This was my fourth day on set, and it was a little crazy and a little funny. There were two different sets—which is usually the case—but this time, I actually got to work on both.
I arrived at base camp at 6:30 AM. Usually, this is where I would collect my wardrobe and props, but on this day, I wasn’t playing a correctional officer or anyone specific. I was just a regular person, so I brought my own clothes. The crew did provide me with a suitcase to use as a prop, though. Since I didn't need to go through wardrobe, I went directly to catering and had breakfast and a ton of coffee. I just sat around and shot the bull until it was time to head out. I actually ate my breakfast next to Paul Adelstein, who played Special Agent Paul Kellerman. Paul was a really cool guy and a pleasure to talk to.
About an hour later, I was walking to my car and noticed Paul sitting in his. As I walked by, he started talking to me. We chatted for a few minutes, and then I asked if I could get a picture with him and an autograph.
He said, “Sure man, do you have a photo or something?”
I told him it was in my car and ran to get it. He signed the photo, signed my index card—though he accidentally put the wrong date on it, haha—and let me take a picture of him. I thanked him, and he replied, “No problem at all, man.” Right after that, a production assistant came to take him to the set. I headed back over to base camp and waited for my turn to be shuttled over.
We loaded up in a van and drove to Union Station in downtown Dallas. For this episode, Union Station was temporarily standing in for a bus depot in Tribune, Kansas. This was our first set of the day. If you look closely at the episode, you can see a newspaper machine inside the station where the crew just put a black piece of tape over the word "Quick." At the time, Quick was a free, small-format newspaper distributed by The Dallas Morning News.
I spent half the day there, shooting a lot of exterior scenes that ultimately did not make it into the final cut. The main shots used in the show were filmed inside the station. While there, I worked with Wade Williams (Captain Brad Bellick) and Matt DeCaro (Roy Geary). Wade remembered me from previous shoots, so we shook hands and talked for a couple of minutes between takes. I complimented him on the blog he was writing for the TV Guide website at the time. He seemed really proud of it and was genuinely happy that I was reading it. After that, we filmed some additional exterior shots in the back of the station featuring just me, another background actor, Wade, and Matt. They ended up cutting those scenes out of the final broadcast. That took up most of our day.
Around four o'clock in the afternoon, we headed to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. DFW was supposed to be O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, and this is where we filmed with Paul Adelstein again. This led to the funny situation I mentioned earlier.
We had most of one of the terminals completely shut down for filming, but a small section was still operating. The actual airport workers would stop dead in their tracks just to watch us film. At one point, a traveler walked through the door, and a production assistant told him we were filming and asked him to use another entrance. The guy got absolutely furious and stormed off, passing right by me while dropping f-bomb after f-bomb. He went over and got into a line to check in, but what happened next really set him off. He lost his mind when he discovered that the entire check-in line he had just joined was actually made up of background actors! It was total karma biting him in the butt for being such a jerk to the crew.
We shot for a couple more hours, including a scene involving the character Maricruz, Sucre’s girlfriend. The actress who normally played Maricruz (Camille Guaty) couldn't reprise her role for this specific episode, so they had replaced her with a stand-in. We filmed a few scenes with her before the crew finally called a wrap.
It was a tiring day that lasted a little over thirteen hours, but I can't wait to do it again. A massive amount of footage was filmed and an even larger amount was cut—including the entire alternate Maricruz scene—but that’s just how it goes in television. Even if I get cut out again, it's always worth it.
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