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Annie's Watching the Detectives Adventure
Scotch Plains, New Jersey
by Annie
[Note: a previous version of this story originally appeared on cillianONLINE].
It all began the night of July 13, 2006. I was sitting at the computer, just about ready for sleep, chatting with my friend Shannon. We'd been talking for a while when she mentioned that Cillian Murphy was filming a scene the next day in New Jersey. At the time, I didn't know what the movie was called, who the director was, or anyone else that was in it. Shannon told me that an inside source had tipped off cillianONLINE that the shoot would be at Palmer Video in Scotch Plains. I had no idea where that was—I had never even heard of Scotch Plains—but when I looked at the map I realized it was only an hour away. When I found this out, I got so excited! I wanted to go check it out, but I had a feeling nothing would come of it—I thought if I did go, the security guards would shove everyone at least two blocks away from the film set. But Shannon was kind enough to e-mail Palmer Video; it was pretty late at night, so neither of us thought they'd answer, but to our surprise, Craig, the storeowner, replied pretty quickly with information on what to do if I wanted to visit!
Palmer Video before the film crew arrives.
The next morning, I woke up pretty early and called Palmer Video to see if everything was still on and if it was ok to visit the set. When I arrived at the store, no one from the movie was there yet. Craig introduced himself and showed me around the video store. He told me that some of the film crew had come by the day before to start rearranging the place, and he showed me what they had done. I took a few quick photos.
Soon the prop trucks began arriving in the back parking lot. People started to set up the lighting for one of the outdoor bench scenes, and then began busily rearranging the store some more. This is when it hit me that Cillian would soon be there ... in person. The more I thought about it, the more nervous I got, and I could feel the butterflies eating away at my stomach! It was a long wait before everyone arrived, so to keep myself busy, I walked across the street to grab something to eat. When it was my turn to order, I was so nervous and excited I almost forgot how to ask for a drink! Pushing my embarrassment aside, I walked back to Palmer Video and discovered that they had locked the doors. But Craig was nice enough to let me back in, and soon more of the crew started pouring in.
Soon it became really busy outside, and when I looked out into the back parking lot, I saw that a crowd was gathering. That's when I noticed two people sitting on the bench, but from far away I couldn't tell who they were. When I went outside to see what all the commotion was about, I saw that, just like me, all the bystanders were waiting around to catch a glimpse of what was going on. At first, the crowd got all excited and began taking photos of the two people sitting, but these were just the stand-ins for Cillian and Lucy Liu! When everyone realized that the real stars were still in their trailers getting hair and makeup, it made the crowd even more eager to get a glimpse of them. I got a photo of the stand-ins, then made my way back into the store, because I didn't want to get in anyone's way, and I most certainly didn't want to get locked outside again!
Cillian and Lucy on set outside the store.
Back inside, I began talking with Jesse, a really nice Palmer Video employee, and we joked around to pass the time. We stood near the back windows, watching all the commotion going on outside in the hot sun, but it was when I had turned to look around inside the store that I heard someone say, "Hey, isn't that the guy from 28 Days Later…?" I turned around slowly and watched as Cillian walked up to the bench outside, wearing a blue shirt, long dress pants, and old worn out sneakers. At first, I couldn't believe it was really him, and I kind of froze, but someone gave me a friendly nudge and said, "Go ahead—here's your chance to get photos!" I was snapped back to reality, but still in disbelief! I made my way outside and finally saw Cillian and Lucy up close. It was quite surreal. They were sitting around relaxing before filming, so I walked over and took a few photos. Once they had the scene set up, with lighting and camera angles ready, they asked some of the crew and employees to go inside so the actors wouldn't be distracted while filming. So I went inside with everyone and sat behind the counter wondering what was going to happen next. I had a feeling that when it came time to film inside, I would surely be kicked out, and that tiny glimpse of Cillian would be all I'd get. I remember looking down at the counter, drawing randomly on paper, trying to keep my mind occupied, and trying so hard not to run to the window and stare at what they were doing outside.
