The Rex Blog

…and Starlight do some tearful scenes.

I miss my new friends.

And my tummy hurts.

:^(

Matthew Jure 18/07/08

The eyes most definitely have it…

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…that period between Boxing Day and New Year when everything sinks into a lull (except that for us, of course, it was Wrestling Day not Boxing Day. Hahahahahahahahaha! Sorry).

We shoot some subdued transition scenes.

Tim’s gone, Nancy’s gone (as have Sarah and Mike, who played Nick’s ex [Sharon] and the local vicar in a steamy church scene shot between Tim and Nancy’s stuff over the last couple of days)…and the set just doesn’t feel the same anymore.

(Sniffle.)

I’ll get over it - just give me time…

Matthew Jure 17/07/08

Nick gets religion; Rex gets a sore arse…

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…and a sweaty Detroit loft. What more could one hope for?

I watch Tim and Hayes wrestle like maniacs in the morning, then limber up for my spell in the ring after lunch:

“In the red shorts, Tim ‘Big Kahuna’ Brennen; in the blue leotard, Hayes ‘Doughboy’ Hargrove and in the black leotard and frilly silver neck thing…and, er…make-up…Matthew ‘Long-Haired Rock’n'Roll Loser’ Jure!”

And the crowd go wild. (Yeah, right.)

We throw ourselves around the wrestling ring (thank you, Mr Ostrander), while pyrotechnics fire off and the dolly crew whizz past us…

…have I mentioned that I like this job?

After we wrap, Tim enthuses about my teenage heroes The Cult and he, Hayes and I sit and jam songs from their ‘Love’ and ‘Electric’ albums before dinner.

Have I mentioned that I like this job?

Matthew Jure 16/07/08

Steve’s not quite as thrilled as Hayes…

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…is a hit again.

I have very little to do today, so I watch Mom and Dad complete their Bickerthon, then - after my shots - spend the afternoon sending and replying to emails that have piled up over the last couple of weeks. (At one point, I look around and see that nearly everyone else is tapping away on a Mac. Hayes points out that Apple should ditch any sophisticated advertising campaigns and just cut to the chase: “Face it. If you don’t have a Mac, you’re an asshole.”)

As the sun starts to go down, Joey ‘The Fruit’ Ostrander informs me that he and some of the other crew are going up on the roof to test the pyrotechnics for tomorrow’s shoot…

…up we go and let off fireworks and arse around.

Ah, the movie life for me.

Matthew Jure 15/07/08

An explosive performance from ‘Moves’ Mooney…

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…be afraid, be VERY afraid.

Tim and Nancy are in town to play Nick’s mum and dad. And, boy, are the Luteas a dysfunctional family.

Picture the scene:

It’s Christmas morning and young Nicholas is in the back of the car, all dressed up to go to his auntie’s house. Good ol’ unreconstructed Dad sits stony silent in the driver’s seat, his ever-present pipe clamped between his manly jaws.

Mum gets in the passenger door - ‘Cue: extended niggly bickering’…

…Merry Christmas everyone!

Tim, Nancy and Hayes have all done a lot of imrovisational comedy and, while Nick sits sullen in the back, the cast and crew watch Mom and Dad give a blackly comical masterclass in the art. I notice half of us with hands over our mouths in an attempt to stifle sniggers that would ruin the sound recording. At the very end of the final take, Tim throws out a line that makes me yelp with laughter in a most embarrassing fashion.

Fantastic stuff - can’t wait to see it in the final cut…

Rex gets into the car at one point, and we have Gondry-esque fun shooting the scene as cameras, actors, props and prop assistants all move in perfect (ish) harmony.

Throughout the shoot, Joey (Ostrander) has done a fantastic job of designing and putting together the set, but today he’s surpassed himself. Joey’s a big, gangly, pensive-looking guy who’s hardly ever seen without a cap on. He’s quick to smile, and even quicker to confound the rest of us with laconically leftfield remarks.

Take, for example, the time I pass Joey stretched out, half asleep, on the stage. I hear someone say something like “Hey, Joey, you look dead, man.” The reply comes, “Yeah…well…with my luck, my corpse’ll prolly smell of fruit.” I stop mid-step and turn. Politely, I enquire, “Your corpse’ll what, Joe?”. He opens an eye, “Smell of fruit.”

I consider this.

‘Why?”, I ask.

“Because I hate fruit.”

