Trying to think about something else for a moment ...
When we shoot a TV show or a movie, we often have to cheat our looks closer or farther away from the camera during our closeups. Most of the time, the place we're supposed to look is marked with a piece of tape, like an orange X, for example.
When we shot the "showdown" sequence on Leverage, Aldis and I both had to cheat our looks on most of the shots, so whoever was on camera played a lot of the scene looking at a piece of tape while the other actor stood behind the camera and delivered his lines. There was one set up, though, where I was able to stand just to the side of the camera for him and he could talk directly to me. We were feeling silly that day, so I grabbed some tape and put an orange X right on my forehead. You know, for continuity.
"Hi, I'm Wil, and I'll be playing the part of the Orange X," I told him. We all laughed, and I spent several minutes describing the different choices I make for different colors of tape.
"Playing the Red X is very different from playing the Blue X, and though I've tried my best, I've never really been able to nail playing a Green X."
My episode of Leverage, The 2 Live Crew Job, airs tonight on TNT.
I did a whole bunch of interviews last week to support tonight's show. If you'd like to read them all, here is a huge list that TNT publicity just sent me. Some of these links include video, too.
- IGN
- E! Online
- Television Without Pity
- SciFi Wire
- TV.com
- USA Weekend
- Trek Movie
- CliqueClack TV
- Sofachip
- IF Magazine
(Thanks to Marc Roskin, who took this picture with his iPhone and e-mailed it to me.)
