It takes three times as long to remove this stuff as it does to apply, and it gets everywhere – I literally had blue on my eyeballs. You try to contain the outbreak, but the greasepaint just goes ahead and drives the monkey to the airport.That’s me, on the right. (I think.) Kidding – it is me, and shooting a scene with Jay Leno for the first week he’s back hosting “The Tonight Show” made me feel like I died and went to Hollywood. The sketch will air either March 4th or 5th.
The bit involved Jay knocking on the doors of apartments, and asking the tenants if they were going to watch the Oscars, and if so, if they’d like to dress up as some of the nominees. In our scene, a bunch of college-aged partiers are transformed into Navi from Avatar, and the Blue Man Group, sensing a color-based theme, show up to the bash. It was pretty damn funny. A long day (eight hours in makeup), and worth every minute.
Late at night, when the shoot was over, I was driven back to the studio, where I changed in my dressing room. I realized I was the only one in the place, and walked over to the stage and onto the set. The lights were dim, the audience seats empty, the band’s instruments on their racks. I lifted the drop-cloth off the guest chair next to Jay’s desk, sat in it, and had a moment. In the peacefulness, I thought about the hard work and obstacles that stood between me and sitting in this chair with the lights fully on, a revved-up audience, the band blaring away, cameras lit up and a crew hustling around us. And knew I was up to the task. I got up, took one last look and went back to work.
