Sometimes life has a habit of creeping up on you and sending you careering down a different and unexpected trajectory. Nicola – the stand-in Chapter 6 by Louise Anne Smithson Copyright © 2021 Louise Anne Smithson All Rights Reserved.

We were due on set first thing the following morning and would require an early start. I set my alarm and at six o’clock took a shower as Nicola for the first time. Following Frances’ instructions I wore a shower cap to keep my long hair dry and did my best not to get too much water on my eyelashes, although she had assured me that after the first twenty-four hours I would no longer need to worry and the extensions would remain fixed until each eyelash grew out. My breast forms also now seemed to be attached quite securely and no doubt would be quite fiddly to remove when I changed back to Nick. I dressed in the underclothes bought for me by Amy the previous day and had a slight problem doing up and adjusting the new bra, but eventually managed to do so. I chose a pair of fitted jeans and a crop top from the wardrobe in my room, knowing that I would soon be getting changed into my film costume. I then made us both some coffee and toast whilst Amy took her shower.

‘You appear to have managed with your long hair quite well, Nicola,’ commented Amy over coffee.

‘Thanks, I’m gradually learning how to cope with it.

‘You won’t need to put on any makeup in the mornings when you are due on set as the makeup assistants prefer to start with a blank canvas,’

‘I wasn’t planning on doing so.’

‘But at other times it might be worth your learning the basics, as you will then look so much more convincing.’

At first, I was unsure how to reply. The previous evening, before we went out, Amy had said that she would not normally expect me to wear makeup, but then I remembered how much I’d enjoyed our meal together and my resolution from the previous evening.

‘Alright if you don’t mind giving me another lesson this evening.’

Amy smiled.

‘Great and you can help me to learn my lines.’

At seven-thirty we presented ourselves at the costume and makeup caravan as we were both due on set at the same time.

‘Good morning ladies, please come in,’ announced Sue. ‘Chloe, our costume assistant, will help to dress you both to ensure continuity. As soon as she has finished Frances can help Amy with her hair and do her make up, and Sandra will do the same for you, Nicola. I have to go and check what’s happening in the men’s caravan.’

‘At least we don’t have to wear corsets with these riding costumes,’ said Amy to me as she took off her clothes and donned her costume, without being at all concerned about my presence.

‘No, wearing a corset would not be a good idea when riding a horse,’ I replied.

‘You should see what they expect me to wear at other times,’ added Amy.

‘All of your costumes are correct for the period,’ said Chloe, thinking that she needed to stand up for the good name of the costume department.

‘I am sure that is the case, but I should have done some more research into what women used to wear before agreeing to take this part.’

When she was finished with Amy, Chloe helped me into a duplicate costume ensuring that all the details were the same as for Amy.

‘Don’t look so embarrassed, Nicola, I have had to dress lots of guys in women’s costumes before now, although I must say that you are one of the more convincing examples that I’ve had to deal with so far.

‘Sorry, I am determined not to argue and will do my best as a girl, but I can’t help feeling a little self-conscious about the way I look in front of everybody.’

‘You had better soon get used to it,’ commented Amy, ‘because you will shortly be appearing in front of dozens of the cast and crew, and ultimately in front of millions of filmgoers.’

‘I’m hoping that latter group won’t know anything about it,’ I commented.

‘That’s why we are taking so much trouble with your costume and makeup,’ said Chloe.

She now seemed satisfied with us both and handed us over to the hair and makeup assistants.

‘Good luck with the filming Nicola, I am sure you will do well,’ she said as she left us to dress others of the female performers in another caravan.

‘What about me?' asked Amy with a smile.’

‘We already know that you will do well,’ replied Chloe.

Frances asked us to sit in two adjacent seats, each one in front of a dressing table with a large illuminated mirror. She and her colleague, Sandra, proceeded to use their expertise to prepare us both for outdoor filming on this occasion. Now that I knew what to expect I could sit back and enjoy the process as they began to apply makeup suitable for the period. It was a relaxing and pleasurable sensation and gradually I began to feel less self-conscious. The ice began to melt and within a quarter of an hour the four of us were chatting together quite happily.

‘I’m pleased to see that you’ve been looking after your hair, Nicola,’ commented Sandra. ‘If you can continue to do so it will make life easier for us each morning.’

