Photo from a Hollywood website
Mark Wahlberg
Okay, I am still on Tuesday, May 8th (these were very long days). After mingling with the stars of "Pain and Gain", we are finally called to work. We returned to the room with the weight bench and chair. Thankfully, Michael Bay asked if Seven could lay in the chair and I already knew she could. Bay explained that Mark Wahlberg and Michael Rispoli would be coming in from the hallway and circle around the room with Seven in the background on the chair. He said that I could not be in the room because the camera would be following the actors. I was confused. How was I supposed to cue, reinforce, and correct Seven if I had no access? Bay told me I could hang out in the bushes which would be in view of Seven, but my access to her was totally blocked. The American Humane Association rep earned her keep by telling him I had to be in the room. They got into a heated argument and finally Bay said I could hide in the next room. I could see Seven and vice versa from the doorways, but had to change my position as the camera moved around the room.
Photo from a Hollywood website
Michael Rispoli
Michael Rispoli came in and told me what he would be doing in the scene since it involved something that could distract Seven from what she is supposed to be doing. I appreciated the warning. I had met him earlier as he was also interested in meeting the hounds and we had struck up a conversation. I did not recognize him at first, but after hearing his voice and seeing his face a number of times, I started to realize that I had seen him in many movies and TV shows over the years. He is always a supporting actor and rarely the lead.
Photo from Hollywood website
Michael Rispoli
Then Mark Wahlberg comes in. At some point, Rispoli and Bay leave the room and I am actually standing in a room alone with Mark Wahlberg. Truthfully, it was awkward and not a word was spoken. All the other actors were friendly and outgoing, but Mark just is not. I wish I had just said something like "Hi. I am Jen. This is my first movie." But I did not get the impression he wanted to chat like the other actors had.
Seven does her scene fairly easily. At one point, everyone leaves the room except for Seven and I. Rispoli pokes his head back in and tells me its going to be a few minutes. Such a nice guy! I released Seven and we played around in the room until it was time to work again. After a few more takes, she did finally break her stay because of Rispoli's distraction. I was not sure whether to interrupt the scene or not with a correction so I did not. Finally, Mark says "The dog is up." so I run in to correct her. On the next take, I asked Bay if I could correct her as I was sure it would happen again. He said yes. So Seven got a big correction during the next take for breaking her stay a second time. She was perfect after that. All in all, I thought she looked very natural. She followed the actors with her eyes instead of staring at me with perked up ears.
The day continues....