I try a different tack. “Oh. Why do you hate fruit?”

“Dunno. Always have. And, knowing my luck, when I die my corpse’ll prolly smell of it.”

Deciding not to worry about the fructo-anatomical specifics of the dreaded odour, I try another approach.

“Oh…okay…but why would it be bad luck?”

Joey opens his other eye, “I hate fruit, so it’d be embarrassing, wouldn’t it?”

For a moment, I am slack-jawed.

“But…Joe…you’ll be dead! You won’t feel embarrassed!”

Joey groans as he pulls himself wearily to his feet and stretches to his full height (of about 8 foot 3). He looks at me, smiles and says:

“No…not if I don’t smell of fruit I won’t.” He wanders off, adjusting his cap.

Joey and a gang of helpers were seen yesterday hacking away at Christmas trees, and when we arrived on set this morning we walked into a winter wonderland: a winding tree-lined path, snow (weird rubbery flakey stuff, but very realistic), coloured lights, reindeer, Santas, piles of presents…

Loved it.

And it gets better - tomorrow, the pyrotechnics arrive…

Matthew Jure 14/07/08

Rex Redding as ‘Tired Actor #2′…

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…really did not feel well today.

The prime suspect was a suspect mushroom. Several, in fact.

In a laudable attempt to use up the contents of his fridge, young Master Hargrove had made himself a stir-fry (or some pasta [I forget which]), and chucked everything in - even his ageing fungi (sounds like an elderly redcoat).

BIG mistake. HUGE.

When Hayes called me at about 9am to say he was ill and not up to shooting, I went to his apartment. His previous feature film (for Victor Fanucchi, with whom Hayes’ll soon be shooting another one, ‘Art House’, with Iggy Pop) was called ‘Beyond The Pale’…and that’s just how he looked when I peered into his bedroom. Beyond pale, beyond tired, beyond belief, really - the man was not what you’d call ‘a picture of health’. And this is the guy who’s usually the life and soul…

A phonecall later, Steve had agreed that we could start at midday to give the invalid some time to sleep off his lurgy. It turns out poor old Hayes had been up most of the night vomiting - the relentless kind that makes your whole torso ache long after your stomach’s been emptied.

Lovely. 

Add to this the fact that I’d gone to sleep ridiculously late (again), having sat in front of my glowing laptop for hours longer than I should’ve, and then woken up far too early for no good reason…and you’ve got two very tired actors on your hands, Mr Kopera.

Hayes dealt with it very well, considering, with plenty of TLC from hair and make-up, and understanding from the rest of the cast and crew. He did keep thinking he was going to hurl, though. ( He didn’t, in the end.)

I was pretty on top of things…except when I saw the picture of a happy little girl on the cover of one of Nick’s childhood books (today’s shoot was a flashback scene in Nick’s bedroom). I don’t know what it was: nostalgia for the days when my sister, Lizzie, and I still lived in the same house (we don’t even live on the same continent now - I’m in London, she’s in Texas [Lizzie and her husband work for the same U.S. bank, and moved from the UK about a year ago]); guilt because I don’t see or speak to her nearly often enough, and haven’t done for years (a failing I’ve recently vowed to do something about - starting with a trip to Fort Worth later this year)…or just a general sense of sadness for lost innocence, for my childhood that now feels like the dim, distant past.

Whatever it was, I had to leave the set for a few minutes, go downstairs, get some air and pull myself together.

When I come back up, Hayes is grinning queasily. He twinkles at me and says, “Did you need to ‘take a moment’ there, buddy? Did you? Hmm? Would you like me to call you an ambulance?”.

Something tells me I’m never going to live this down.

Matthew Jure 13/07/08

Look out tomorrow - Dad’ll be in the house…

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…for lunch and several Guinnesses with Hayes.

Today, you see, is a day off for the whole cast and crew.

Fed - and decidedly drunk - we head back from the Hockey Town bar and grill and run through our lines for tomorrow.

Sort of.

Hayes then informs me that he needs a siesta. I leave him in peace and head down to my apartment…where I, too, crash out.

Talk about the glamorous movie-star life.

Matthew Jure 12/07/08

‘Rain Bird’ flies through Hayes’ sleeping brain…

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…or, rather, don’t.

Today’s my favourite shoot so far: Rex really opens up to Nick, taking off his stage wig during their conversation, and it’s at this point in the story that the glam rocker starts to become the vulnerable man…

…you can hear a pin drop when Steve says “Cut…” and, as we get ready to go home for the night, Hayes and I are both quietly assured by various people that it was a great scene.

