The time I met Tom Cruise!

 Tom was doing the movie Risky Business in nearby Highland park.  I had been asked to have my car be an extra in the movie.  So I was not an extra, my car was the star , My Headlights were seen for 2 moments in the movie. 

So I got to the location and waited and waited and then after an hour they asked for my car to sit at this stoplight. So they gave me a walkie talkie and I just sat in my car for an hour while the actors drove past 7 times with some tiny variations each time. 

There was a break in filming as happens frequently while filming. Tom who was actually driving the Porche in the movie  was standing by it waiting for some such movie lighting or whatever . 

He was just standing there out side of the drivers side of the Porche .  Its like midnight in the summer. There is an enormous light about 30 feet in the air providing enough light for the scene. I thought I am just going to go over there in the middle of a movie set and talk to him while we are all waiting.  I approached him and said hey what’s your name? He said Tom and I said where are you from, he said he grew up in LA.  I just made small talk for a minute or 2 and I was really taken aback on how unstar like he was. My impression was he was like a military cadet .   He answered my questions politely but  as if he were a solder answering questions from a parent.    I think Risky business was one of his first movies and he’s was not super world famous at that moment.  He was very polite and had zero attitude.  He was not very tall which somehow seemed unexpected.  People in films appear much taller than in real life.   It's funny, you would think a big move star would have a stunt double to drive a car in a minor scene but Tom was driving the car himself . 

When they film movies at night it feels like 7 pm in the movie  but in reality it's 2 am in the morning since they are on a schedule and they have to finish all these moments.  They will work literally all night long til 3 or 4 am or till the sun comes up and its exhausting.

 For this scene  Tom had to turn a corner with his car followed by the villain in a big Cadillac who was chasing  him.  So The villains car is turning in front of me and my car headlights are just at a stoplight  waiting for him to pass by. So I am sitting in my car at a stop sign for 2 hours while they set up and move lights around and get just the right mood for a moment in the movie that lasts maybe 1/2 a second.  They gave me a walkie talkie and were giving instructions.  And I am just sitting there for hours as this car goes by maybe 7 times.

Wow filming moves takes a lot of people and is surprisingly boring.

Then we broke for lunch at like 11:30 pm and I sat down with Bronson Pinchot  Who was absolutely the most humorous person EVER! He is so funny. So I had no idea he was a star in the movie but I got my midnight dinner at the food truck and sat down. The food, by the way was unbelievably fantastic.