The Lead Up
In early May 2023, I was participating in the Hazardous Weather Testbed (HWT) Spring Forecasting Experiment (SFE). The HWT is situated between SPC and the local NWS WFO in the National Weather Center (NWC). To give visitors and tour groups the opportunity to see meteorologists in action, the walls separating the hallway from the forecasting and HWT experiment areas are mostly made of windows. On 3 May when I was in the HWT, a group of people were getting a tour. They were talking with the SPC, NWS Norman, and NSSL leadership and were given access to the forecast offices. At the time, I didn’t know who they were and just tried to focus on being an active participant in the SFE. After all, tours go by the “fish bowl” all the time. Well, I found out later that day that that was the director, an executive producer, and several members of the cast, including the three main actors. Fortunately, another participant managed to snap a couple of photos and shared them with me.
In June 2023, I began seeing casting calls for background roles in the movie even though filming has already started. Unfortunately, the first week of casting calls in June that I saw were centered on my family vacation, so I wasn’t even able to seriously consider submitting my name to the casting company. In early July, there was another casting call. I did seriously consider this call, but it quickly became apparent that I couldn’t afford to lose a day or two of work during this time. Thus, I had let this call pass as well. But all hope was not lost. The writer and actor strikes began at this time, so production of Twisters was abruptly put on pause.
After the writers strike ended in September 2023 and the actors strike ended in November 2023, production of Twisters was able to continue. A new casting call was released the week of Thanksgiving. The call was for six days in a row of shoots. Fortunately, there was a day this time that fit perfectly into my work and personal schedule. On Thanksgiving, I submitted my name, photo, and other info for four roles on the 5 December shoot: search and rescue team, police officers, utility workers, and camera operators. Two days later I was selected for the search and rescue team. On 4 December at 3pm, I received an email of when and where to meet: 4:18am and Chickasha High School, which is 40 minutes from my house. Yikes. Thankfully, I received an updated call time 3 hours later: 4:48am. Still yikes. But, when was I going to have an opportunity like this again?
My Experience as a Background Actor
I tossed and turned in bed most of the night before the shoot due to being anxious about the day ahead before I reluctantly decided to finally get up at 3:20am to get ready. I left my house at 3:50am and headed down I-44 toward Chickasha. I arrived at Chickasha High School around 4:30am. Someone was there directing us to park in a grass field. After parking, I grabbed my water and backpack and started heading toward the area of trucks and tents. I didn’t know where to go, but thankfully someone else was heading that way so I tagged along with them. We went into a white tent with several tables and chairs and were told to just hang out there. Since I didn’t know anyone and it was early, I just chilled and killed time on my phone.
A little after 5 AM, we were told to get in line so that we could check in. After waiting about 10 minutes in line, I checked in and then proceeded to another tent right next door. In that tent, I had to fill out a little red raffle ticket with my name, phone number, and background role. I was then asked my name so that they could get my costume, but since I hadn’t been fitted before, I was told to wait with a few others that also still needed to get fitted. After 5 minutes or so, we were told to go outside and wait by the costume truck. One lady was responsible for getting us fitted and for throwing together the costumes. Those who had been fitted before were served first, so the rest of us had to stand out in the cold (26-28F) waiting patiently. After about 30 minutes of waiting, it was finally my turn. I thought I was going to get a full costume to put on, but nope. I was only given a safety vest, work gloves, work boots, and a helmet, which turns out I didn’t need. My red t-shirt and jeans were deemed adequate. Once I had those items, I quickly put them on. Most people were getting make-up put on or their hair done, so once I was dressed, I asked if I needed anything to be done. Thankfully, I was told I didn’t.
