The new film Leatherheads, a romantic comedy about the beginning of football, was released Friday, April 4. My fiancé and I are incredibly excited about it, mainly because we were both extras in the film.
The movie was filmed in several towns all over North Carolina and South Carolina, as well as Chattanooga. Seems like an abnormal place for a major budget movie to be filmed, but George Clooney wanted to make the film as true as possible, using fields that are still around from the 1920s. You’d be surprised how many high school and college fields have not been updated since they were built in North Carolina and South Carolina.
When my fiancé went to set, the base camp was set up in Statesville, N.C., which pretty much has one main street and that is all. For the first few days that I was there, I stayed at the base camp in the hair department assisting my mother, who is a hair and makeup artist, along with the other artists. I also assisted the casting and wardrobe departments. This is what I usually do when I go to see my mother on film sets.
However, for this film I did something that I have never done before. Becca, a hair and makeup artist who is a friend of my moms, looked at my hairline and said, “Mary (my mom’s name) you know what, her hairline is perfect for a shingle bob.”
I thought about that phrase and said, “Umm, what?”
Becca looked at the wall and showed me a picture of a 1925 shingle bob, which was the “it” hair at the time. I have not had my hair that short since I came screaming from the womb.
Becca asked if I would let her give me a shingle bob, and I said why not, if I was ever going to cut 11 inches off of my hair, at least I would have an awesome story for it.
I had mom and Becca save the strands and send them to Locks for Love so that I would be helping someone and have another great reason to cut all of my hair off.
When Becca cut it all off, I looked at the mirror and could not believe what I saw for the longest time. I also could not stop petting the shaved shingle on the back of my head, which was so cool. Mom and Becca told me that they actually had a lot of girls cry their eyes out when they have to cut their hair, and only a few girls would actually go as short as the shingle bob.
Some girls even left the shoot because they refused to cut their hair. Seriously, how important can you hair possibly be for you to cry over or miss out on an incredible experience?
After that, I was fitted for this awesome black silk dress from 1925, and a velvet maroon coat with intricate details. My fiancée was a fire chief, so he was dressed in the huge black fire boots, pants and cloak.
He had a gigantic fire hat that looked like a massive bucket on top of his head.
Later that afternoon, we had dinner with an actor that my mom has known from past films. His name is John “Spud” McConnell, and he was the bullhorn fireman in the film. He was the 33rd actor out of 74 in Leatherheads.
John is from New Orleans, and is quite possibly one of the funniest men I have ever met. He was in Ladykillers, Monster’s Ball, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, to name a few. Also, he has a radio talk show in New Orleans.
John ended up buying us all dinner, even though everyone protested. “The movie man George sent me a big check just for showing up here, so I can cover supper,” John told us in his sweet New Orleans accent.
After supper, we all walked down to the ice cream shop where my fiancé bought us ice cream, since John covered supper. Hanging out with John that night ended up being one of the coolest experiences we had. The next day, eating lunch with mom, Becca and John McConnell, we met John Krasinski, who plays Jim on “The Office.”
Later while filming the scene when the speakeasy gets busted, we met George Clooney. And I met Renee Zellweger while shooting a downtown scene. She is quite possibly the tiniest girl I have ever seen.
Before the film was released, there was a premier in Greenville, S.C., which is where a bulk of the filming took place. Clooney, Zellweger and all of the other actors came to raise funds and donate them all to a local charity.
All in all, it was an awesome experience. Sometimes I have missed my hair, but it actually ended up being very cute and now I absolutely love it. I may grow it all out just to cut it all off and donate it again.

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