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 7 by Louise Anne Smithson Copyright © 2021 Louise Anne Smithson All Rights Reserved.

Alison had just come from checking the daily rushes with the director and cinematographer when she joined us.

‘So, was all ok with today’s shoot?’ asked Amy.

‘Not too bad, we’re just about back on schedule, which is the most important thing in keeping our costs under control,’ she replied. ‘With such a large cast and crew any delay can significantly add to the budget.’

Amy then asked the one question that had been on my mind, but I was too afraid to ask.

‘So how did Nicola get on?’

‘That’s what I wanted to talk to you both about. Nicola, you were fine during those initial shots this morning where we were shooting over your shoulder at Matthew talking and you did everything that was required of you. (Matthew Richards was the actor playing Mark Robarts, Lucy’s ambitious elder brother). However, you did lapse slightly later in the day during some of the wider shots, when you were standing on the periphery,’ said Alison.

‘What was the problem? Did I look like a guy?’ I asked.

‘No, not exactly, but your body language wasn’t quite right. There are one or two shots that we won’t be able to use. It isn’t a disaster as there are quite a few others that will be fine, but the more choice we can give to the film editors the better. Try and keep a closer look at how Amy walks, stands and uses her hands. I’m sure all will be fine again tomorrow especially as you will be spending much of the day in the saddle but the more you can become proficient at the little details the more likely that we will want to employ you as a stand-in or body-double on other occasions. ‘

‘I’ll do my best, but when I agreed to take this job, I’d no idea that anyone would want to use me other than to do the riding for you.’

‘I know, but once Frank saw what a good job the costume and makeup staff had done on you, he began to get other ideas,’ she replied.

‘Don’t worry, Alison, once we’ve finished our dinner, we’ll be going back to my caravan and Nikki can practice her female voice and posture, as she goes through tomorrow’s scripts with me,’ said Amy.

‘That’s why we’re so pleased that she will be staying with you. The more help you can give her the better.

‘It seems that I am not as good at standing-in for you as I’d previously imagined, ‘I said as we entered Amy’s caravan.

‘That’s not so,’ protested Amy. ‘Just think, only four days ago you were a rather non-descript looking young man with a dead-end job, but now you‘re an attractive young woman in an interesting job, who just needs a few rough edges to be smoothed off.’

‘An interesting job that will last for precisely two weeks,’ I corrected.

‘Well, you never know, if you make that extra effort to practice your female presentation and voice there may be other opportunities for you.’

‘I didn’t even know that I had a female sounding voice although I realised that it is a little higher-pitched than many guys because of my short stature.’

‘I would say that your voice is pitched somewhere between a typical man and a typical woman, and it shouldn’t be too difficult to raise it slightly. But it isn’t just a question of pitch with voices, there is also the questions of tone and the content of what you say – the words you use. For example. girls tend to adopt a more questioning tone and use more encouraging gestures and speech patterns to keep the conversation going.

‘Do I sound like a guy then?’

‘No, not exactly, but at times you do sound a little, shall we say, indeterminant although because you look like a girl, most listeners would take it for granted that you are one. However, if you really want more work as my stand-in, it might be better for you to make more of an effort to sound like me.’

‘I’ll do my best to copy your style.’

‘Good, let’s now go through my lines for tomorrow together and see how you get on,’

In the end it was good fun as I did my best to copy Amy’s speech patterns and gestures as we went through her script.

‘See,’ she said at one point, ‘you can tell that these lines were written by a guy, no woman would be so dogmatic in this situation or give a monosyllabic response to such a question.’

Clearly Amy was not such an airhead as she sometimes liked to make out.

‘What are you going do about it, suggest a rewrite to the director?’ I asked.

‘No, I don’t want to get the reputation of being a ‘difficult’ actress. The fault can be partially rectified by tone of voice and body language although I’ll probably make a subtle change without telling anyone, and hope the director thinks it was accidental and then he can decide it was his own doing.’

Preparations for the second day of filming very much followed the same pattern as the first day with Chloe Sandra and Frances helping us both to get ready. By this time, I’d lost any previous self-consciousness and chatted happily with them while trying to adopt a more female tone of voice and copying some of Amy’s hand gestures. Nobody commented, even if they did notice. I was just accepted by them as Nicola, one more member of the cast.

