Notes from Working on the Set of Showtime’s Sleeper Cell
It was a four-hour journey to Yemen from the desert of Southern California. Well, at least it took that long to get to the set of Showtime’s “Sleeper Cell” starring Oded Fehr and Michael Ealy.
Sleeper Cell” was Showtime’s drama uncovering the war on terrorism and revealed a sleeper cell (a cell of secret agents belonging to a national or terrorist group) in the United States. Farik (played by Israeli born actor Oded Fehr) is a ruthless Muslim leader of one of these cells.
For this particular episode the hills of Santa Clarita, I must say, were successfully transformed into a Yemen village. My son Layne, who played a young Yemen school boy, had to deal with straw eating camels and some nasty armed terrorists. The air borne dust wasn’t pleasant either. Nevertheless, receiving $126 a day, for playing with movie stars, will not allow a young actor to complain. (You might want to read my AC article, “Tips From a Parent of a Child Actor.)
And speaking of really good actors, Oded Fehr walked onto the set wearing dark blue jeans, biker boots, a black leather jacket and a shiny white smile on his chiseled face. He had a quick breakfast, greeted the crew and waved at the kids who were to be his young co-stars for the day. Layne was pretty impressed that a star would hang out with the rest of us. It was of no surprise to me, however. Thus far we’ve worked with amazing people in the entertainment industry.
At any rate, we had been at base camp since 7:00 am. Wardrobe took about 20 minutes and makeup for the kids was a few dabs of dirt on their faces. Soon it became painfully obvious, that the kids’ clothing was not warm enough as the Santa Clarita weather did not quite agree with Yemen’s. Mr. Fehr decided to tough it out with the rest of us and we all froze our little fannies off on Blue Cloud Ranch or Yemen, if you will.
In any case, Layne’s day pretty much consisted of constant running and kicking up a little dust as he jogged by Mr. Fehr. The exercise kept Layne warm and he tried hard not to laugh as the actors choked on the dust.
The next day base camp was on the campus of UCLA. From there we were shuttled to a multi-million dollar mansion where scores of other movies have been filmed. I recognized this home from one of the “Beethoven” movies. We were accompanied by actor Nicholas Kadi who played an oil sheik and has also made an appearance on Fox’s “24” starring Kiefer Sutherland. When we arrived on the set Mr. Kadi reached for my hand to help me out of the van. Chivalry is not dead in Hollywood after all.
This was our second day on the set of “Sleeper Cell.” There were only four kids to deal with this time. The child actors did the required three hours of school in the large kitchen of the mansion. Nicholas Kadi visited with the moms on his breaks, gave us a tour of the mansion and was gracious enough to take pictures with us.
Eventually the children were put to work-they played soccer in the background. After a too much food for breakfast, and a need to get away from school work, running around and kicking a ball was a welcome relief. Until, of course, they had to do it take after take after take. They consumed about eight bottles of water each. Who knew that laughing and playing ball would be such hard work.
At any rate, Oded Fehr had a limp that day. Apparently his character, Farik, had been injured before we arrived on set at around 9 am. Trailers of “Sleeper Cell” revealed that Farik was tortured in a few scenes. Therefore it would make sense he would have a limp now and again. He looked very tired and old. But everything about Mr. Fehr’s acting is so sincere and believable.
In the end, Mr. Fehr was as cheery as the day before, hanging around the pool where the directors had set up shop. Oded never sat in the chair reserved for him, neither did anyone else. May he forever stay the down-to-earth man who cared for everyone he worked with, from the cast, to crew, to mothers of his young extras.
