Extra! Student actor is back with more tales from the set

    Horror movies can be scary, but being in one is exciting. I had my chance  to do just that this past summer on a feature film, “For Sale by Owner.”  I played the extra role of a college student in four scenes filmed at the  University of Virginia’s Rotunda and campus lawn. 

    “For Sale by Owner” is directed and line produced by Bob Wilson and  co-produced by Robert Duvall’s Butcher’s Run Films. 

    The low-budget independent feature is about an architect who is  restoring the home of America’s early colonist, John Smith. In the movie,  the Virginia home was burned down and then reconstructed in the  1800s. The film is a supernatural/mystery/psychological thriller.

    My day on the fi lm consisted of about four scenes shot at U.Va’s  campus Rotunda. In the scenes, I played a student who is attending  class lectures on the lawn.

    During filming, I had to listen to lectures, take notes and walk  around campus with school belongings. For each scene the filmmakers  did at least 25 takes of the college students listening intently to our teacher’s lecture and getting up to leave the class. 

    Unfortunately, the lawn had recently been watered, leaving  many of the extras’ clothes damp. Our costumes were what any  normal college student would wear. We wore a few different  outfits to make it seem as if we were attending lectures on various class days. We were advised to bring extra belongings  like book bags, Frisbees, notebooks, headphones, iPods, MP3 players, books, sunglasses and sunscreen.

    The day we filmed our college scenes  was actually the  exam week for U.Va students, but we filmed during their  scheduled reading day. Many UVa students took study  breaks to come watch us filming. Tours were being given  on campus, and onlookers and tourists rubbernecked as if  we were Hollywood celebrities.

    Occasionally, students would come by and take pictures  of the filming process, and because this is a feature film,  there weren’t as many restrictions on outside photography.  Many of the extras were U.Va theater majors, who were  doing extra work for the first time.  

    The star of the film, Scott Cooper (“Austin Powers:  The Spy Who Shagged Me,” “Gods and Generals,”  “Broken Trail” and “The X-Files”), also wrote the  script. 

    Other actors in this fi lm are Kris Kristofferson,  Tom Skerritt, Frankie Faison (“The Wire”) and Skeet  Ulrich (“Jericho”). One of the actresses is Rachel  Nichols (“The Amityville Horror,” “Shopgirl” and  “Autumn in New York”), who plays my teacher.

    The movie was filmed primarily at Magnolia  Plantation near Cloutierville, La., and in other parts of Virginia.  

    The production company’s goal is to shoot  eight movies within the next three years. The  film has not secured a distributor yet, but Port Pictures hopes “For Sale by Owner” will earn a theatrical release.