A HARD DAY’S NIGHT- Day 2

...While I should have been "sleeping like a log", I was actually laying on them. All day.

I can't believe I thought a 7am pick up call was early.

A "teamster" van (and those drivers look and act EXACTLY as the term sounds) came for me at 4:45am. Shortly after I'd gone to bed. I was so f***ing tired that I was nauseous, yet as soon as I landed back in Harriman, I B-lined straight for the hot food truck. (Obviously that omelet really made an impression on me.) The AD kindly asked that I let her order my breakfast so I could join the others in make up. It was then that I looked around and discovered that I was the ONLY actor trying to move in on the food, which the camera crew who'd been there for hours hadn't even made there way over to yet. Some things never change right?

After getting the layers of our "face on", we changed and were led deep into the woods to shoot our beatific morning-after-trippin-on-LSD scene, where we lie in the grass and sing a beautiful and languid tune, in multiple harmonies. With wind machines and fake sunshine we did our lip sync rolling around on the ground getting stabbed and scratched by thorny bramble. Bug spray was an afterthought only AFTER I made a joke about ticks and Lyme Disease --which my Asian, London and African American cast mates knew nothing about. I immediately enlightened them with wonderful horror stories about the little ring leaving bloodsuckers. Afraid I'd started trouble but it turns out that our star (originally from North Carolina) actually had it a few years ago and was quite relieved when the discussion arose and prompted a hosing down of watermelon scented bug spray. (Couldn't really get a read on the ticks about this stuff, but the ants seemed to LOVE it!)

The scene was interrupted about every 3-5 minutes for a short, quick downpour, forcing the crew to run back and forth in a panicked hurry with a 4-poled tent to shelter us (now that was comedy) so we could stay put and not lose our perfect flower-shaped position. All the while a smiley, blonde, female medic reassured us that the ticks "do NOT like the rain and wind" and that NOW we were at least educated on the subject, and could be on the look out for the infamous bulls-eye ring of a rash.

Uh, okay. But what about fake wind???

Finally we had a moment of no rain and it was time for "ACTION". I, being so punchy from no sleep and rolling around in muddy wet woods, simply lost it and couldn't stop laughing. Of course, we all know how contagious this is. Before I knew it we were all in hysterics. (Although our vibe WAS to be on LSD, this wasn't what Julie had in mind for the scene.) However, I don't think any of us cared at that moment. About anything.

Then the rain came down. Hard. This time we were called out of position and asked to put ridiculous rain suits over our clothes. (Where's the camera when you need it??) I was transformed into the Michelin Tire Man.

The rain finally gave us a break. We were "touched up" and sent back into the woods.

We laid in a tight circle: sticky, sweaty and muddy for what seemed like (probably because it was), hours. We all had to pee beyond belief, were itching from head to toe from wet grass and desperately trying to ignore the ant bites, until finally the A.D. called "action". Suddenly our voices seem to come from the sky (which was a speaker on a crane hidden somewhere above the trees that played our pre-recorded track).

As we soared above and beyond the noisy generators and wind machines, singing along to our version of one of the most beautiful Beatles songs I've ever heard -- "Because"-- I knew that all of this was exactly "why" I came to New York City.

Until next time...