UpDate - Vol. 14, No. 22, Page 3
March 2, 1995
For fun and experience; Employee 'moonlights' as feature film extra

     In the opening scene of the 1993 film The Age of Innocence, a
delicate wave of Michelle Pfeiffer's hand, over an audience gathered
for an opera, sets the tone for Edith Wharton's turn-of-the century
story of beautiful people in beautiful costumes.
     However, for the hundreds of extras in the scene, which was
filmed at the Philadelphia Academy of Music, the experience wasn't so
beautiful.
     "I was in this imported, Victorian, corseted dress from 9 in the
morning until past midnight for four consecutive days," said Patricia
Donnelly, Delaware '86 '89M, who, along with her husband, Bill
Marinelli, Delaware '87, appeared as members of the audience.
     "It was very hot and uncomfortable in the theatre, makeup artists
were swarming all over us, and several women fainted from being in
those tight dresses for 15 hours a day," according to Donnelly,
administrative coordinator for judicial affairs in the Dean of
Students' Office.
     Perpetuating this "hurry up and wait" attention to detail was
director Martin Scorsese's insistence that every audience member look
perfect before the cameras rolled: every button tied, every hair in
place.
     "Scorcese is a perfectionist," Donnelly said. "I've never seen
someone so obsessed with the littlest things. Michelle Pfeiffer must
have done a dozen takes of one shot."
     Donnelly's total time spent at the academy-well over 60 hours
battling heat and tedium-culminated in less than three minutes of
footage in the finished film.
     Film extras garner no rave reviews, few have speaking parts and
most collect little pay for their work (about $120 a day for a
nonunion extra).
     While acting had always been a lifelong interest, Donnelly said
it was through the advice and recommendations of friends involved in
Philadelphia area theatre that she was able to break into the film
industy as an extra.
     For the UD employee, who has appeared in Violets Are Blue and is
on call for an Al Pacino film this year, being an extra in films is a
chance to see the inner workings of the medium, from the mega-budgets
of Hollywood to the scaled-down informality of an independent film.
     This past year, she appeared as a diner patron reading a
newspaper in the film Truckstop, directed by John Morning, a New York
University film student.
     Scheduled for release this spring, the film is about a young man
who abandons his wife and two children at a diner. Consequently, the
mother and her children are then "adopted" and cared for by the diner
patrons.
     "In a student film, an extra is allowed the freedom to talk with
the director and the producers and to get to know them very well,"
Donnelly said. "As opposed to a Hollywood production, the atmosphere
around a student film is that everyone here is still learning, and the
intimacy of the filming is such that if anyone needs an extra hand,
you're employed. For instance, I learned a tremendous amount about
costuming while I was on the set."
     As Hollywood further cultivates its love affair with the Delaware
Valley-Dead Poet's Society and Philadelphia are just two of the
recent, mainstream films shot in the area-Donnelly sees many film
opportunities for locals willing to dig around for information on
casting calls and auditions.
     She learned about Truckstop by reading an article on the director
in The Review, sent a photo and resume to him, and was called back by
the assistant director and asked to report to the film location in New
Jersey. Donnelly recommends those interested in extra work to contact
local film commissions and departments of tourism, and consult
Backstage, a publication listing auditions for theatre, commercials
and films on the Northeast Coast.
     Although it's fun to have a film cameo every once in a while,
Donnelly said her acting passion has been cultivated in the theatre.
In addition to having studied at the Walnut Street Theatre School in
Philadelphia and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York,
she has appeared in productions of Waiting for Lefty at the Grand
Theatre; A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking for the Walnut
Street Theatre Showcase; and The Rainmaker at the American Academy.
     Currently, she is studying privately with professional actress
Karen Hurley-Heyman and eventually plans to pursue an M.F.A. in
acting, with a concentration in interactive theatre. That nonscripted,
improvisational form of acting, she said, encourages spontaneity and a
deep development of the character.
     "A good actor is one who listens, and every director looks for
spontaneity in an actor," she said. "Interactive theatre demands that
you always discover something new about your character and develop it.
     "I look at graduate study like a buffet, taking some of this and
some of that," she added. "I want to receive solid exposure to many
techniques and styles."
     While continuing to pursue acting, Donnelly said she would
eventually like to teach acting at the college level and incorporate
interactive theatre into a curriculum.
                                                          -Richard Gaw