“Miss….Excuse me Miss..” the shy crew member asked while trying to wake me up.
I quickly jolted when hearing him call to me. Where was I? Oh yea the beach. Sullivan’s Island to be exact. It must have been noon by now, but I wouldn’t know they took my phone this morning around 6 when I arrived. “Yes.” I asked.
“Well, were about to start filming again and the director needs you to be awake and “reading” when Channing Tatum walks by. ”
“Oh yea sure” I said.
As I lay there pretending to read an old Oprah magazine I thought how unrealistic is this. They want me to play a college student laying out on the beach and reading an Oprah magazine. No wonder I drifted off. I thought back to two weeks ago when I was late for class and a man walked up to me asking if I had long hair. (My hair had been in a bun that day on the top of my head) He told me he was a casting agent and they were casting for a film that was being filmed here in Charleston, starring Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried, the film would be called “Dear John.” It was based off of a best selling novel by Nicholas Sparks. I laughed thinking yea right sure you’re a casting agent, but he showed me his business card and told me that they were looking for a couple of girls that could give up some weekends to film out on Sullivan’s Island. He also said the requirements to be an extra in the scenes he needed were one, college aged, and two the girls needed to preferably have long hair. Well that was easy I thought. That night I went home and emailed him that I was interested. He had me fill out some paper work and explained to me that I had been chosen to film a couple of different scenes.Over fall break I filmed for three days straight out on Sullivan’s Island and one day at the college. It was fun and an experience I will not forget. I met so many great crew members and Channing Tatum even came over to hang out with some of us one afternoon. The day I filmed at the College Amanda Seyfried’s boyfriend (at the time) Dominic Cooper, an actor that was in Mama Mia with her came by. He was hilarious joking with the cast and crew and even came over to hang out with the extras. I remember him asking me where the good parties were and laughing thinking, umm hello you are in Charleston they are everywhere around here…
As I lay on the beach I thought this is the life! Here I am getting paid to lay out and even though the reading is kind of lame this is the experience of a lifetime.
