This is the image printed on a beach towel you can purchase from allovershifts.com. It’s creatively called “Mutt Schitt Beach Towel” and you’re welcome.
I recently applied to be a background film extra through Casting by Maggie, here in St. John’s. I was looking for some paid work, so it was something completely separate from my grad work. But as luck should have it, I was selected to be a background actor on the best show ever for my research.
Not only did I get to be on a popular television show but today I got to meet Mutt, Mutt Schitt. More accurately, I got to meet the man who plays Mutt on Schitt’s Creek. This was work, and I’m used to being respectfully nonchalant around important people in my field. “Hi, I’m Tim,” he said with a genuine smile, “nice to meet you,” He greeted me and my fellow background actor individually at the first rehearsal. I am so glad it didn’t occur to me that I might know the actors in the scene, otherwise I might not have managed to play it cool. If I had known walking onto the set of The Surrealtor that, I would be within mere feet of Tim Rozon I would have fan-girled so hard. Have you seen season one of Dany Levy’s Schitt’s Creek? Needless to say, it features a lot of Rozon, including numerous romantic plotlines and with an absolutely luxurious beard. To put it simply, Rozon is stunningly handsome. While in Background Holding with my fellow guard, I caught myself before describing Rozon and Tennille Read (his scene partner) as “ridiculously attractive human beings”. They are, but I wasn’t about to say that at their workplace (if confused about why that’s not appropriate, google ‘sexual harassment in the workplace’).
Thankfully, I was so awestruck by the experience of being on a real television filming set that I couldn’t fully process the scene playing out before my eyes. Not only that, but I managed to not recognize any of the people on set. Behind my mask – we only removed them for filming – I was smiling like an idiot because the experience was so unreal. If I had to choose a descriptor for how I feel right now, sitting in my living room after a long morning of work, it would be “deliriously happy”. Every time my mask came off as the camera began rolling, I had to put my professional face on and focus every ounce of energy I had into not feeling the bitter cold, biting wind, and holding my poker face steady. After all, I’d been tasked with looking like a guard, for a penitentiary no less! For those who know me well, I am certain they’ll find this casting quite amusing. Originally, I was cast as a background construction worker but shooting plans changed due to weather, so I became a prison guard literally overnight.
Watch for it, I may be in Episode #6 of The Surrealtor if my scenes get airtime. Then, for those of you who have yet to witness my mask of serious focus, you can get a glimpse at a different side of this Sociologist.
Overall, it was a delightful work experience in an up-beat, good-humoured workplace. It was a bit strange to see everyone wearing masks, but, honestly, it was stranger yet to see actors without them. Getting to be part of a production on the scale of The Surrealtor is never something I could have dreamed! The whole experience was, pardon the pun, quite surreal, and I’m pretty sure I won’t believe it was real until that pay cheque hits the bank. Production took excellent care of me from 5:42AM – exact time-keeping is important – until 11:30AM. On my way out, they checked in to ask how the day was and ensured I’d properly dotted all the ‘i’s and crossed all the‘t’s in my paperwork. One thing I love about working in the arts is that people want other people to get paid; numerous folks on the crew stressed the importance of paperwork and submitting the necessary documents as soon as possible.
By the way, that’s a sample of what a qualitative sociologist can offer you: on-the-go analysis and a more thorough break-down once I get to a keyboard. If you think your work could benefit from my well-honed skills of observation and analysis, hit me up.
Now, I need to emphasize why this experience was such a phenomenal opportunity for me, and it wasn’t because I may get to be on TV. No, it’s the subject matter of the show which blows my mind. Aptly named, The Surrealtor is about an elite team of spectral-specializing realtors; they handle haunted and possessed houses which tend to fare poorly on the market. This also was the topic of my thesis research (which continues to consume my life; 2 years and counting!). With the onset of COVID-19, I was forced, unfortunately, to change my focus; I was investigating the lived experience of real estate agents who sell houses in which people have died (yes, actual Haunted Houses). Imagine if someone took your thesis topic, turned it into a TV show, happened to be filming in the city you live in, right down the road, and that you had the chance to be part of it. That’s why this doesn’t feel real – am I really not dreaming? Seriously?
Grad school is a wild ride, and I’m pleased to say that it only gets stranger and more unpredictable as you progress. Like all good rides it takes you through highs and lows; a roller coaster of textbooks, theory, self-discovery, stress, and soul-crushing anguish. As I have discovered through this process, what they say about what doesn’t kill you is true. I’ve adapted the phrase to my own journey: what doesn’t kill you makes you stranger, and that, my love, makes you stronger.
Stay spooky, y’all, and remember to take your medication.
Cheers,
Shannon