…to remain invisible.
I ran into this by accident when looking for something else. I had completely forgotten it. Well, it was 25 years ago. This was my first “union” job in Hollywood, after I had earned the SAG card. I got paid a few hundred dollars to shout “YAY!” in the background of the commercial. I’m turned away from camera. The bar is a set. The lead actor, Paul Hogan (Crocodile Dundee), was a nice-looking but only average-sized man. Therefore, to make him look big and macho, the bar set and everything in it is just a little bit smaller than the real thing. I remembered the casting call. They chose a variety of “looks”, with only one requirement. You couldn’t be any taller than 5’7”. The guy on the stool next to Paul talking to him is Leslie Jordan. He’s just under 5 feet tall. It’s a good thing I never filmed anything embarrassing, aside from the fact that much of it was bad TV. This stuff sticks around forever!
Invisible Mikey 
Very cool! 🙂
OH, that’s great! Of course YOU would respond to this, Debbie. This sort of thing must have happened to you a lot. Thanks for helping me re-frame it and not feel quite so weird about having forgotten it.
I used to love Crocodile Dundee (his real name, right?) 🙂 I never would’ve thought he was short. I want a couple hundred dollars to shout “Yay!” I might even be willing to shout, “Woo-hoo!”
You must post more of these if you’ve got access to them. It is very cool.
I don’t have samples from my career as an invisible bad actor in a form I can post since mine are on things like 3/4″ analog videocassettes, but as this proved, some one else has probably already done it.
You wouldn’t believe what they pay to do hardly anything in a commercial. Of course most people also have to attend about 500 auditions first, and it will probably be your only paycheck that year. Because I was a casting assistant, I had an inside track and could exploit the information.
Your blog certainly serves to debunk any romantic notions about Hollywood. If I ever come across anyone about to make the move to LA, I’ll direct them here first. Have a good weekend.
You too, moms! I’ve been busy rehearsing for singing at all those extra services including the 2 on Easter – for the tourists, y’know?
My mother loved the movie Crocodile Dundee and watched it a gazillion times. Interesting peek behind the scenes!
Oh, good. Just before posting I was thinking “Can this possibly be of interest to anyone but me? Maybe it’s just my low boredom threshold etc.”
Paul Hogan had a very big following Mikey – clearly unbeknownst to you! 😀 😛
He had a wildly successful comedy TV show here before he hit the movies in Hollywood.
If you don’t know, before he went into comedy he was a worker (painter) on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
We love him, even if he is only 5′ 7″! Cheryl Ladd’s father was rather short, I believe. Tom Cruise, anyone? 😛
True enough. Here, he was kind of a novelty. I think he was 5’9″, which is why we had to be shorter. Nice fella to talk to. The last I knew of him was when I added some foley for Lightning Jack (1994). Dustin Hoffman and Alan Ladd are my favorite short actors, both 5’4″.
When I see or hear Paul Hogan I think of “walkabout” and “Now THAT’S a knife.” Oh, and a selacious article about the relationship between him and his costar in Crocodile Dundee. I remember it because I was 9 or 10 when I read it in a magazine at a doctor’s office. I felt very grown-up. Sorry. That is not at all interesting but I always find myself reminiscing about something when I visit you, Mikey. 🙂
Indeed, my site’s all about reminiscing. Yes, Paul left his wife for his co-star in the movie that made him world-famous. That’s an old, old story.
I remember seeing this ad 25 years ago and thinking you looked familiar.
Based on that picture of you, 25 years ago you were just out of nappies. You have a remarkably good memory!
Goodness, I was in my early 30s, but thanks.
Not you, Mr Greatsby. 😛
Overexposure is a risk for bad actors.
It really is amazing what they get away with to make the focus of a scene look different from reality. I can’t wait for the day I become a famous enough writer that they’ll surround me with slightly less qualified people.
(Kidding! Although this is the only way I can figure out how Dean Koontz does it.)
I’m told the biggest illusion was the pretense that Foster’s was popular in Australia. They prefer Crown and some other brands.
Very true – when we exported it, we said only the Yanks drink it. Now it is made in Canada I believe.
Insomnia – just happened to wander past the ‘puter – back to bed I go.
I remember having a preference for Victoria Bitter when I was there…
I still want to go. I want to learn more about the dream time.
I tried to find “People of this Land” by David Hudson on YouTube for you, but I couldn’t. I have his CD “Just Like a Dream”.
This was as close as I could get.
I fully relate to Mr. Hogan. I’m only 4’9″ and make everyone around me walk on their knees.
I guess that’s the hidden reason why that “knife” looked so huge in the movie…
My little town appears to be the location for a “rift” (in Doctor Who terms). People from far away planets seem to pop in all the time. There’s a guy who plays a didge and steel drums outside the Bank of America downtown.
I remember that commercial! The first Crocodile Dundee move I thought was really quite good. Too bad you weren’t in that, too.
That would have been cool, plus I would have gotten to see some of Australia as well as more of New York City, where I haven’t been since 1972. I was never in anything filmed outside of Southern California.
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