Change of Plan...

Perry’s Blog

Change of Plan…

The main things I enjoy about my work are the variety of the requests that come in, and the challenges that each one brings.

Despite nearly 30 years in the business, I can honestly say that every job I have done is different – sometimes the work seems similar, of course, but the situations, the people, and the conditions can be very diverse.

One thing I am used to by now is the way things can change so rapidly - for very many reasons - during the film making process, and usually it is nobody’s fault. To keep sane in these situations, you have to be flexible and you have to adapt.

For example, a decade ago I worked on a major movie in London.  It was a fairly complicated action film, and I was involved at the very early stages of prep: working out the logistics of the action and special effect sequences.  The first week’s filming all went very smoothly.  On day 8, however, just prior to a huge unit move to the north of Scotland, the lead actress (a British A-list star) suddenly announced she could no longer be involved in the project and promptly departed – having filmed a week of semi-naked bedroom action, and with five weeks of filming left to do! 

Our producers had to act fast: there was a vast amount of money at stake, and locations had been booked in and around Fort William, meaning dates could not be altered. So the whole crew was gathered together in a posh hotel in Knightsbridge, and the senior producer took to the floor for his announcement (naturally, those of us with contracts were hoping for a cancellation of the project). 

However, much to our surprise, he announced that they had decided to push on with the project and intended to promote the stand in to the female lead – an actress very new to the business.  We were all delighted for her and the whole room erupted into spontaneous applause in her honour.

After we completed the scenes in Scotland, we all returned to the London locations and, scene by scene, repeated our first week with the new girl in place. It all worked out well – she was a former Miss Australia; very beautiful, very charming and a great laugh to boot!