About two hours ago, I said goodbye to my friends on the set of Eureka, and rode back to my home away from home, here in Vancouver.
About an hour ago, I started doing my laundry and packing my suitcase. I think the last time I did coin-op laundry, I was 20. It's strangely familiar, and the unique smell that happens when a dozen detergents and softeners all combine in the warm, humid air of a laundry room hasn't changed at all in 18 years. Breathing it in provokes of sense memories from so long ago, they almost feel like they belong to someone who exists only in my head.
It's a beautiful day outside: a very light breeze is sort of lazily pushing some sparse clouds through a deep blue sky, over the tops of the buildings outside my window, and through the open window I can hear the traffic droning through the streets below. It's a peaceful backdrop, and I'm glad that I finally have some time to reflect back on my time here, and write some of this stuff down.
I can't get into specifics about work until these episodes air, but there are a few things I don't want to forget. This may be overly-general and a little weird, so please bear with me:
In every scene I do with Colin, we find something entertaining during rehearsal that wasn't there in the script (which is always great to begin with.) The producers and directors have been supportive of our creative discovery, and it's lead to this great relationship between Doctor Parrish and Sheriff Carter. Colin and I had a scene with Joe Morton the other day where Joe and I decided that Parrish and Henry would get all excited and geek out about some scientist stuff, totally ignoring Carter while we did. The foundation Colin and I had built for our character relationship let this thing I had with Joe stand right on top of it.
Niall Matter and I have decided that Zane and Parrish are friends from working together, and their mutual irritation with authority in general and Fargo specifically has formed the foundation for that friendship. So far, we haven't had much to do together, but when we're in the same scene, we make sure to look share character-based "can you believe this frakkin guy?" looks that may not ever read on the screen, but sure are a lot of fun to create.
Last Wednesday, I twisted the fuck out of my ankle on the set, and ultimately had to go to the doctor to get it looked at. I can't say how or why (it's spoilery) but the timing couldn't have been worse: we were on location, I was in almost all of 9 pages that day, and it happened during first rehearsal, before we'd even shot a single second of film. It was a long and painful day, but I ended up with a brace, a cane, and a Naproxen prescription, so I'm doing much better now. I don't need the cane, and I don't even limp that much, which is nice. An X-ray said it wasn't broken, and I said, "Holy shit, a talking X-ray!"
I really, really, really miss my family, but I've had a great time being here. As I look back on these two episodes, I see a lot of work I'm proud of, a lot of people I'm glad to know, some great times out with good friends ... but mostly, I am overwhelmed with gratitude. I'm so grateful for this life, and what I'm able to do with it, that even on the longest day on set when I'm in a scene that stopped being interesting and fresh hours ago, I can remember that I get paid to imagine. I make my living making things up to entertain people, to give them a place to escape to every once and a while, and I just love it. I've said it a lot on Twitter lately, but it bears repeating: I am the luckiest guy in the world. Sometimes, I feel like I'm living someone else's life, and I don't ever want to wake up.
