So I had the honour of being called on set of the Independent movie She Who Brings Gifts the movie stars bond girl Gemma Arterton, Fatal Attraction star Glenn Close and Bourne Ultimatum star Paddy Considine
The best thing about this production is that it was local, shot right here in Stoke on Trent.
The film centres around a scientist and a teacher living in a dystopian future as they embark on a journey of survival with a special young girl named Melanie, fighting off hordes of infected zombie-like mutants that roam the world.
I sent my headshots off to the casting department and heard a call back 24 hours before shooting.
I headed to set at 5 am, in the perfect frame of mind to play a zombie, tired, dizzy and most importantly hungry!
Out of the thousands of applicants, only a select few had been chosen, and straight away I was sent to the costume department to get changed into my zombie robes, getting changed in front of 20 strange men was an unusual experience but I was too tired to care as I slipped on my dirty, muddy zombie costume with beaten up sports trainers that were VERY comfy throughout the entire day.
After this, we headed into make-up and I got varieties of paint and sandy-like material spread all over my face and hair, quite a contrast to my usual early morning shower.
The Set experience consisted of waiting around, waiting around, more waiting around and zombie acting, as we were moved to various locations on the ground, on a rooftop, in an alleyway and on top of the old abandoned Hanley bus station.
All the while between takes or in-between shots that we did not need to be a part of, we got to watch Gemma, Paddy and Glenn all doing their thing, it was great to see Hollywood talent so close to home and it was a wonderful day on set, meeting new people, I think without the interaction with the other extras I would have probably gone insane from the constant repetition of the shots we needed to take.
Glenn Close was speaking to extras in-between her takes, having pictures with everyone and she was so lovely to each and every person, Gemma was taking selfies with a select few and Paddy was just joking around for the entire shoot, it was a nice environment to be in and the sun was shining which was the icing on top of a wonderful cake.
A great first experience of being an extra, one I would definitely do again without hesitation and I can’t wait to share the photos with you when I’m allowed to post them, but until then all I can post are the press pictures that local news outlet The Sentinel took on set, and low and behold I was spotted in my purple jumper (below).
