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To tell you the truth...the filming was fun, but everything else was boring. They made us wait a day and a half. We (all the kids in that scene) were bored out of their minds. But we got payed...so its all good.
shareDid you meet Melanie Griffith? If so, what was she like to work with?
shareYes I did meet her...I wasn't in a scene with her though. Plus I was 6, so I don't remember her being good or bad.
share I just saw this film yesterday on DVD,and had a question.I mean to ask this in the most respectful fashion.
Were the folks appearing in the scenes really Hasidic Jews,or were they actors and extras recruited and coached for the scenes?
My understanding is that the Hasidic Jews are inclined to minimize their contacts with the non-Hasidic aspects of society(Again,my understanding is that the Lubavitch are the exception to the rule),and would be somewhat leery in allowing outsiders to attend their festivals,ceremonies,rituals,etc.
The people in the movie were mostly actors. The main actor, Eric Thall, had his beard glued on and sideburns connected to his hair with bobby pins. I know this because he showed us. I am assuming that most of the people were actors that had the same thing done. Although I do know one of the extras, and his beard happened to be real because he was Jewish (and Lubavitch, but not dressed the way a normal Lubavitcher is dressed)... He is how I got to be an extra in the film. So most were regular actors and there were some (a few here and there) that were really Jewish.
I'm not sure about other Hasidic people, but I am Lubavitch myself and we don't minimize contacts with non-Hasidics. You are right when you said that.
Eric Thal: Is he Jewish and did he really speak the language fluently in the movie (I thought so)? If I remember correctly Rob Morrow in Northern Exposure spoke Yiddish fluently and he is Jewish.
I found some interesting articles:
OCTOBER 7, 2010
[Eric] is not of Jewish descent: his Thals are ethnic Germans.
6. Emily Eden from “A Stranger Among Us” (Melanie Griffith) – Those of us who lived in the Orthodox community watched this movie with a schmear of skepticism at the prospect of Griffith passing for a religious Jew. Yet one of my Facebook friends is in awe of her Hasidic love interest (Eric Thal): “A Chussid [Hasidic Jew] who can quote Kabbalah, fire a gun, and make out with Mel has GOT to be cool.share
That seems to be a common experience. You are just a warm body and stay out of sight until you read their minds and find out your are supposed to be doing something. A friend of mine juggled wooden pins for an opening and after about a day of 'action' 'roll' and 'cut' from a distance nobody knew what was going on so they just acted continuously. He juggled those durn heavy pins for hours. He collected a couple hundred for being a specialized extra but said he had never worked so hard for so long without knowing what he was doing or if he was on camera or not. Though the magic of cinema his scene survived cutting and I saw about 10 seconds of him on the screen. It's great one time, past the it's drudgery.
shareIf only all the extras in all the films would share their experience, what ecstasy that would be!
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