Sunday, May 2, 2010

Alex the Working Man

 By Pam

Every once in a while I check Ebay to see what kind of Alex O'Loughlin memorabilia is being offered. Recently I came across this item. I found it interesting, not because of what it is, but for what it represents. Honestly, I had no idea that Alex has a "real" job.


Production Report...from the SET of MOONLIGHT (Picture of the report is unavailable as this was some time ago)


A copy of the daily MOONLIGHT production report that was filled out each working day on the show.


It contains production information such as actor set call time, meal times, make-up and the dismissal times for the actors, scenes worked that day, number of set-ups and script pages shot on that day....


It relates to union rules and pay, tracking the number of meal penalties, length of workday, etc, according to the Screen Actors Guild....


Relative to Moonlight, Alex and the other cast members were told to report at certain times for certain things each day. Presumably, each day was different. What particularly struck me is that Alex was given a half hour lunch break at a particular time. I would assume all this would have been the same on the Three Rivers set and will be on the Hawaii Five-0 set.



I can only surmise Alex has an assistant on the set who tells him where to be at any given time. His actor status allows him this privilege. He goes there, does "his thing" and moves on to the next call on his timetable. In between, doing interviews and photo shoots, memorizing lines, doing research for his character and meeting fans, etc., etc.. All quite daunting, if you ask me. 



I never perceived Alex as a working man. He was always an actor to me. My perception of an actor, especially the lead actor, was someone of more importance than anyone else on set. Someone who has clout and who, if the mood strikes him, can make his own timetable. It appears that's not true at all. This document has shown me that Alex is merely a "grunt," an every day, average working man just like most of us. He has to adhere to a schedule and meet deadlines. He has a boss (CBS) who he answers to, and is that boss's right hand man in that he represents their interest, the show. He represents “the company.” Alex is a small part of the whole working machine, a cog in a wheel. Albeit, an important cog.

2 comments:

  1. Wonderful perspective. We only see the glamour and might think they earn to much, but it looks like they really work hard for their money.

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  2. Thanks for taking this opportunity to discuss this, I appreciate with this and if you have some more information please share it with me.

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