Getting Paid to Heckle Tom Cruise
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Stanley Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut.” Here’s a little-known fact: I’m in it.
In 1997, fresh out of university, I headed off to England with two friends, anticipating a summer of pub jobs and music festivals. Soon after arriving, I learned that Kubrick was filming his much-hyped film at Pinewood Studios on the outskirts of London.
Having studied film, the news that they were casting college-aged American males for a scene piqued my interest. So, armed with an amateur headshot and a youthful swagger, I headed to Pinewood for an open audition.
In a room buzzing with nervous energy, I sauntered up to the camera. “Hi, I’m Dan. I’m from Canada. And I like long walks on the beach.” The room burst into laughter, and I left, hoping Stanley would find it equally amusing.
A couple of weeks later, the casting agency called. “Congrats, Dan. You’re going to be in a Stanley Kubrick film!”
I was cast as one of the six “Rowdy College Kids” who harass Tom Cruise’s character while he’s walking through the West Village. (Stanley was scared to fly, so instead of shooting in New York City, they built massive sets at Pinewood.)
The actual shoot dates kept getting pushed. I delayed my scheduled travel home twice, refusing to relinquish the opportunity. Finally, two months or so later, the six of us were called back to Pinewood to begin shooting.
We met Tom and Nicole right away. They asked us where we were from, what restaurants we liked in London, and more. Given how long they’d been in production, they seemed happy to have new blood on set to hang out with. (The film notoriously took 400 days to shoot.)
We rehearsed our scene several times with Leon Vitali, Stanley’s right-hand man, overseeing the action. Once Leon felt the blocking was in place, Mr. Kubrick was finally called to set.
In the scene, we’re a bunch of drunken college kids screaming at Tom’s character, primarily yelling homophobic taunts. (I won’t share my lines here, but I’m proud/embarrassed to admit I improvised my language.)
After a couple more rehearsals with Stanley’s presence, the cameras finally rolled. It took two full nights of shooting, and probably 20+ takes, to capture the action. The crew was shocked when Stanley felt he had enough coverage and gave the green light to move on.
A few days later, I flew home to Canada. Then came an excruciating two-year wait. I wanted to tell people about my experience but felt near-certain our scene would end up on the cutting room floor.
Stanley finished the film, edited it, and died soon after. When it was released theatrically on July 16, 1999, I was living in Atlanta. I anxiously reached out to a couple of friends. “Hey, let’s go see the new Kubrick film. I may or may not be in it.”
Fortunately, our scene made the cut. We even got our names in the credits. So what did I learn from the experience? When in doubt, tell people you like long walks on the beach. 🏖🚶♂️
