Heroine? Yes, please.

I've made it a habit to check Craigslist every once-in-a-while for random jobs that might be available (even though most are big scams). Last night I was enjoying this process and ran across an add saying "need a thin, 18-24 year old guy for feature film." They should have just said "Robby Stone... we need you." I sent my headshot to the email address provided and ended up hearing back from the director and booking the part! Don't get too excited. It didn't pay anything, but I was just excited about the experience. Plus, I had no idea what the part would be. I'd soon have that question answered. Hilarious.

Before I committed to the part, I wanted to get a few details. The film is called "Bones," and it stars Jimmy Bennett as the title character (IMDB him. He's done quite a bit for a 13 year old). I read over the script, and while I like the story line there is definitely a lot of language in it. Thank goodness I didn't have any cursing or even lines that you'll actually hear (there will be a voice over). I will be playing Bones' father in a flashback scene in the film. Bones' father is a heroine addict who dies before Bones is even born. Yes. The flashback scene was that fateful night when Bones' dad was killed! I got to die in a movie! Not sure if it's a good thing that I'm so excited about that.

Lets start with my costume for the scene. I have on light blue short 70s shorts and one tube sock with blue and red stripes around the top on my right foot... and thats it. Got that mental picture? Pretty incredible.

Now lets move on to makeup. Remember, I'm a heroine addict, so makeup litters my arms with needle track marks, abscessed needle wounds, and bulging blue veins while I'm given dark circles under my eyes, sweat, a huge fever blister in the corner of my mouth and sick brown crap in my teeth.

Now put the costume and the makeup together in your mind. If only I had a picture...

We filmed the scene at this disgusting motel room in North Hills, CA called the Good Knight Inn (Yeah. There was a castle theme to the motel that was very well executed... or not). I won't go into all the details of the scene here, but I will tell you that I am choked to death with my tube sock that I'm not wearing on my left foot for some reason. Pretty awesome. Oh! And during the first take that we did I was actually choking and almost passed out. When they stopped filming I stood up and everything was blurry and I was really shakey! Not too fun.

To tell you the truth, I was terrified of actually having to act. Super excited, but terrified. It was my first time to do any real acting, and I'll just say right now that I need a lot more practice before I'll feel confident doing it! Hopefully I didn't make a complete fool of myself, though. The crew said I did a good job, so I'll just trust them. I'm not sure I could have gotten much further from my true life than this character, but thats what acting is all about, right?

And if you don't think it's right that I played a heroine junkie then I'll just say that I feel fine portraying a character like that. It's a completely honest depiction of how some people live, and the life of an addict is not promoted or glamorized in the film at all. It shows the depravity and hurt that drug abuse can cause, and I hope I did a good job displaying that. Just thought I'd clear that up now.

I guess I can actually say I'm an actor now,
Robby