The Happening on DVD

-Joseph Tornatore second from left with all eyes on Mark Wahlberg.

The Happening is out on DVD and the movie trailer is playing on the On Demand channel of Comcast Cable on an endless loop. I restrained myself to house arrest so that I would not buy this movie that I am in on the first day of its release in stores on DVD. Make no mistake, I had the purchased DVD cued up on the television by the evening of the second day.

If I have the gumption to identify myself as a non-union actor to someone in public, their first reaction is what juicy lines in what scenes of what movies have you done? Then I am left derailing their starry eyes without looking foolish by providing the following critical inside information.

Non-union actors dream in Technicolor of being given speaking parts on film but the odds of being upgraded are astronimical on a major motion picture set. Instead, the realistic goal for non-union talent is to be appreciative if we are discernible in the distance of the final version for time rounded up to the first full second. The next tier is to be a featured extra and be recognizable in the foreground with the camera focused on your actions slightly longer than a camera pan in the distance. The next tier is to be stuck in frame in focus with a principle actor in a movie. The next hierarchy is to be in frame in close-up action opposite the lead character. Important scenes like this predominately involve SAG actors, union dues, multiple auditions, and speaking parts.

Once in what could be a lifetime of acting, a non-union actor lands a pivotal scene of a movie. This is what happened to me in The Happening as a train conductor opposite lead Mark Wahlberg for about ten seconds of close-up prosperity. If anyone has ever heard me tell this complete story, it is happenstance that put me in the middle of a huddle of train conductors in rural Pennsylvania. I take my acting seriously but I would be a windbag if I told it any other way.

I studied my scene tonight in freeze frame and I could not be happier with my body language and gestural acting. To date, my signature scene in show biz involves no speaking lines. I look capable wincing my eyes, grimacing my face on cue, instilling calm with my hands as directed, and looking forlorn alongside an Academy Award nominee. If anyone buys the DVD, I am in the still image for the Chapter 8 tab in the scene called The Last Stop. It is the scene that played in the trailer on commercials and helped me earn an IMDB credit. I wish I could say something here but again the line escapes me.