I was going to be much more centre stage on this occasion as the scene depicted a Good Friday Hunt Meet in front of the great house, where refreshments were being served to the riders in advance of the hunt setting out. Lucy Robarts was to be the only female main character although there were also a couple of female extras on the periphery both of whom had been hired sometime before as accomplished riders. Thus, I spent quite a few hours in the saddle although on this occasion with relatively little time riding. Most of the time we sat around on horseback with the Assistant Directors or Production Assistants staging the scene or planning the shots. Jenny or one of the other P.A.s used storyboards to explain to each of the main characters exactly where we had to be and what we needed to do. For those few occasions when Lucy Robarts had any lines, Amy would take my place at the last moment.

I noted that, as discussed, the previous night, Amy made a subtle change to the script at one point but nobody made any objection since it was clearly an improvement. It was also interesting to see how an apparently two-dimensional and uninteresting conversation in the script could be brought to life in the hands of a competent actress such as Amy. There was clearly more to acting than just following instructions.

All the horses had come from stable in Ireland specializing in supplying animals to TV and film companies. They had been chosen for their even easygoing temperaments and most had been used in films before. Filming with horses can be problematic: they can’t be expected to understand why the same action might need to be repeated several times to get different shots or camera angles. Fortunately, there wasn’t going to be gunfire or other loud noises going off which can spook an inexperienced horse. Nevertheless, the presence of the lights and so many people rushing around can make them nervous. Moonbeam began to get a little restless towards the end of the morning as she was unused to standing around for hours on end with a rider on her back. There was no danger involved but she needed to be re-assured by someone who understood her temperament. Thus, as soon as the crew broke for lunch, I asked permission to give her a quick run in the next field to calm her down and stretch her legs, before handing her over to my former colleagues to be unsaddled and given a rub down.

‘I can now see why Frank chose to employ you as Amy’s stand-in. Well done!’ commented Alison upon my return to the set.

‘There was no great problem but young horses can sometimes tell if their rider is feeling nervous. Moonbeam just needed a little re-assurance,’ I replied.

‘I really will have to get in some more practice at riding side-saddle, for the future’ said Amy who had just joined us.

‘Maybe I could give you another lesson tomorrow after we’ve finished filming for the day if nobody has any objection.’ I suggested.

‘Take great care if you do, the last thing we want is for Amy to be injured,’ said Alison.

‘Yes of course, we’ll take care. Was everything ok with today’s rushes?’ I asked.

‘Yes, as far as I know, there was nothing that we won’t be able to use so you have clearly been taking my advice. We’ll just have to finish the Meet scene tomorrow, and then you should be free until early next week, Nicola, unless you are needed as an extra.’

‘No problem, I’ll do whatever is required.’

Amy and I had our evening meal on set with other members of the cast and gossiped about the events of the day. I was pleased to see that I was gradually becoming accepted by the other members of the cast and once again I was congratulated about the way I’d handled Moonbeam. Afterwards Amy and I retired to her caravan.

‘Will you need any help learning your lines for tomorrow,’ I asked.

‘No thanks, there aren’t many lines so I should be ok. Tonight, I have to deal with a pile of fan mail.’

‘What does that involve?’

‘In most cases I send a ready-made publicity photograph with a printed message on the back, which I have already signed. Lorna, my personal assistant used to do this for me, and only pass on those letters that needed a personal reply. She even drafted and signed some of these letters for me at times, but since she has left, I’ve rather got behind with them, and they do tend to pile up,’ she admitted.

‘Can I help you with anything?’ I asked.

‘Yes please. I’ll sign some more photos and put them in envelopes, if you wouldn’t mind typing their names and addresses into this label printing programme, and then stick on an address label,’

‘Of course, I should be happy to do so.’

‘Great and we can chat together and you can practice your girly voice as we go through them.’

‘Alright then.’

Over the next hour-and-a-half we began to make inroads into the pile until Amy appeared to have had enough.

‘Thanks, Nikki, you’re a real star and your voice training is coming along nicely.

‘I should be happy to help you anytime that I can, to pay you back for everything you have done for me,’ I said in the most feminine voice I could manage.

