How I met George Romero and got to be a Zombie in his new film.
So last week I got hit by a car on my bike and broke my collarbone. It fuckin sucked, but the next day I got to be a ZOMBIE in George Romero's new film !!
George moved to Toronto when he was filming Land of the Dead here and is now a permanent resident of Canada, as soon as I heard this years ago I knew it was fate and that I'd one day meet him somehow. Not just at a convention or something though, NO.
The man came into my parent's Thai restaurant Mengrai late one Friday night and I got to personally serve him!
It was around 10pm and I was just getting ready to finish my shift when I noticed him sitting at table 8. He didn't have his glasses on so I wasn't sure it was him til I saw the thick black framed ones he's famous for wearing resting on the table. My dad came over and introduced me to him and I went on about how big a fan I was and how I've written essays about his films for university and I got to chat with him for awhile. He was there with his partner Suzanne and one of his producers Peter that's worked on a lot of his films. They told me that they were starting production on George's new zombie film in a week and that I should come check out one of the shoots sometime. I told them if they ever needed any extra zombies...well you know. George said it'd be hard because all the zombies they used are unionized members of Actra, but that there was 2 days when they could use non-unionized extras in this one scene so that they would let me know when they'd need me. George gave me his EMAIL and told me to stay in touch! It was so awesome though cuz I just HAPPENED to be wearing my Dawn of the Dead BELT that day to work and I brought it out right before he left and he freaked out! He couldn't believe it actually existed and was wondering "who the hell makes this stuff!?" then he signed it "Stay Scared - George Romero" hahahaha so awesome.
But ya! George has been into my restaurant 4 times since! He's a regular now, he even asks if I'm working when he books reservations now! Last week his partner Suzanne emailed me to see if I was still interested and of course I was so that I should be ready to shoot on the friday. The accident happened to me on Thursday, and the first thing after I got hit by the car was me worrying that I wouldn't be able to do the shoot. I was in a lot of pain after and could barely move but there was no way I was going to miss out on this opportunity. I went to George's condo and Suzanne picked me up along with this other cool dude Olly Blackburn who just had an amazing film premiere at the Toronto After Dark Festival called Donkey Punch. We drove out to Lancaster, Ontario where the shoot was taking place. Was a very rural community, kind of country-sidish as the movie apparently takes place either in Kentucky, or on some island farming community I'm not quite sure. Apparently the film has a strong Western vibe and it focuses on these 2 rival Irish clans. It's supposed to take place roughly 3 weeks after Diary of the Dead if you're wondering about the timeline and how it works into the other films. The working title right now is just "? of the Dead" as they still haven't figured out a name. There's been rumours calling it "Island of the Dead" and George has been kidding around that he wants to call it "Enough of the Dead" but they're still trying to figure it out.
There weren't any cameras allowed on set so I couldn't take any pics! Olly managed to grab quite a few so I'm hoping he'll email them to me soon.
*edit: someone just emailed me some pics! This is me waiting in the extras tent just off set nursing my broken collar bone lol
Life certainly is strange though. One day you get hit by a car, the next you're a zombie in your childhood hero's new film. Go figure...
George moved to Toronto when he was filming Land of the Dead here and is now a permanent resident of Canada, as soon as I heard this years ago I knew it was fate and that I'd one day meet him somehow. Not just at a convention or something though, NO.
The man came into my parent's Thai restaurant Mengrai late one Friday night and I got to personally serve him!
It was around 10pm and I was just getting ready to finish my shift when I noticed him sitting at table 8. He didn't have his glasses on so I wasn't sure it was him til I saw the thick black framed ones he's famous for wearing resting on the table. My dad came over and introduced me to him and I went on about how big a fan I was and how I've written essays about his films for university and I got to chat with him for awhile. He was there with his partner Suzanne and one of his producers Peter that's worked on a lot of his films. They told me that they were starting production on George's new zombie film in a week and that I should come check out one of the shoots sometime. I told them if they ever needed any extra zombies...well you know. George said it'd be hard because all the zombies they used are unionized members of Actra, but that there was 2 days when they could use non-unionized extras in this one scene so that they would let me know when they'd need me. George gave me his EMAIL and told me to stay in touch! It was so awesome though cuz I just HAPPENED to be wearing my Dawn of the Dead BELT that day to work and I brought it out right before he left and he freaked out! He couldn't believe it actually existed and was wondering "who the hell makes this stuff!?" then he signed it "Stay Scared - George Romero" hahahaha so awesome.
But ya! George has been into my restaurant 4 times since! He's a regular now, he even asks if I'm working when he books reservations now! Last week his partner Suzanne emailed me to see if I was still interested and of course I was so that I should be ready to shoot on the friday. The accident happened to me on Thursday, and the first thing after I got hit by the car was me worrying that I wouldn't be able to do the shoot. I was in a lot of pain after and could barely move but there was no way I was going to miss out on this opportunity. I went to George's condo and Suzanne picked me up along with this other cool dude Olly Blackburn who just had an amazing film premiere at the Toronto After Dark Festival called Donkey Punch. We drove out to Lancaster, Ontario where the shoot was taking place. Was a very rural community, kind of country-sidish as the movie apparently takes place either in Kentucky, or on some island farming community I'm not quite sure. Apparently the film has a strong Western vibe and it focuses on these 2 rival Irish clans. It's supposed to take place roughly 3 weeks after Diary of the Dead if you're wondering about the timeline and how it works into the other films. The working title right now is just "? of the Dead" as they still haven't figured out a name. There's been rumours calling it "Island of the Dead" and George has been kidding around that he wants to call it "Enough of the Dead" but they're still trying to figure it out.
There weren't any cameras allowed on set so I couldn't take any pics! Olly managed to grab quite a few so I'm hoping he'll email them to me soon.
*edit: someone just emailed me some pics! This is me waiting in the extras tent just off set nursing my broken collar bone lol
Life certainly is strange though. One day you get hit by a car, the next you're a zombie in your childhood hero's new film. Go figure...