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EXTRA EXTRAS: ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD…
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During my Junior year at UCLA, Parks and Recreation, that sitcom that had its hey-day, in, like, the late 2000’s and that several of my friends continue to watch today as reruns to help them fall asleep — was filming a debate scene at a large auditorium our campus. Extras were everywhere. Meanwhile…
PART 1: The Blossoming Comediennes
That morning, me and my two roommates woke up with a start. As big “comedy fans” we could smell Amy Poehler from miles away. On our walk to class, we saw the extras roaming around like stupid wolves. There was no time to think. We realized we needed to act and act fast: What if we snuck into the auditorium and pretended to be an extra?
PART 2: Triumph
We did. We turned our UCLA T shirts inside out to hide the letters, because we saw other extras for the show doing this with their own clothing logos. We took our seats in a corner and there were other extras around but I don’t even think the camera was pointed toward our section. One guy was doing the crossword. We were all just kinda there to fill it out. It didn’t matter to us because up on the auditorium stage…there was Amy Poehler! And also Paul Rudd! And also some other guy whose name I really don’t remember, sorry, but is totally on the show too! What a dream come true. All was going fantastically well. Until…
