Filming The West Wing

Did you know that when you see Marines guarding the President on The West Wing that they are real Marines and not actors?

Had a long day on the set of The West Wing Sunday where I played the role of Senator Wirth in the inauguration of the new president, which I think will be in the final episode of the series. The production company has been here in D.C. this weekend doing on location shooting for the final four episodes, so there's no telling how long they will drag out the inaugural events.

My scene today was pretty simple. I'm in a small group of dignitaries waiting outside the east Capitol plaza for the presidential motorcade carrying President Bartlett and the new president-elect. When they arrive, we have a little scene on the steps, the President shakes my hand, and then I lead him off to another area while the president-elect goes up the steps into the Capitol. Nothing terribly exciting or difficult.

It took two dozen takes to do this scene, though.

The first six takes were showing the presidential motorcade pulling in and stopping. Then, the cameras switched to the other end of the set and we did six more takes filming the motorcade from the opposite direction. This is more complicated than it sounds because the vehicles had to be driven fast, evenly spaced, and then stop in precise locations, plus traffic had to be stopped on Constitution Avenue and pedestrian traffic restricted. Then we did six takes of our "action" scene with the President and President-Elect as they emerged from the limousine, then the cameras flip-flopped and we did six more takes of that business from the other direction.

I would have liked to have gotten some pictures of me with Martin Sheen, but we aren't allowed to take pictures on the set or to ask the principal actors for pictures. So, you'll have to make do with this picture I took in our very dark canteen and holding area of Martin eating lunch with some visiting entourage with the lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania. This is a greatly lightened enlargement of an already blurry photo, but you can see Martin sitting in the middle of the frame.



Martin is, I think, one of the friendliest "name stars" I've ever met. When he came on to the set after the scenes were blocked and rehearsed, he went around and introduced himself and shook hands with all of the local cast. He has this wonderful charisma about him and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he were to become a politician and be very successful at it. He's also surprisingly short, coming up to just above my shoulders.

When I first met Jimmy Smits in the canteen during lunch, I was surprised to discover that he's an inch taller than me! I had no idea that he was tall. If you've ever watched M*A*S*H or recent West Wing episodes, Alan Alda is exactly like his characters in real life. And during actual filming, Teri Polo has to wear five inch heels so she's tall enough to walk beside her "husband," and the second the cameras stop rolling, she kicks off those shoes and puts on a pair of booties. We didn't see any of the actors who are White House staffers, and the rumored appearance of Rob Lowe in the final episode didn't materialize in today's shooting.



Now, what kind of senator would I be if I didn't have two cute Senate staffers? Robin is on the left and Marcus on the right and they are friends from some competitive frisbee league. Interestingly enough, Marcus is a real-life Senate staffer for a Democrat from the Northwest.

We started at noon and my scene was over before five, so the rest of the day (we weren't released until ten) was spent chatting with other cast members and eating both lunch and dinner from the excellent on-location caterers. While both meals were completely different, they had in common a huge selection of salads, two or three simple vegetables, three or four pasta dishes, entrees of beef, chicken, fish, and something vegetarian, and several desserts and fresh fruit selections. Lunch included a carving station with a roast baron of beef and two different types of shrimp salads. In addition to the lunch and dinner buffets, in another area they maintained all day long multiple tables of hot and cold beverages, all kinds of snack foods, nuts, dried fruits, bagels, muffins, and even the fixings for simple, self-made sandwiches. Out on the set, assistants wandered around bearing bottled water, espresso, and even trays of grapes, berries, cheese cubes, and tiny pastries. The cast and crew at these things certainly never go hungry!

Here are some more fellow actors, including Mike the "Capitol Policeman" on the far left and Elizabeth (who was recently in the movie Syriana) the "distinguished guest" on the far right.



Now, I just have to see if I can get all of this shellac, um, I mean, hairspray out of my hair!