriage and child raising. She had been an NYC stage and movie actress, and at a young age had been members of all three actor unions...SAG, Equity, and AFTRA. She told me war stories about her New York actress days, and about her marriage to a career USA Federal Govt. security pro who worked for the FBI 20 years, got a pension, then worked for Homeland Security as a full time security pro while collecting his FBI pension. They lived in the Philadelphia PA suburbs (a town called Ambler PA), and had two children, one in grade two and an older child in grade nine, both attending private Catholic Schools (the older child attended a Jesuit sponsored High School which charge $17,000/year for day student tuition!).

I drove home during the rush hour traffic in the greater Philadelphia PA area, and the traffic was heavy. Getting back onto the PA Turnpike was hard to do...the signs weren't marked clearly, and I had to stop at two places to ask direction about how to get onto the PA Turnpike near Bensalem PA (20 miles north of downtown Philly).

Finally, I got onto the crowded turnpike, and drove about 65 miles to the PA Rt. 222 exit north of Lancaster PA, then south to Lancaster, PA, then west to Columbia PA.

I was very, very tired when I finally got home, and took a half hour nap before getting back up and fixing dinner for myself.

I spent a few hours watching a documentary I had produced for myself two years ago about famous movie music clips from old movies (e.g. the "Barn Building Ballet" from SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS [1954 MGM], and the "Namely You" love song duet from LI'L ABNER [1959 Paramount]).

This documentary showed the music clips from about 60 movies and comments by me are intercut about the history and presentation of this movie music I love so much.

It was a relaxing, pleasant way to end a very long day.

I finally got to sleep at my normal bedtime hours of 10 PM, and am glad to report I slept soundly until 8 PM the next morning ....10 hours of sleep I needed!

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Written by Tex Allen, SAG Actor. Visit WWW.IMDb.Com and choose Tex Allen resume for background, biography, contact, and movie credit information. Tex Allen's email address is [email protected]