Years ago, a casting office rang me up out-of-the-blue, and offered me a gig on a high-budget Michael Jackson Music Video shooting on the backlot at Universal Studios.
I was particularly keen on the fact that MJ was directing!
One of the main characters in the evil plot line was a nasty villain with a gang of thugs always on the lookout for trouble.
Although, I generally steered away from night shoots, it was difficult to resist a golden opportunity to rub shoulders with the legendary Pop Icon on the fast-track to super stardom.
Michael was at the height of his creative powers, having just come off of the gargantuan success of the multi-million-dollar best-selling album, "Thriller".
Although a few unsubstantiated rumors abounded about the King of Pop's fascination with plastic surgery (and an obsession over the alleged benefits of pure oxygen) the celebrated hit-maker appeared for-all-the-world a down-to-earth musical genius.
Shortly after I strolled up to the backlot at Universal to check in with the 1st Assistant Director, the wardrobe department corralled me and a handful of actors cast to play the mean dudes, and hustled us off to get fitted for our ubiquitous costumes which consisted of warrior-style uniforms - custom-made in imposing durable black plastic - with helmets to match.
Right from the get-go it was obvious the assignment was not going to be a piece of cake.
For instance, all the actors required assistance to facilitate the task of fitting each snugly into the high-tech threads in a body-fitting fashion, from behind.
In addition to being difficult to maneuver around in, the sinister slabs of armour were also inclined to obstruct the eyesight and hinder breathing as well.
Too late to back out.
No matter; after all, I was what you called a "trooper" in those days.
The show must go on, 'ya know, and all that sentimental crap.
The production company was relentless.
The shoot often ground on for hours on end and required a lot of painstaking detail to satisfy the "man" in the chair.
Michael was a stickler for perfection, after all.
To make matters worse, the cameras didn't generally start rolling 'til around the witching hour, or wind down until the sun started to climb lazily in the East the following morning.
Maybe Michael was a Vampire - like the one he play-acted in Thriller - after all.
As to the elusive Pop Icon?
During the duration of the shoot he remained out-of-sight, directing from afar.
Yup!
One of his lowly handlers was assigned the heady task of hustling us in-and-out of our trailers, positioning us on the set, calling us into action, and what-have-you.
Not a peep from MJ the mega-Star at the helm of the million-dollar extravaganza!
On occasion when logistics slowed production down - the other dudes and I would twiddle our thumbs, chew the fat, or huddle up in the trailer to stay warm whenever a night chill chose to usher itself in unexpectedly.
The lot of us - trekked in-and-out, back and forth, this way 'n that - as directed.
But, no MJ in sight!
One fine night under a starlit sky - just as we were about to wrap - I spied the mysterious superstar nimbly stepping out of a trailer across the lot.
For one brief second he glanced in my direction - burst into a wide smile for a second or two - then departed into the good night with little ado.
A close encounter of the 3rd kind, alright!
And that, as they say, was that.
In spite of the fact the shoot was long and drawn-out and terribly boring - quite stressful, too - one thing made it all worthwhile.
Why, of course, all the pretty checks that flew into the mailbox shortly thereafter with gobs of golden time tacked on.
Time to party-hearty and raise a mug to MJ in thanks!
The King of Pop paid the rent that month, too.
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