Next, I was told we were going to load up on buses soon. Most everyone else already treated themselves to a buffet-style breakfast, so I rushed over to grab some food (hash browns, sausages, fruit, and a muffin) and returned to the first tent where everyone else was hanging out in costume. I quickly scarfed down most of my food before we were told to form a line along the tent’s walls and to get in groups based on our background roles. Then a group of people with the production made their way around the different groups and took photos of us. Some of us background actors had to make some minor changes to our costumes, such as helmets (I didn’t). After this, we were told which charter bus to get onto depending on which role we were playing. Since we were rushing around the past hour, I didn’t have time to use the restroom, which made me nervous since I thought we were going to travel somewhere for the shoot. But nope, I got lucky. We only traveled a quarter mile down the road. As the bus was parking, we got our first view of the set – houses that looked like they got hit by a tornado along with tons of crew and equipment.
After the bus parked, the search and rescue team, paramedics, police officers, and firefighters were told to exit the bus and head to the props trailer. Thankfully, the search and rescue team didn’t have long to wait. We were fitted with a chest pouch, a backpack, and a different, better helmet than what the costume lady gave us. We were in a hurry through this process since the sun was starting to come up, which meant the filming was about to begin. Once I had my props, I had to stop off at the restroom, which was a line of restrooms on a trailer – much better than a porta-potty. We then headed back to the bus for a few minutes before we were called to head toward the set for the first shoot. On the way, we were offered blankets to keep us warm while we waited just off set. Before heading onto set, we were hanging out by the cameras, monitors, etc. as the set was being finalized.
After just a couple of minutes, we were led onto the set and directed by the assistant director (name?) on where to go and stand for the first shoot. There were only six of us on the search and rescue team, and we were all directed to the same general area. Four of us on one side of the street, and two on the other. We were told to pick through the debris acting like we’re looking for people and/or pets. After some brief direction, the crew was told to clear the set. The first assistant director, David H. Venghaus Jr., gave the commands over a PA system. At first he would say “clear the set” or “quiet on the set” to get the crew off the set. And then he would say “roll camera”. After a few seconds, he would say “rolling” so that the cameras would start rolling/recording. Next, he would say “background”. That was our cue as extras to start acting out our parts. After a second or two, he would say “action”, which would signal the lead actors and crew to start their roles.
For the first scene, a police car slowly drives down the road as we search through the debris while Daisy (Kate) and Anthony (Javi) converse in front of a destroyed house. After the police car drives down the road a little, Daisy and Anthony start to walk down the street while talking to each other. There are two cameras for this first scene. One is facing south down the street, and the other is facing southeast from behind the damaged house. For the first take, I ended up moving away from the road while searching through the debris. Once Daisy and Anthony made it to the intersection, David called “cut” to end the take and then “reset” for us to go back to our starting positions.
Once we got back to our starting places, an assistant director (name?) gave us new instructions since the background shot was too empty. For the next take, she wanted the search and rescue person to my north to cross the road behind me right after the police car passed. I would then wait until Daisy and Anthony would start to walk down the street before I would cross the street and attend to a family. On our first take with these new movements, I crossed the street and the parents of the family verbally directed me to go search for their missing cat. Once “cut” was called, David told us background actors should not actually talk. Whoops. We took a few more takes of this scene before the director, Lee Isaac Chung, was satisfied. We then went back to the buses to relax and eat snacks and hydrate as the crew set up the next scene.
After about 20-30 minutes, we were called back to the set. This time the camera was going to stay in front of the actors as they walked down the street. Therefore, the street had to be cleared of the debris to give the cameraman a walking path. We performed our same movements as for the first scene. Really, it’s the same scene, but with more camera angles. After a few takes of this scene, we headed back to the buses again.
