Behind the scenes and being seen - Nailed, Brokeback, Brothers

When a movie comes to town, you sure know it - diverted traffic, closed businesses, streets lined with tables full of tea, coffee and juice, white trucks and trailers, security, technicians judging the position of the sun and young women wearing headphones telling you to 'shush'. Usually, you stop and watch and, maybe, if you're very lucky, you get a picture taken with one of the movie's stars.


However, when Nailed arrived in Columbia, South Carolina, it was almost as if the whole city came out to help, such were the opportunities to join in. In this article, four residents of Columbia describe what it was like to be involved in Nailed, both behind the scenes and in front of the camera. Whether or not everyone got paid is another matter...


And talking of being involved in a movie, yesterday we were discussing Brokeback Mountain's deleted scenes and how it is universally agreed that the removal of the hippie interlude was a good thing. But, of course, this isn't quite such a good thing if you are one of the hippies who ends up in the recycling. So, I did some searching about and found out that my path may have crossed one of Brokeback's hippie extras.


Alberta girl Kailin See was one of these hippies caught in an overflowing brook and rescued by Jack and Ennis. Although working with Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger is clearly ample reward enough for most of us, especially if that involves being flung over Heath's horse, Kailin didn't make the movie itself. But she later got a named role in Brad Pitt's The Assassination of Jesse James and walked the red carpet for that movie in Toronto last September.


I was standing by that red carpet, along with three quarters of the population of Toronto and every member of press from the northern hemisphere. At one point, I actually saw Brad's hand and the back of Angelina's head. Kailin undoubtedly had the better view. Incidentally, the Jesse James premiere took place at the same theatre (The Elgin & Winter Garden) where Jake walked the red carpet for Brokeback back in 2005. For your amusement, here is my 'best' picture from the Jesse James red carpet scrum. Yes, that is Brad and Angelina in the faint distance to the left... (The absence of Jake on this occasion had removed by 'dive to the front and endure' instincts.)


Back on topic and on the snowy set of Brothers

Although this picture doesn't show Jake - very unfortunately - it does show Tobey Maguire and Natalie Portman talking to Jim Sheridan on the set of Brothers back in February. Just look at that snow - a world away from the sand and mountains of Morocco.


Pictures from Natalie Portman, IHJ and (the rubbish ones) WDW.