I don't talk very much on this blog about my background acting gigs, as I do most of that on my Facebook page. (No real reason for that, it's just worked out that way.) But yesterday, I was called on to be an extra on the TV show, "Law and Order: SVU", which I have done four times in the past, the most recent was in October of 2010. I've always enjoyed doing the show, as it's always a good shoot.The "Law and Order" people were doing their "Occupy Wall Street" episode, and I was suppose to be an OWS protester. As we were doing another scene on Chambers Street early in the morning, one of the production assistants told me that the OWS scene had been canceled. After the scene was done, I checked on my brand new iPhone, and a friend of mine had sent me a link from the New York Times that the scene had been cut because real-life OWS people had invaded the set and had occupied it.
I knew this was going to be an interesting day, but I didn't think it would take this bizarre twist.
The word got out on Thursday night that the show was filming in Foley Square on Friday, and about 100 protesters invaded the set and would not leave. That is, until the NYPD arrived and ordered everyone to leave, and the city had rescinded the producers' permit to film there. I'm guessing they feared real trouble there on Friday when the filming would have started.
In an interesting twist, one of the show's executive producers wrote on Twitter (since deleted; see above link for more) that the protesters would have been shown in a sympathetic light in the episode. (I heard that the show revolved around a city councilman who gets involved with one of the OWS protesters and is accused of rape. Not sure if that is 100% true or not.)
I really haven't talked about this subject, but I can honestly say I don't get these OWS protesters. I'm still trying to find some kind of point to all these "encampments." I was going to play one of them on TV on Friday, but that didn't happen. Actually, they got me out of more work, as I would have been on the set far longer on Friday in the chilly weather. So I guess I should be thanking them. I suppose.