After another 20-30 minutes, we headed back to the set. This time the camera was set up within the destroyed house next to us. The camera was on tracks, and during the shoot, the camera would roll down the tracks passing by the different rooms following Daisy and Anthony as they walked down the street. With this camera location, I was able to see the clapper after David would say “roll camera”. Sometimes he would add “mark it” to tell the person with the clapper to clap it in front of the camera. Anyway, the search and rescue team performed the same movements/acting as before since these camera angles are still part of the same scene. Before shooting this angle, debris and dirt were added back to the street, and then a person with a hose soaked the street to make it look like it had just rained and to wet the soil down. The set design people also decided they wanted some tree branches in the street, so one of them went off searching for some while we did our first take. After the second take, it was noticed that a yellow Penske truck was parked down the street from the set within the frame of the camera. David was not happy. He was on his walkie-talkie sternly telling someone to get that truck out of there for over 10 minutes. I remember him saying something like “they’re wasting my time” and “they need to move that dang truck now.” The truck was finally moved and we were able to continue shooting. We shot a couple more takes before they were ready to move onto the next scene.
Us background people headed back to the buses for lunch. The crew had to keep working through lunch and were eating while working; taking a few bites here and there. Our lunch orders were taken (just asking if we’re allergic to anything) once we got back to the buses. After about 15 minutes, lunches started to show up with the first round being taken to those hanging out on the bus. Most of the search and rescue (me included) and firefighters were hanging out outside, so we had to wait longer for our meals to show up. Before the next round of lunches showed up, most of the firefighters and some other background actors were called back to the set. Thankfully, the search and rescue team wasn’t going to be part of the next scene, so we just continued to hang out. Our meal finally showed up around 12:30pm. It was a wide variety of items, including a roll, black beans, white rice, a pasta dish, pulled pork, vegetables, and turmeric (or something yellow) baked chicken wing and thigh. It was all good, especially the roll and pulled pork. After eating, we continued hanging out at the buses for at least another hour. The background actors on set slowly trickled back, and most of them were finally able to eat their lunch.
Around 2:00pm, we were told the next scene was going to be done near the intersection, so we headed back to the set. I was told to search around the same area near the family from the morning shots, but before we started shooting, a set design person hid a fog machine in a pile of debris that we were searching through. In the movie, our area was directly behind where Daisy was being filmed talking to Glen (Tyler). During one of the takes, I managed to get a coat hanger stuck on my foot. I stumbled to an area out of the camera’s view and removed the hanger before working my way back into view. After several takes with me rummaging through debris, we were done with that scene and quickly moved onto the next scene. For the next scene, myself and another search and rescue background actor were told to walk together down the original main road before turning to the right and walking past a Red Cross van. We shot this scene at least seven, maybe ten, times before we were able to move on to the next scene. I definitely got my steps in on this day.
As sunset was quickly approaching, we were directed back to our original positions that we started from in the first series of shots during the morning. Two new camera angles were shot with this scene as we ran through the same motions we did in the morning shots, but without Daisy and Anthony. The first camera angle was from a camera that was pointed down the street while it was lifted up past a damaged house. The second camera angle was from a boom lift at least 30 ft above the ground looking down the street. After a few quick takes before the sun had set for the day, David gave a jubilant “that’s a wrap” to indicate we were done filming for the day, and everyone on set cheered. Us background actors were then directed back to the props trailer to hand over our props. We then loaded the buses and headed back to the tents a quarter of a mile away. I turned in my safety vest, work boots, work gloves, and helmet, which I didn’t use, back to the costume folks. I then headed back to the first tent I went to in the morning to check out. After more than 13 hours, I finally began my drive back home at 6pm.
Concluding Thoughts
As I look back on my experience, I’m so glad I decided to do something my introverted self would normally not do – even with the 4:48am call time. I love learning about everything that goes into making a great movie (or TV show), from the visuals to the props and set design to the acting to the story. Therefore, I absolutely loved my time on the set even as a no-name, uncredited background actor. To see and be a part of the production process was simply awesome, and I would love to do it again. In early May 2023, Isaac, Ashley, Daisy, Glen, Anthony, and other cast members got to see my colleagues and me working at the NWC. Seven months later, I got to see them working on the Twisters set. Such a full circle moment for me.
Disclaimer: My role in the movie Twisters was done on my own personal time and was not associated with my job as a scientist at OU/CIWRO and NOAA/NSSL.
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