MY TYPICAL DAY ON THE SET OF ROME usually starts off when my alarm goes off at 4:00am in the morning. I hop on my Vespa and head off to Cinecitta’ Studios. It is still pitch-black out as I pass The Vatican, Castel Sant’ Angelo, the coliseum and finally drive under an aqueduct, before arriving at Europe’s second largest film studio.
Stage 15 is where I live. I say live because I spend approximately 15-16 hours with the actors of “ROME” every day. “Teatro quindieci” is home to the hair, make-up and wardrobe departments, as well as the actors’ dressing rooms.
My first actor is supposed to arrive at 5am, but is running late because she…well…”woke up late”. Anyway, I need to start getting her ready right away because there are 10 other actors arriving.
We shoot with 2 entire movie crews. For example, Episode 6 is shooting at the same time as Episode 7. I have been told that this is the largest TV production ever. In fact, it really does not feel like any other TV show that I have ever worked on. It is more like an epic feature film.
So the actors arrive one by one. I need to make sure that they all are getting ready on time. For many of the actors, the entire hair, make-up, wardrobe process can take over 3 hours. And this isn’t just for the women. The male actors often times need to have beards put on. Now these aren’t those beards you see at Halloween or costume parties. Each hair needs to be individually glued on to the face. The beard hair that the make-up department uses is actually real “yak” hair.
Today is a special day because many of our crewmembers recently returned from the Emmy awards. There is a large, golden Emmy sitting in the hair department, and another in the wardrobe department. These things are heavy! A bit like the weights that we have in our weight room.
Oh yeah, I didn’t mention that we have a full weight room as well where the actors go to maintain their “gladiatorial” figures. There is also a full time trainer to push them along. And he really pushes them, treating them more like prizefighters than actors sometimes. We also have a full time military trainer to keep the actors “in line”.
After about 8 hours, I finally get to break for lunch. Most of my friends back in The States generally finish their workday after 8 hours. But I’m not complaining.
After lunch, I need to get the actors “touched up” and back on set as soon as possible.
In Rome, the heat is usually between 80-90F' degrees in the summer. This often causes the actors make-up to run or even melt off their faces. Beard hairs end up all over the actors’ costumes. So it is a constant process to “touch-up” the actors throughout the day.
Finally I hear the words, “last shot”. Music to my ears. Fifteen hours have now passed since I arrived on set and the caterers are now bringing out a pasta dinner for the crew. I generally eat breakfast, lunch and dinner on set. My refrigerator at home is practically empty because I never have time to cook.
“That’s a wrap!” (or in Italian…”Abbiamo finito!”). The actors rush back to stage 15 to get out of their hair/make-up/wardrobe etc. The crew leaves, but I must remain for another hour until the last actor is gone. One benefit is that I arrive before rush hour traffic in the morning, and leave the studio well after it has ended. I arrive in darkness and leave in darkness. At least I get to see the aqueduct, coliseum, Castel Sant’ Angelo and The Vatican all lit up. Nobody is around. The city is mine and I am finally at peace.
When I finally arrive at home, the first thing I do is set my three alarm clocks, just in case I fall asleep before making it to bed. I then head straight to the shower and then to bed. An episode of “ROME” Season one is on TV, but unfortunately I am too tired to watch it. I guess I will just have to buy the DVD.
BUONA NOTTE.