‘I know it isn’t the most exciting job, but if we could spend an hour doing them each evening, we’ll soon get them all done.’

The filming went so well on the Wednesday morning that all agreed that they had satisfactorily finished the equestrian scenes involving Amy by lunchtime. This time, Moonbeam was better behaved and was more used to the strange and slightly chaotic atmosphere on the film set. Nevertheless, I took her for a short run during the lunch break before handing her back to Alan to feed and groom. I had just joined Amy back on set when Alison came over having just checked the daily rushes with Frank.

‘I’m sorry ladies, but we are going to need to do a couple of retakes tomorrow morning. There are a couple of shots involving Nicola that are a little out of focus and another scene with Amy where there is a brief glimpse of a microphone boom. It isn’t either of your faults but these things do happen. I’m fairly sure that you’ll both be free by lunchtime tomorrow,’ she said as we were both getting changed.

‘So, I should be clear for the weekend afterwards?’ asked Amy.

Alison looked a little awkward.

‘Les Worth, the Director of Photography, is hoping to move forward a couple of your outdoor scenes in the stable yard that are scheduled to be shot early next week, to this Friday and Saturday. It will make things much easier for him to prepare for the large-scale hunting scenes next week, if he can do so.’

‘I shall be ok for Friday, but I’d already agreed with Frank some time ago that I’ll be attending a TV award ceremony in London on Saturday evening, although I’ll be back on set by Sunday evening. Can Les work round that?’

‘I’ll have to speak to him.’

Then turning to me she said. ‘Once we’re finished with you tomorrow, Nicola, all that remains for you to do will be the hunting scenes, scheduled for next Tuesday to Thursday. ‘

‘Does that mean I can revert to being a young man in the intervening period?’ I asked.

‘Not if you want to continue staying with me,’ said Amy abruptly.

I don’t even know what made me say that as it was not what I wanted to do.

‘No, it would be easier for you to remain as you are, we wouldn’t want to give costume and makeup even more work next week as they will be dealing with many extras. In any event we may want to use you as an extra on Friday or Saturday.’

Later that night I offered to go through Amy’s lines for the retake with her.

‘There’s no real need, thanks, the scene that I’m due to re-shoot tomorrow is quite straightforward.’

‘In that case can I help with the backlog of your fan mail?’

‘Alright then, I suppose so.’

Amy didn’t sound too enthusiastic but we did so for about an hour when she sighed and seemed to be bored with the task.

‘It looks as if we’re both going to be free from filming tomorrow afternoon, and Moonbeam is still available, would you like that riding lesson that I promised you?’ I asked seeking to make conversation.

‘We would have to get changed out of our costumes first,’ she replied.

‘Yes, of course. Do you have a pair riding breeches that you can wear’?

‘Yes, but I haven’t said that I agree yet, and in any event, I thought you wanted to show me how to ride side-saddle.’

‘I do, but it’ll still be best for you to wear breeches to begin with as an ordinary skirt could get caught up with the side-saddle if you lost your balance.’

‘That’s what I was worried about.’

‘You should be ok as long as you don’t try to go too fast.’

Amy seemed to be turning things over in her mind.

‘If we do go out riding together what will you wear?’

‘I’ll be riding one of the other horses astride and so I’ll need to wear my jeans, but don’t worry with this hair and these boobs I’ll still look like a girl.’

‘Alright Nikki, I’ll agree to have a riding lesson with you tomorrow afternoon, if you agree to let me give you another advanced makeup lesson.’

‘When?’

‘There’s no time like the present, I’ve had enough of dealing with this fan mail for one night.’

‘But you’ve already shown me how to put on lipstick and eye-shadow when we went out together last Sunday evening.’

‘Those are just the basics; I want to see what you look like in full-slap and wearing a glamorous twenty-first-century dress.’

Amy appeared quite enthused with her idea. I hesitated but then shrugged my shoulders.

‘Alright, so long as you don’t expect me to go out wearing it afterwards.’

Amy gave one of her wicked smiles that I’d previously found so attractive.

‘Alright, on this occasion it can be a rehearsal, but I warn you that I’m determined to take you out for the evening in full girly girl mode one day before we finish filming, although maybe you need to practice your voice and presentation a little more first,’

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