Senior Erik Anderson has probably skipped more class than even the laziest of students this semester. How much? The entire month of February.
After a chance encounter in a bar, Anderson had the opportunity to work as an extra on writer-director John Sayles’ forthcoming Baryo, a fictional drama about the Philippine-American War starring Chris Cooper. Charlie McSpadden spoke to the aspiring filmmaker about his on-set experience in the Pacific, which he tracked in a blog.
How did you get involved with the project?
I went out with the waitstaff of a restaurant back home [in Jackson, N.H.]. We were at a bar with this guy [NYPD Blue actor] Gordon Clapp, and someone dared me to go talk to him and I did. We started talking and we were from the same town in New Hampshire. I mentioned that I was studying film at Duke and I sent him the movie I made last semester. He talked to his director friend John Sayles and then I got an email saying, “Do you want to go to the Philippines?” I had to decide in the next two days, so I e-mailed all my professors and asked if I could take February off.
And how did your teachers react?
They were really cool about it.
What is the movie about and how did your character factor into it?
It’s about the American occupation of the Philippines in 1910. Basically, Americans were going through and occupying villages, setting up garrison to find [Filipino General Emilio] Aguinaldo. I play one of Chris Cooper’s soldiers that storm this one village, which is where the title comes from, Baryo. Cooper plays a really hard-ass colonel based on this terrible guy, “Hell-Roaring” Jacob Smith, who killed a lot of Filipinos. My character does his dirty work. Initially, I was just an extra, but I worked my way up to a drummer, and I play the drums right before the climax of the movie.
What was it like to work with Chris Cooper?
It was really an honor to be working with Chris. I’ve been a fan of his since Adaptation, and I am grateful to be able to work with an actor of his caliber on my first movie. I was most impressed by his concentration and humility. In 10 takes, his horse would stop in front of the same tree on the same word, and he could pull it off while changing his performance. That makes things easier for everyone. Also, I think he was the only person besides John [Sayles, the director] that I never heard complain. He exemplified [actor] Billy Tangradi’s advice that if you want to have a long career in the movie business, you have to treat people well.
What sort of preparation did you have to do for the role?
Even for us extras, who weren’t primary characters, John gave us all backstories on specific soldiers, as he had read dozens and dozens of soldiers’ diaries. During marching scenes, John would show us how we would halt, carry and sling our rifles. He had amazing attention to detail.
What was it like living in the Phillipines?
The Phillipines is the best place I’ve ever been to. I can’t say enough about the people there. We stayed at a resort, and we would get messages from the staff saying, “We hope you have a good day of shooting.”
How else did you interact with the locals and were they on the set?
The director was American, but most of the production team—wardrobe, props and the crew—were all Filipino. They all spoke English very well. And even though we were extras, they treated us as if we were the main cast. I didn’t expect that at all after watching shows like Entourage.
How do you think the people of the Phillipines will react to the general tone of the movie?
I actually interviewed some of them for the DVD’s “behind the scenes.” They all were really proud to be part of a movie that pretty honestly showed what the Americans did in the Phillipines. They were happy that an American director was making this movie for both an American and Filipino audience.
What did you gain from this experience?
I went into it because I wanted to know more about what it’s like to be on a film set before deciding to move into the film business. I learned a lot from interviewing [the cast and crew].
Most of what I got out of it was advice on the right kind of attitude to have.
I would compare it to any unpaid summer internship. Concretely I can’t say I have a job lined up, but I have a lot of contacts and people that can help me once I get to either New York or Los Angeles or wherever, and a feature film will look good on my resume. I have a more objective concept for what independent filmmaking is, how to get into it, what kind of personalities fit in what jobs. And let’s not forget the four or five seconds of screentime.
How does it feel to be back at Duke?
I’m always happy to be back at Duke, especially for spring semester in senior year, but I definitely miss that lifestyle. As much as it sucked to get up at 4 a.m., it was amazing to get out of bed, knowing that you were going to be on a film set, about to make something that was going to be seen by millions of people, and that you were going to interact with people at the top of their field.
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