The End of the LOST Saga

Need to catch up? Read about my Jealousy LOST, Final Casting Call, Getting LOST,
and On the Set of LOST.

I rounded the set in my orange abaya, and plunked down in my chair. I started to read my book, knowing we would break for lunch soon, and the chances of me being in another scene before lunch were slim to none. So I thought! A production assistant rounded the corner of the Iraqi tavern and announced that any extras not used in the last scene would be in the next scene. I jumped up, and was snatched up for a on set with another man. As Ben (Michael Emerson) ran out of the tavern after forgetting to pay his bill, he skirted his way around me and the man who walked with me. We did the take three times. A wrap was called, and it was time for lunch. This first meant a trip to my car to pump.

I rolled my shirt up in my car window that I had worn earlier, and threw the long skirt I had worn to the set up on the dashboard all bunched up. I dialed Hubby and spoke to him in the meantime. Son2 actually took milk from a bottle with a cracked fast flow nipple. It didn't work well, but it worked. That was a huge relief that I had not left a dehydrated baby!

I made my way to the lunch lines. There were two lunch lines. One side was for the extras, and the other was for the cast and crew. The food was the same on both sides, though. There was also a lunch wagon that made some food to order that was only available to the cast and crew. I don't think anyone used the lunch wagon, though. I met the caterer. His little boy was an extra that day, too. He used to own a restaurant in town, but he closed his business and does all of the catering for LOST and for any films shot in Hawaii. Throughout the day he had runners bring trays of sandwiches on set, trays of water bottles and drinks, and boxes of ice cream. He also had snack tents set up just off the set. WOW it is a really long day for his company. When I arrived at 5:30am breakfast had already been served. The best thing at lunch was the guava cake. Mmm. I love living in Hawaii! After awhile a production assistant popped by and gave us a ten minute warning to get back to the set. Lunch was over. The only other cast member I saw was Jin. He (Daniel Dae Kim) was not filming that day, but he did stop by to have lunch.

Now here is where it gets exciting for me! I really think the reason I got picked for the last scene before lunch was my orange abaya. It worked well for me all afternoon. After lunch we filmed a scene at the open bazaar in the Iraqi market. Ben and this bad guy that Ben is after were running through our bazaar. Thanks again to my orange abaya I was picked to do the cooking in the Iraqi market. Ben and the bad guy bump into me in this scene, if I don't end up on the cutting room floor. I was cooking chicken and steak kabobs and throwing seasoning salt and pepper all over the already cooked kabobs. The lady with the pan next to me was pretending to cook dry ice. I can't remember how many times this scene took, but it must have been at least 24 times. I remember the assistant director saying we were almost out of letters when this take began with an X. They took this scene with camera men running through the bazaar behind the actors, in front of the actors, and then rolling in a truck in front of the bazaar. When the final wrap was called, we sat on the steps of the tavern. A meeting was called for everyone on set, including cast, crew, and extras. Quickly the extras were divided into two groups. One of the assistant directors gave a long speech about how wonderful the day had been, thanked the extras, and all of the cast and crew began to clap. He said the day had been a success because of our help, said some other mushy gushy things, and then dismissed an entire group of extras. I was not dismissed. Neither was the other extra in orange. I am sure it had to do with my orange abaya!

We went on to film a little more of the bazaar. This time Ben was making his way through the end of the market, and we were filming from a different entrance. Ben was about to make his escape into a back alley. An assistant director chose me to try and block Ben on his exit. Then, there was some discussion about how Ben's exit should go, and instead, they decided he should go behind me while I was serving coffee beans. The discussion went on, back and forth. I took one look at Ben and he started to smile, and I started to crack up. He said, "This sure is crazy isn't it?" I asked him what he meant. "This sure is a crazy way for me to make a living. Me, running out of a market and running over people, over and over." We both chuckled. I was standing with my back to the camera crew and I didn't catch the final decision on what I was supposed to be doing. I asked Ben one last time if I was supposed to block him. What was the final decision? He told me to just scoot forward so he wouldn't pummel me when he ran past me. And the next thing you know, he was off! We did the take a few more times, and Ben went under an arch. I stood in the gateway of the arch and watched the rest of the filming. Over and over I saw the same scene take place where Ben was held at gun point by the bad man. It was odd to see Michael Emerson go in and out of character so much in between takes. That is by far the most popular question I am asked. Is Ben really that creepy in real life? NO! But it was oddly familiar to watch him turn into his Ben character. He was actually very nice in real life, but the creepy Ben you would expect while in character.

After that take, another meeting with extras was called. They dismissed another half of extras, but I wasn't one of them. Again, I credit this to the orange abaya. There were only a handful of us left, and we were directed to sit on the steps. Two of the costume folks emerged on the lot. One had a blood stained jacket, and some clothes for Ben. The other costume person sat on the steps next to me. Sayid showed up about this point, too. While we were waiting she and I got to talking. Everyone on LOST was really nice, but she really felt that was the culture of the show, though she had worked on a lot of nice sets recently. She said that when they film five days a week, the days are long every day. She gets up every morning around 3am and works until 6 or 7pm. Whew! Our conversation came to an end when a production assistant came around with ear plugs. We were about to hear gunshots and she wanted us to protect our ears. I heard gun shots come from the alley several times as *someone* was killed. Then the next thing you know we watched Sayid emerge from behind the arch with someone teaching to fire the gun over and over. All of the gunfire was finally over, and we had one more take in the bazaar. I was walking with another guy in the market place. Once that footage was taken, we sat on the steps. It was 4:30 and I knew I had at least an hour of driving from town back home, in traffic.

Call me sappy or silly, but I really started to miss my husband and kids. I had gone to bed late the night before, and had about 4 hours of sleep. I hadn't seen the kids since the day before. One of the program assistants thought we might have two more hours of filming left. I usually don't miss my kids when I leave them with a a babysitter or with Hubby when I have plans, but I missed them today! I called Hubby and told him I was ready to just leave early, and tell them if they needed to cut someone I was ready to go. Hubby did not like that idea. He said that was going back on my commitment. He told me not to worry about the kids, and that they were fine. I went back to sitting on the steps when our little group was called to the back alley of the set. The production assistant started to give us direction, when the director gave the word that we would not be needed for the rest of the day. We walked off the set close to 6pm, and they were still filming. What a longER day for all of the cast and crew on LOST than for me! After handing back all of my clothes I was given my time card. It was kind of funny to laugh and point with the other extras at how different we looked in our street clothes and hair than we had in abayas and hijabs.

My clock read 6:10pm when I drove off the lot. As I drove home I thought about how much I had enjoyed my day on the set of my favorite show. It will air on 4/24, I think. I imagine most everything I did will be cut. Just in case, though, look for me in orange. I will DVR LOST and have a debut get together with folks from my Bible study. We filmed episode 9 of the season that day. I had lots of stories to tell Hubby. When I walked through my door around 7pm at night, and saw my kids for the first time all day, I was greeted with some loud shouts of "Mommy!!" and other happy screams. I hugged Hubby and thanked him for taking the kids all day, and taking a day off work. While I had a fun and memorable day, I was so glad to be getting home to my real job.