‘Amy showed me everything that I need to do to brush it and tie it up,’ I replied.

‘I am going to show Nicola how to wash and set her hair tonight,’ said Amy.

‘We would rather you left it until the weekend, or we will have the continuity staff complaining that your hair looks different from the previous day’s filming.’

At a quarter past eight Amy and I made our way over towards the yard outside stables, where the crew had already set up lights and additional props and were preparing for the day’s filming. As we approached the yard Amy received a phone call on her mobile.

‘I’d better take this, Nikki, as it’s my manager calling about the arrangements for next weekend. I am going to be attending an awards ceremony on Saturday night. You had better go ahead without me.’

I did as I was told and had just entered the yard when I was approached by a young production assistant with a clipboard.

‘Excuse me, Miss O’Donnell, but we’re going to need your stand-in first this morning. Do you know what has happened to her?’

I smiled.

‘I am the stand-in; Amy is just taking a call and will be along in a couple of minutes.’

‘Oh, I’m so sorry, you look just like Miss O’Donnell,’ the girl said blushing.

‘No problem, I suppose in some respects that ought to be quite reassuring as the makeup staff would appear to have done a good job,’ I replied, feeling that perhaps Amy had been right in her conversation in the restaurant the previous evening.

‘By the way, I’m Jenny and I understand that we are to address you as Nicola or Ms. Stevens, is that alright?’

‘Yes, but please call me Nicola or Nikki.’

‘In that case, Nikki, would you mind coming over to the stable yard, Frank wants to introduce you to the crew and the other members of the cast.’

By the time that Amy arrived to join the group Frank was giving a few well-chosen words to the others explaining that I had stepped in at the last minute and was saving them all time and trouble so he hoped that everyone would be respectful and as helpful to me as possible. He then gave an indication of what he hoped to achieve during the morning. For this scene we would not need to ride the horses, although they would be used as props in the background handled by the stable staff working as extras. I went over to pat Moonbeam, who was standing with several other horses. As I did so Alan emerged from the stable, dressed as a Victorian groom.

‘You look really great today, Nic … ola’ he said, this time without a trace of mockery.

‘Thank you,’ I replied, this time with a more confident smile. ‘You don’t look bad yourself.’

‘Good luck with the filming today.’ he said

I smiled and nodded to him before rejoining Jenny, the assistant director, and the other actors.

Jenny began by explaining to me the difference between a stand-in, a body-double, and an extra: in fact my proposed employment would encompass elements of all three roles – so they clearly wanted to get their money’s worth for the trouble taken to turn me into Nicola.

‘Stand-ins allow the crew to set up and light scenes without the main actors being present. They may need to go through the dialogue for the scene, so the crew can decide where to switch camera angles. A body-double is used to replace the actor or actress for scenes that require an element of specialized skills -such as horse riding. They may also deputize for one of the principal members of cast where they are on the periphery of a scene or seen from behind. An ‘extra’ plays minor usually non-speaking parts in the background or in crowd scenes. Remember that the directors will often shoot several takes of the same shot to give editors as many options as possible during post-production.’

‘I understand,’ I replied.

‘Your main role over the next fortnight will be to save Amy from having to ride a horse, but since we are paying you for the fortnight we may also use you as a stand-in when we block out some of her internal scenes. The Extras department are also sometimes on the look-out for young female extras so once or twice you may find yourself playing a housemaid, although in that case we’ll have to make sure that your face remains out of shot and we disguise your long hair under a cap.’

‘So, what do you want me to do today?’ I asked.

‘We won’t need you in the saddle until tomorrow, but as you are in costume the director of photography wants to see how you will work out in those shots where Amy’s character is seen from behind or on the edge of the scene, there will be no dialogue involved.’

‘Just tell me when and where you want me to go and what you need me to be doing,’ I replied.

My first morning filming was straightforward and only involved me standing in the background of the stable yard quietly conversing with another female character while the two male leads, Mark Robarts and Lord Lufton, had a conversation in the foreground. As soon as Robarts sought to introduce his sister, and the cameras turned towards us, Amy took over from me and I stood out of camera shot and watched as she demonstrated her considerable skills as an actress. She appeared to slip in to character effortlessly using her voice, facial expression and body language to convey so much more information than just the words in the script. I could see right away why she had been chosen for the part despite her inexperience. She was a natural screen actress.

