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Blind Date

And about what you’d expect

William Mersey
4 min readJul 8, 2022
Photo by Victoria Art: https://www.pexels.com/photo/attractive-woman-in-vintage-outfit-7585512/

Often in the course of doing movie and television extra work, I (and everybody else) will be paired with a person of the opposite sex for a scene. It’s a sort of buddy system that introduces all extras to a possible future friend — or even more.

The conversation generally flows easily as both parties have a lot to talk about. War stories from poorly run sets abound. Complaints about freezing in the winter when production is shooting a summer scene or sweltering in the heat while wearing a coat for a winter shot run a close second. You get the idea. The common ground is in clear evidence for all.

While I was once paired off with a hot 20 or 30-something woman, the norm is for production assistants to matchmake age-appropriate partners. And on the past two sets, I was partnered with blind dates neither of whom I found attractive in the least. It wasn’t just their age. These girls just weren’t ever the apples of very many men’s eyes.

But I’m a trooper. I go with the flow without complaints and manage to get on with all my partners. Last night, I “scored” one who really made Wonder Bread seem delicious. And — she was my partner at a period piece party during which we had to dance the Charleston.

Of course, casting didn’t tell anybody we’d be doing a dance from 100 years ago. And I…

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William Mersey
William Mersey

Written by William Mersey

"The spry old guy on a bike." New York Greenwich Village ex-hippy. Daily Beast, NY Daily News, Daily Mail, Independent contributor. I've been around the block.

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