"You're not Kevin Costner," I said to a man in the lobby of a Bath, Maine hotel in 1998. "Kevin Costner is good looking."
But, after the unidentified man handed me his driver's license, I discovered it was indeed the famous actor. This was during the filming of "Message in a Bottle" and I had been hired as a stand-in for Robin Wright Penn for scenes filmed in Pemaquid Point.
Still, what did I know? I was 34-years-old and new to the film business. I had previously worked as an extra (or background artist as Stephen Spielberg liked to say) in "Amistad" and "Meet Joe Black."
They say the camera likes some people. That must be the case with Kevin Costner and Brad Pitt. However, in my opinion, Matthew McConaughey rocks in person but not on screen.
In 2000, I joined the Screen Actors Guild and appeared in "What Lies Beneath" and "Mystic River." It is a wonderful hobby with fantastic perks. I get to be on movie sets, vote for the SAG Awards (and get free DVDs and movie passes because of it), make good money, and meet interesting people.
The hurry up and wait aspect of the job is not glamorous, but the hair and makeup part definitely is.
Records prove that the first documented acting performance took place in 534 BC when Thespis of Icaria, a Greek actor, appeared in the play. Yet, the patron saint of actors did not come on the scene until sometime in the third century.
St. Genesius of Rome was a lead actor in a theater company. One day, while he was performing in a satirical play about Christian baptism, he had an epiphany which made him convert to Christianity.
Diocletian would have none of it so turned St. Genesius of Rome over to Prefect Plautian. He had him tortured and beheaded.
St. Genesius of Rome is buried at St. Hippolytus Cemetery in the Eternal City and his feast day is Aug. 25.
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