For the actors and extras involved, working on a film set often includes long periods of sitting or standing around whilst specific scenes or shots are set up and lit. These will be followed by short intervals of intense activity and concentration during the actual filming. Alternatively once the filming had been completed that actors had to wait around whilst the daily rushes were checked to ensure that everything was in focus, continuity preserved and nothing untoward or anachronistic had found its way into the shot, in which case parts would need to be reshot. Previously I’d occasionally been an onlooker to the whole process but now I became an active participant.

The first day of filming seemed to pass very quickly although it involved long hours of work. More accurately, it involved substantial periods of sitting or standing around chatting to Amy or to other members of the cast whilst waiting for all the members of the technical crew to be happy with their preparations. This would be followed by a few minutes of intense concentration during the actual filming of the scene. It did not matter much to me, though, as it was all quite new but I could see that some of the other participants had brought something to occupy themselves with during these periods of inactivity or else just gossiped together. I sometimes wondered whether I might be the subject of such gossip, but maybe I was just being paranoid.

Eventually, at about 6.00pm the crew had completed the shooting for the day and the cast and extras returned to the costume and makeup caravans to get changed.

‘So how did the filming go?’ asked Frances as she helped Amy to get changed out of her costume and remove the film makeup that she’d been wearing.

‘Alright, I think, the director seemed to be reasonably happy with the way that things went today, but they are just checking the daily rushes,’ Amy replied.

‘Were they happy with your part in the proceedings, Nicola?’ asked Sandra.

‘Nicola was fine, doing exactly what was required of her,’ added Amy in the next chair.

‘The cast all seemed very nice. I was a little worried that I might receive some snide comments as a former member of the crew, although everyone seemed to accept me in my new role.’

‘Of course, they did, why ever not. After all, everyone is there to do a professional job and it won’t be the first time that they’ve worked with actors who were cross-dressed,’ said Sandra.

‘No, I suppose not, but in most other cases the performer will have changed back at the end of each day.’ I thought to myself

I changed back into the trouser suit that Amy had bought for me, but it was too late to go anywhere outside for an evening meal. Amy suggested that we should get something to eat from the catering marquee. There were several of the crew present who acknowledged us both with a smile or a nod but otherwise said nothing. I wondered whether Amy’s presence was shielding me from any impertinent questions or comments by my former colleagues, but maybe I was being paranoid. Amy took out her iPhone and began scrolling through the screen.

‘I have been taking a fair amount of flak from some of my Twitter followers over appearing in a movie that includes a hunt scene – did you know that foxhunting could be really barbaric? Anyone who was hunting for the first time would have the foxes blood smeared on their cheeks and forehead.’’

‘Yes, I gather that the kill could get quite bloody, but that will all be staged. It’s now illegal to hunt any animals using dogs,’ I replied.

‘But what about the horses?’

‘The rental company will ensure that no harm comes to any of the horses or the dogs for that matter – they represent quite an investment. In any event, it would be bad publicity for the studio if any animals were injured during filming.’

She continued reading the messages on her screen.

‘But it wasn’t just foxes, stags were hunted as well and otters were almost driven to extinction in some areas. Then there were the game birds reared specifically so they could be blasted out of the sky.’

‘Yes, I know and I’m not seeking to condone the past but slaughtering the local wildlife was a way of life for the occupants of these large houses in the countryside, for centuries. A fair amount of eighteenth and nineteenth century literature includes foxhunting scenes including several famous films. In any event, foxes can vicious and arbitrary killers of small animals and need to be controlled in the countryside. Also, some stags need to be culled for the good of the herd.’

‘But does that mean they have to be torn to pieces by dogs in the process and what harm did otters ever do?’

‘The excuse for otter hunting was to protect fish stocks for anglers, although their fur was valued.’

‘As I am just beginning to appear in films, I have to take any role that is offered, but another time I would prefer not to have my name associated with hunting.’

‘At least you will now be able to tell your followers that you will be taking no part in the hunt scene, and it will be your stand-in doing so.’

Shortly after we sat down, Alison, one of the assistant directors asked whether she might join us.

‘Of course, please take a seat,’ said Amy

I think we were both pleased to have an excuse to change the subject.

Thanks for the comments and corrections everyone. Feel free to keep them coming.
Louise