It may not be well known outside the industry but, often, what you see on the actor's back is the actor's own clothes. And woe betide you, if you do not have exactly what the director wants!
I once got a call, after 9 p.m., to the effect; "The director wants you onset tomorrow in a black T-shirt and khaki pants." My reply was: I don't own any khaki pants.
Stunned silence at the other end of the phone. (You mean, there is someone on planet Earth who doesn't own khakis??) In the end, a compromise was reached. I think I wore all black.
While in the past, I have held onto clothing I no longer really wear in my everyday life - in case it might be needed for a shoot - I've reached the point where, increasingly, many items will be making a trip to the dropbox. But not all... here are some selected items - and their fate.
The navy jacket and matching top was once part of a "power suit" I wore during my business career, way back when. I wore this to play the manager in"The Janitor" but, as of now, it has been sent to the next stage of its life via Value Village.
I wore this sweater for a short film where the director wanted a sad, grey look. I also used my pale grey parka for an outdoor scene. That was the film where my scream - I can do a great scream - seriously disturbed the sound man, the first time he heard it! Rarely worn in my day-to-day life, this item has now moved on to Value Village.
On the other hand, my green double-breasted cardigan sweater is probably a keeper. It sure has been on-screen a lot. I wrote this in the Diamond and Diamond commercial which ran forever, wore it in an episode of Fraud Squad, and probably in other films, including a short film where I played a school secretary. It was while filming the Fraud Squad episode that I learned from the producer that "HDTV hates red and loves green". (I also learned that they didn't want buttons on anyone's clothing but they had to let me wear this, it was too late to make changes.) (And, I am probably really lucky they didn't ask me to cut all the buttons off!)
This raincoat makes an appearance in the music video I filmed for Maestro Wes' recording of I Wanna Know. In the graveyard scene. That was a shoot where I had to take at least 3 outfits for each scene! (At times it becomes ridiculous.) (Although the infomercial shoot where each of us had to take about 50 items of clothing for the director's review was the most ridiculous.)
Ah, yes, the Victorian boots. I bought these specially for the Black Donnellys shoot. And, if these boots could talk... what they could tell you. That was the shoot where two young men would not let me use the washroom in the trailer prior to my 3-hour drive back to Toronto (although there was a porta-potty on site, those facilities aren't quite the same...) I made a promise to myself, to never again do pro bono shoots that were so far from home...
