Recently, I got cast to play the younger version of a serial killer in a movie called Don’t Judge a Book. My part is all flashbacks, where the guy remembers the way his family treated him when he was a kid.

My call time was 10:30 am, and I was home by noon. We filmed the scenes — ad libs, close-ups, film and stills — in less than an hour. We shot in a really nice house in McKinney, and my grandma had a good time playing with the director’s dog Moe while I  worked.

When you go to work on a film set, you never really know how long you will be there. Even if your scene is just a few seconds, you might be there all day because of all the stuff that has to happen besides the part you’re doing. So it was nice to show up, review wardrobe quickly, block the scene and get instructions from the director, and start filming right away — they had finished other scenes early, so they were ready for me as soon as I got there. I don’t think that’s ever happened before.

This is what I looked like after the shoot as we were leaving — trust me when I say the blood will look a lot better on film than it does in this iPhone picture!  The film is due to be finished next spring — can’t wait to see it. Even though I’m just in the flashback scenes, it looks like a good one.

I hope I get to work with this director again. I like working with someone who knows exactly what they want, and gives clear direction. What a great way to spend part of a rainy Saturday!