I love this job.

Matthew Jure 11/07/08

The sun sets on Rex…

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…arrives in my inbox.

I landed a double role in this play just before coming out to Detroit. Ian (Attfield), a friend from previous film collaborations, had put in a good word for me with the writer-director, Simon (Mawdsley) - I auditioned and was cast as a dim-witted prisoner and chief prison guard in this edgy comedy about four inmates who join an art class for beginners. Rehearsals start in August and the play runs throughout September at the Old Red Lion Theatre in London.

And now I’ve got the full script. :^) 

Today’s a complete day off for me, so I familiarise myself with the story.

There’s an odd musical coincidence going on with ‘Starlight’ and ‘Painting by Numbers’: I first met Ian when he starred in a music video for my song ‘Rainy Daydream’, directed by a mutual friend (we were at school together), Carlo (Ortu). The opening line of ‘Rainy Daydream’ is “Say goodbye and dry your eyes…” but, because I forgot to label the CD I gave to Carlo, he and Ian always refer to it as ‘Say Goodbye’…

…my favourite ‘Starlight’ song.

Spooky.

Oh, and while we’re on the subject of coincidences, I was only available to shoot this film because - a couple of days before being offered the Rex role - I’d turned down an Edinburgh fringe play, ‘A Dog Called Redemption’. I remember thinking how strange it was that a dead dog featured in the play…

…but I’d turned down the part only to end up being in a film featuring another inanimate canine!

Dead weird.

Matthew Jure 10/07/08

“Yes…you like that, don’t you, boy?”

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…gets a day off.

I spend most of the morning asleep and most of the afternoon practising the songs for the film:

‘Welcome To Dust’ opens with the line “Rest, my son, rest until the light of day…”. Oh, yes. Pomp rock. The reference Steve gave me for this one was ‘A bit like Tommy, you know?’. I try it numerous times, singing along to a backing CD on my laptop, just trying to get the words right at first. Then, once they’re in my head, I belt out the song a few more times so I can get a feel for how I’ll need to deliver it on the day we shoot the band stuff…

‘Make Me Feel’ is kind of weird. It starts off quite subdued, with a plodding bass and half-spoken lyrics (my favourite line: “In this life, baby, I’m a knife that can kill…”. Ouch.). The words are almost Pixies-esque in their quirkiness, but the bridge is more like a Cult song from ‘Electric’…YAYUH! And the chorus? Freddie Mercury must be turning in his purple velvet grave.

I play with the low notes in the verse, the rasp in the bridge and the falsetto in the chorus for what must have been more than half an hour until I eventually feel I could perform the song on demand if Steve so wished…

‘Contain It’ rocks. It just does. Ramones-style: “I want it all (yes, I know the words are more Queen than Ramones, but never mind that) and I can’t contain it/Always on my mind but I can’t explain it…”. Genius. I sing this one a few times at full volume and at the very top of my range (yikes!), thoroughly enjoying myself.

‘Say Goodbye’ is an acoustic ballad. I really like the lyrics, but something’s bothering me. I suddenly realise what it is - there’s too many of ‘em. The words are very simple, very elegant, but they repeat one too many times for my liking. I axe the last verse, experiment with a different tuning (top E down to D) and come up with a descending sequence of half-open chords as an intro to compensate for the lost verse. It sounds good to me, so I keep it.

Then, after the big double chorus at the end, I repeat this new chord sequence (staying on each chord twice as long as in the intro), but strum it instead of finger-picking. Maybe it’s all the Coldplay (don’t start) and Radiohead I’ve been listening to, but I instantly come up with a falsetto melody to accompany it. I hope Steve likes what I’ve done to his baby…

I make myself some dinner, then get ready to be picked up by silent-movie Nikki at 9pm. 

On set, I get into my silver lizardskin shoes, sparkly trousers, glam blouse, jewellery, make-up and yellow wig. The camera rolls and I light a cigarette. The shot is: ‘Rex sits and works out the opening chords to ‘Make Me Feel’ - so…I sit and work out the opening chords to ‘Make Me Feel’ for three or four takes, then Steve calls “Cut!” and I’m wrapped for the night.

This really has got to be the best job ever.

Matthew Jure 09/07/08

Oh, those halcyon jam sessions (sigh)…

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