After a little while, more people came inside and bustled around to set up the next scene. I was leaning on the counter, minding my own business, when out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cillian walk in. When I looked over at him, he was biting his upper lip, looking around curiously at all the DVDs. It made me wonder if he was looking for any of his movies! Soon everyone came in, and they began rehearsing the second scene of the day. I was in shock: I didn't understand how I was still in the store, why I hadn't been kicked out, but I wasn't going to complain! They began setting up the closet scene, and this was the first time I got to personally watch Cillian and Lucy act. Standing behind the counter, I could barely contain my excitement, watching in disbelief as my favorite actor, my inspiration, was performing right in front of my eyes. Cillian was very fluid in his motions and very creative during each take. Every time the director yelled, "Action," Cillian would try something new, whether it was a change in body language or a different tone for the way he was speaking. And each time he tried something new, it would look better then the last take!
Palmer Video prepped for a night scene.
It was a very simple scene, but they had to do it a bunch of times to make sure no detail was missed. I never realized how much effort and time went into doing even a 15-second scene. They had to check all the different angles, lighting techniques, and sound, and make sure that no logo or anything with a copyright was in view, and they didn't miss a single little detail! Once that scene was finished, they needed to film a night scene, so they set up these huge tarps on the outside of the windows to blacken them out, and it was the most surreal experience: after sitting in the store for hours, which was pitch black with only the emergency store lights on, it seemed like nighttime, but when I went outside, my retinas burned at the shock of walking out into a beautiful summer day!
What really shocked me though was what happened next. As I was waiting and watching from behind the counter, a crew member asked me how long I was going to be hanging around. At first I took this to mean I was being a bother, so I replied that I didn't have a plan for how long I was staying or leaving, and I could leave whenever they wanted. But instead of hearing, "Could you please leave now?" I was actually asked if I'd like to be in a scene! I calmly said yes, but in my head, I was completely ecstatic that I was actually going to be in the film! They didn't say when or what I'd be doing, but to just hang around, which of course I had no problem doing.
A break in filming.
After a few hours, they finally finished the closet scenes and headed back to the trailers for a quick break and makeup retouching. But just as they left the back of the store, a small crowd of people came up and politely asked for photos and autographs. Both Cillian and Lucy were such sweethearts, taking the time to chat with fans, sign quick autographs, and have their photos taken. But by the time I'd gone back into the store, grabbed my camera and returned, they had already vanished, leaving me quite disappointed. I hung outside for a while; it felt nice to get a breath of fresh air. Palmer Video is a nicely sized store, but it was so packed with people, cameras, and lighting equipment that it became really stuffy. To make matters worse, they also had to turn the air conditioning off because of the noise, and it was unbelievably hot that day! So I stayed outside and chatted with various crew members, who were all so wonderful! They asked me where I was from, why I was there, and of course, how long I had been a fan of Cillian's.
By then, the sun was starting to set, and I could tell it was going to be a long night. I left to grab a quick snack and missed seeing Cillian and Lucy go back inside. By the time I'd finished my snack, I couldn't go back in, because they had started filming again. So I spent quite a long time outside talking to crew members and became quite friendly with them.
Annie with Cillian!
Eventually, after what seemed like hours waiting outside in the heat, I saw the door open, and Cillian walked out! Luckily, I had my camera on me, and I politely asked if I could get a picture with him, and he smiled and said yes. It was hard to make eye contact with him because his eyes were so blue, even in the fading sunlight! When he put his arm around me for the picture, I put my arm around him too. I hadn't realized how tiny a frame he has until my hand went around his waist! Even through all of the heat and strenuous hours of filming, he hadn't broken a sweat. Afterwards, I thanked him, and he smiled again and said it was no problem at all. I was so happy! Not only did I get a photo with him, but he was so wonderful about it, and seemed happy himself! And I couldn't believe how incredibly blue his eyes were; I always thought that the color was just enhanced because of film, but they're just as blue in person!
