As I was going to lunch one day in Columbia Mall, a man stopped me and asked me if I wanted to be in a movie. You never know about such things, but his name was Charlie Petersen, and he was looking for extras in a film being made in Columbia down at the Bull Street Mental Hospital, so I felt it was legit. I told him I had been in two films in the past, as well as some TV, so I was hired. I went back to the store and told the manager about this opportunity. He allowed me to go, as long as I would mention that I worked for Belk, and I could work some nights to make up my time.
It was just before Thanksgiving 1988, when the filming was to take place. The movie was called "Chattahoochee". The story was about the abuse that mental patients had during the 1950's in Florida, and two people who took on the system that changed the way people were treated. It was a true story. The film starred Gary Oldman, Dennis Hopper, Frances McDormand, Pamela Reed, M. Emmet Walsh, Matt Craven, and others.
When I showed up the first day, I fitted with denim overalls. They wanted me to bring black work boots, but I didn't have any, so I wore brown shoes. They didn't really notice the difference until the last day of shooting. When I got to hair and makeup, the hair guy asked me if I wanted them to shave my head. I really didn't, but he told me that if I wanted to be in the movie, then they would have to do it, so I said okay. They left a little hair but not much. I was to be a mental patient in the movie. I was one of several. After the first day, the casting folks said that they were going to put me in a special group of 5 extras called "The Looneys". I was "Looney #4". Our job was to make sounds and act like we couldn't help ourselves. In the film, there were three groups: The Criminals who had done some horrific crimes that put them in the hospital; The Crazies who could do for themselves; and The Looneys who had no concept of what they were doing. This made the shoot much more fun for me.
The first day had us filming one of the last scenes of the movie. I couldn't wear my glasses during the scenes, so I looked down a lot. It kind of fit into my character. The next scene filmed was walking down a steam corridor toward the cafeteria. We were told not to talk to Gary Oldman, because he was concentrating on his Southern accent, and we were not to throw him off. I had been walking next to him during this scene. Over the course of the shooting that day, we had a little break. He turned to me and asked me my name. I told him. He then asked me about the South. What was it like? He used me for his research. The director, Mick Jackson, saw me talking with Gary and wanted me throw off the set. Gary stood up for me, and they allowed me to continue working. Gary and I became good friends on the set, and I gave him pointers on how to walk and talk. He also had a dialogue coach on the set. I could see how great an actor Gary Oldman was. I'm glad he finally won an Oscar in 2018.
Another scene we shot was us walking down a walkway behind Gary and Dennis. I told the guy behind me that I was having trouble seeing, so he put his hand on my shoulder and guided me. It took a while to film that scene, so we are walking around and around them several times. I was actually in ten scenes during the movie, but only three I am identifiable.
My favorite scene was the lunch scene. As a Looney, my job was to play with my food and be hit in the back of the head by another patient with some grits. After each take, I would be taken outside and hosed off before going back in and doing it again. One of my talents has been to do the same thing over and over again to avoid any bloopers. By the end of the takes, the grits had gotten harder, but I just took it. They didn't actually use that part in the final cut of the movie. However, there was a lot of downtime during that scene. I was standing next to Dennis Hopper, as we waited for the next camera setup. Dennis turned to me and asked me if I knew anything about Charleston. He had a couple of days off coming up and wanted to go down there and look around. He said he especially wanted to look at the historical stuff, so I told him about the Market, the Battery, and Patriot's Point. Two years later, he directed a film called "Chasers", and all of the places I had told him about were in his movie. I felt like I helped him with locations. Also, while we were standing around, another guy came up to Dennis and asked him if he had been to the State Museum. Dennis said no, and that after shooting, he would go back to his hotel and watch ESPN. Dennis then turned back to me, and we talked more about Charleston. He was a nice guy.
In the afternoons, Emmet Walsh would hold court with some of us telling stories about all of the movies he had been on, and then we would tell jokes. Most of them were pretty raunchy, but it was a good time after the intense scenes shot. For lunch, the principals would eat separately from everyone else. One of the guys in our group owned D's Wings in Cayce. So, after one day of sandwiches, he called his restaurant, and they delivered food to us. The principals heard about how good we were eating and later came over and joined us. I was offered $1000 to show my naked butt in a shower scene, but I declined. I didn't think that Belk would be too pleased to have their Credit Manager nude in the movie. The owner of D's Wings took the money. They didn't have him in the final cut. If only I had known...
The one real problem on the set was the cold. It was November, and we were outside much of the time. It was set in Florida, so we wore short sleeve shirts. They gave us blankets between takes. The other problem for me was one of a personal nature. Not to be gross, but I was plagued by hemorrhoids during this time. If you see me walking kind of slow, or if I have a pained look on my face, that's why. What an actor needs to put up with for the show to go on.
The movie was released in 1989. Besides the scene of me being hit in the back of the head with grits being cut, there was also another one. It was a scene where Gary and Dennis plan a bank robbery outside of the hospital. I was in that scene. In the final cut of the film, that scene was in there, when they played the movie at the Toronto Film Festival. Some viewers thought the film ran long with that scene in it, so the film was taken back to the editor, and that section was cut out. I asked Hemdale if they had an uncut version of the film that was shown in Toronto, but they said no. I would like to see that if anyone has the bank robbery scene from "Chattahoochee". I have to say that of the four major films I have done, "Chattahoochee" was the most fun. It was grueling, but I got to be around some greats in the movies. And, just as a bit of trivia, Gary Oldman and Frances McDormand both won Oscars in 2018 as Best Actor and Best Actress respectively. They were both in "Chattahoochee" early in their careers. I didn't work with Frances, but I must say that I don't know too many people who were in a movie with the Best Actor and Best Actress in an earlier film. And, it took 6 months for my hair to grow back out.
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