The latest Hollywood Milieu:


Good Morning Long Beach Hollywood Milieu Š2006 By Denny Dormody
I say good morning. Robin Williams says good morning. It’s 6:00 a.m. It’s early. It’s movie set early. This is License to Wed, a comedy heading for your multi-plex in early June 2007. I’m an actor. Actually I’m a movie extra. What’s in a name?
Today I have no name. I’m a background extra playing an upscale churchgoer. We are on location, about an hour south of Hollywood in Long Beach.
This is the First Congregational Church a few minutes drive from the Queen Mary, now anchored off Long Beach. An Interior. Lights are still being lit. Camera angles are still being set. We are dressed in our Sunday best. The Church choir is scat-singing a rehearsal refrain. I’m sitting quietly amidst the mayhem. In my mind, my cell phone rings. Good news. Our comedy screenplay has finally sold.
Our agent does a deal. A Writer’s Guild Best-Screenplay nomination. The Academy Awards. The Cayman Islands. Some bikini babes are cavorting along the beach. I smile from my beach chair. I think it’s called Volleyball. I’m pecking out another Oscar-worthy movie script on my laptop. I’m sipping an icy cold Corona. Well, maybe someday soon.
Meanwhile, I’m paying the rent working as a background extra, as I ride the Hollywood glacier waiting for the suits to buy one of our comedy screenplays. Today, on this set, I can sense something in the air. Some type of creative tension. This is day one of forty days of filming, so you can expect the cast and crew will need a couple of days to get to know each other. Today there is tension.
Maybe it’s stage fright. Maybe it’s because waiting in the wings is one of America’s greatest artists. Waiting in the wings is Robin Williams.
Lights are now lit. Sets are now set. Robin arrives. He is dressed as a priest. Robin positions himself at the pulpit. Robin is off and running. At light speed. A few jokes. A few voices. He makes an official-sounding announcement in a mock helium-voice. His comic delivery is relentless. We are in stitches. You couldn’t buy this entertainment. When the camera rolls, he instantly switches into his License to Wed Father Frank character. He knows his lines. He knows his character. Cut. Reset. Robin’s improvisations are kind, playful, funny. We are awestruck.
Robin Williams’s staggering acting resume includes: Mork, Comedy Channel Improv Benefits, Good Morning Vietnam, The Fisher King, Popeye, Patch Adams, Moscow on the Hudson, The World According to Garp, Mrs. Doubtfire, The Birdcage, One Hour Photo and that Academy Award for Good Will Hunting.
Two mornings later. We’re still in Long Beach. An exterior. We’re in front of the First Congregational Church. Father Frank is greeting parishioners as we leave the church. Cut. Reset. We do camera coverage from different angles. A small group of on-lookers gathers on the opposite sidewalk. The Long Beach police start and stop traffic as we roll camera.
Standing next to Father Frank, a young cherubic choirboy is handing out leaflets. Nobody’s interested in his leaflets. We move to a close up of the young lad. The second assistant director singles me out and I’m told that as I leave the church, to pat the kid’s head in a condescending manner. I pat his head. Take one. Take six.
It’s a wrap. This has been Acting 580; a postgraduate course in improvisation and comic timing. The guest professor, Robin Williams. I’ve learned a lot. Now it’s time to head home. Home to refresh my current comedy screenplay. Home to my Hollywood hopes.
As we drive out of the parking lot, I look over at my cell phone. Maybe on the way back to Los Angeles my cell phone will ring with some good news. Hey, you know, this Volleyball game is heating up. Hey, do me a favor. Pass me another icy cold Corona.

Denny Dormody is the author of Riding the Hollywood Glacier (Samuel French Bookshops; Sunset Blvd. and Studio City; Los Angeles; Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com.)