Everyone took a break for lunch at 9:30 pm. The food was located about a block down, near the library, where there was a delicious buffet ready. I grabbed some food, sat next to Craig, and we chatted for a while. Everyone seemed to be very content, yet dreading the long night ahead. After the break, we all went back inside the video store. Since it was dark out, they took the tarps down from the windows and set up these huge lights outside to shine into the store. As everyone prepared for the next scene, Cillian was standing behind me browsing the DVDs when someone came over and brought him a giant cup of coffee. He responded with the words, "Ahh, brilliant!" and eagerly took the coffee. I gathered up my courage to try and start a conversation with him. I turned to him and asked, "So, are you having fun?" in a sarcastic kind of way, and he smiled and gave a short laugh, replying, "Of course!" That's when I became more comfortable being around him, and I felt like I could talk without stumbling and mumbling random words. I then asked how long they had been filming, and he replied, "Emm, about five days now, I believe." He nodded and smiled, then took a sip of his coffee, and the poor thing didn't even get a chance to enjoy it before they called him over to rehearse the scene! He excused himself and walked over to chat with the director.
Preparing to shoot a night scene.
In the scenes they filmed next, a lot of hilarity ensued. I won't give away too many details for fear of spoiling the movie, but there's one part where Cillian has to bump into something. As they were explaining to him how he has to run into it and accidentally knock it over, he started pretending to kick it and beat it up, almost like a little kid would! It was so cute watching his mannerisms, and how shy he was in person. Right from the start Cillian seemed to keep to himself, and he only spoke when he was spoken to. He was very into the scenes, and not once did he complain, even when it got to be 4:30 in the morning, and you could tell he was very exhausted!
Last minute direction from Paul Soter.
At around 2:30 am, a crew member told me that everyone was very happy that I had bit the bullet and stayed for my scene, and now it was going to happen. As I watched them prepare the lighting, I got very excited. Though I was exhausted from staying up so late, my fatigue seemed to disappear as soon as they told me what I had to do! While they were setting up, I asked if I had time to run to my car real quick to grab my makeup—it was a very long day, and very humid, so I needed a touch up. They said not to worry about it, so I figured I'd just do the scene looking the way I did. But they surprised me yet again: they actually had Lucy Liu's makeup artist do my makeup! I couldn't believe it! I felt like I was about to die—this was the last thing I had ever expected to happen, and here I was being treated so wonderfully! On the outside, I was calm and collected, but in my head I was screaming with excitement, and my poor little fangirl heart was about to explode! My dream had come true: I was in a movie with Cillian Murphy! The scene I did was not much—I was just an extra—but that didn't matter to me at all. As I stood in the DVD aisle, I heard the director shout, "ACTION!" and my heart began to race, but of course I had to act as if it was just a normal day at the video store for me! The scene I did was the "commercial scene" at Media Giant, which is the name of the evil corporation trying to get rid of the store owned by our hero, Neil (that's the name of Cillian's character).
This whole experience was wonderful—I cannot even begin to explain how kind the whole cast and crew were! Everyone was so nice, making sure that everyone else was comfortable, well fed, and fully hydrated. It was quite amazing to watch and see how everything is done, and I must say, both Cillian and Lucy are wonderful actors! Once the director yelled, "Action," it was almost as if it wasn't even for a film—it was like watching them hold a real conversation.
To be honest, Shannon and I had no idea any of this was going to happen. We both figured I'd only get a quick glance of him, at most. I never thought I'd be behind the scenes the entire time, hanging out with the cast and crew until the wee hours of the morning! And better yet, actually be in the movie myself! From what I've seen, this movie looks very cute, and very, very funny!
I would like to take a moment to thank Shannon from cillianONLINE, as well as Melty_Girl, who so graciously took the time out to edit this story. She was also a great help in making all of this possible! A huge thanks also goes to Craig from Palmer Video, who took care of me and made sure that everyone was treating me well, and was such a wonderful person to spend time with! I would also like to thank the director and crew for being so wonderful to me, and letting me experience something so amazing as this. And I must also thank Cillian for being such a wonderful person, and taking the time to talk to me and have his photo taken with me, and most of all, for looking at me as a person with the same interest, not as a crazed fan! And last but not least, thank you to the readers who took interest in my little adventure! Cillian is as amazing in person as he is on screen, and I know this experience will stay with me for the rest of my life.
