PRACTICAL MAGIC

     I have been blessed with luck when it comes to running into famous people. One of my most memorable being when I was living on Whidbey Island in Washington State. I lived in the seaside town of Coupeville. The quaint, quiet village I lived in suddenly became alive with Hollywood gossip when word got out that a movie was going to begin filming there. The movie was Practical Magic, starring Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Stockard Channing and  Dianne Weist. A movie about witches, spells, truth and evil. It was based on the novel, Practical Magic written by Alice Hoffman. Griffin Dunne, from The American Werewolf in London was the director of the movie.
            They were looking for all ages to audition as extras at the local high school in town and I went in hopes to make a few extra bucks if I got picked. The audition consisted of me and about 100 others taking our turns walking out in front of a few studio people, standing there for a minute smiling and then walking back out. I went home and forgot about it after a couple days as the excitement wore off.  Then about a week later I got a phone call from the casting director asking if I would be a stand-in for Sandra Bullock (Sally Owens)! More than excited, I accepted and got my first glimpse into the Hollywood hype! I took a couple weeks off  from my job as a Travel Agent and worked as Sandra's stand-in. The waterfront buildings of Coupeville became the movie set as it transformed from it's laid back beach tones to pure white store front facades. I often spent hours waiting and watching the crew prepare the scene, rework it and remark it over and over on set.I was there to basically go over the movements she would be doing so the cameras could get set up correctly so she wouldn't waste her time doing it. By the time Sandra came out everything was in place and it was a fairly quick shoot for her.
         I made small talk with her when we were stuck in the room together for a long period of time. Just talking about my niece and general island life. She joked around a bit but really never offered to much to say.

                                                    
           Aiden Quinn and Mark Feuerstein were also in the movie and extremely kind people.Mark and I had a mutual love for reggae music and he was a great pool partner. Everyone would meet after the long day in the local Captain's Alley. It was a dim lit bar set on stilts over the water with windows all around looking out over Penn Cove. Everyone would just hang out, talk, have a few drinks, play pool and  unwind from the day. Sandra never came out to the bar (that I saw) and never said much to me while working and that was ok by me. There were rumors of Matthew Mcconaughy and Tom Cruise being on set too since they were dating Nichole and Sandra at the time but I never saw them. I was having a blast just taking in the whole experience and meeting so many new people. After a week or so the crew loaded their equipment on a ferry and moved up north to Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands. They were to film scenes of the exterior of the main house and the dramatic outdoor scenes of the coast. They invited me with them as Sandras stand-in and I spent the next week continuing the time of my life in one of the most beautiful places on earth.While on San Juan I also met Nichole Kidman, who was a sweetheart and the 'not so bad on the eyes' Goran Visnjic.There were a number of outdoor night scenes being filmed and it was cold! Everyone was bundled up under the tents and heaters between scenes trying to keep warm. The last day I worked they filmed one of the final scenes  where all the witches fly off the roof of the house, ready to move on with their lives just being themselves. I felt a parallel connection at that point in my life.The time working on the movie was magical in it's own way and helped me realize the practical in my life.