COOKIE

...not that kind of cookie

COOKIE

That time I was kinda, sorta, maybe in a movie filmed in New York?!

It was an ordinary day in the life… with extraordinary opportunities. College bus trip to NY with an art class. One of the cheapest ways to visit NY, get some culture, and explore the city. Galleries, art stores--Nagel art bought by my friend, lunch in an Irish pub in the Bowery, subway rides, seeing carriages in Central Park, and all that is crazy in that city which doesn’t sleep.

This art trip was courtesy of my friend Tim’s class—another had been my own class. Coach ride up and back, about the best deal to get you to NY at the time. Some took the trip just to go home and visit family. And I digress…

We were walking from one point to another, absorbing the City and all of its earthiness, when we accidentally found ourselves in the midst of a movie being filmed. Not just a movie, a Susan Seidelman movie, written by Alice Arlen and Nora Ephron.  We were told to keep walking and to not look at what they were filming. Keep the status quo. Not an extra, not paid, not earning a SAG credit, just look like someone walking in NY. Do not look at the car where the stars were. Repeated this walk several times.

The other night, I stayed up to the wee hours to watch this movie airing after another Seidelman movie, Smithereens. Girl in the punk era. Much different than my movie. Cookie. Haven’t heard about it? When it was released, it had been ~ the fourth mob movie—a comedy—of the year. Less about the mob and more about the father-daughter relationship and dynamics. Not well known, not always available on DVD or to rent, though it has been on Prime video to watch for a while. Somehow, over the years, I had never seen it. Definitely a movie of its time. Enjoyable? Yes. Did I see myself? I don’t know. I tried searching those walking, but I was also watching the characters, the plot, reliving the moment. Perhaps I never made it on screen and ended up on the cutting room floor. But, for a moment, I was transported back to the day I was in a real movie.

Years later, I did earn my SAG credentials. Another happenstance. Clorox commercial. Crazy suburban life.

Embrace the ordinary days. Rejoice in the simple pleasures in life. Serendipity has a way of making those days extraordinary when you least expect it. And, if you have the chance, watch Cookie and look for me.

***

I know it’s been a bit since my last post. I had some unexpected illness related to my asthma, a secondary infection, and then a stomach virus. It was a rough few weeks.

I wrote this a few years ago, but an author friend’s Substack about McSorley’s reminded me of this day. McSorley’s was the pub where we went on that cold, wintry day. Here’s her post if you want to read it.

McSorley's Old Ale House