My Niece in the Movies
Almost 18 minutes into the movie Duplicity (2009), Julia Roberts identifies my niece Danielle (
Merana's daughter, left) as a drug dealer. ("Who are they?" "Researchers at the fragrance lab down there, when they're not dealing ecstasy.")
A year ago she was grabbed by the director (from where she was working on the wardrobe) to pose for a mug shot to be used on-screen (so she got paid double that day, for her normal wardrobe job and for being an extra). She made the daily rushes, and the mug shot was eventually used when the scene was shot with Julia Roberts (who saw the shot and said, "Holy crap, that's Danielle, does her mother know she did this?") Of course, it wasn't until the movie was released a week or two ago that we found out whether or not that scene stayed in or ended up on the cutting room floor.