Slipping into the scene.

Photo: Jess Husband

Paige Gardiner as "Pink"

By Carissa Pritchard

When I first interviewed Paige Gardiner, playing “Pink”, she said, working with Director, Garnet Mae, was easy. “He has a pretty clear idea of what he wants and to a certain extent, he trusts us.” The project was great because, “It’s rare, for an actress to play such great roles.” Most male actors I’ve told about Reservoir Cats have said, ‘Really? Girls can’t pull that off.’”

INT. WAREHOUSE - DAY

Paige (Pink) and Amanda (White) are shooting the scene revealing the heist was a set-up. After nailing numerous takes, Garnet is now free to try something different, he confers with Paige. Today's crew - Production Manager, Orsi and Head of Make-up, Laura, sit behind Garnet, flipping through celebrity magazines.

Pink and White take their places.

    

GARNET

Action.

WHITE

Have a cigarette.

PINK

I quit.

WHITE

Alright.

PINK

Why? Have you got one?

GARNET

Cut! Turn before you say the line. Again. Action.

WHITE

Have a cigarette.

PINK

I quit.

WHITE

Alright.

PINK

Why? Have you got one?

GARNET

Cut. Turn the other way. Still rolling and Action.

WHITE

Have a cigarette.

PINK

I quit.

WHITE

Alright.

PINK

Why? Have you got one?

GARNET

Cut. Look over here when you say the line. Go again.

WHITE

Have a cigarette.

PINK

I quit.

WHITE

Alright.

PINK

Why? Have you got one?

GARNET

Cut! Again, without giggling this time.

PINK

(yelling)

I QUIT!!!

GARNET

This is called “taking direction.” It’s an important scene, it’s where your character arcs, you need to get it right.

Orsi looks up from her magazine.

ORSI

(To Laura)

I didn’t realise how hot Beyonce’s Mum is.

LAURA

Yeah, she’s totally hot. Did you read that article about Nicholas Cage being a vampire?

When Garnet calls a wrap on the scene, DOP, Gary Russell, calls a cigarette break. Paige sits down on a crate and looks over her script.

I ask, “How’d you find that?”

“Frustrating”, Paige replies.

“Does the angst help?”

“Yes,” she laughs. “In that scene it helped. It was just a misunderstanding.  I always pride myself on taking direction. I wasn’t clear about what Garnet wanted.”

If you were expecting Paige to lambast the director, then you might have interpreted her polite response as “being professional”. But to me, it shows, not only is she an incredibly gifted actress, she’s not insecure either. What a combination, one that Garnet obviously recognises, evident by the fact she’s the first actress I’ve seen him joke around with.

I ask her, “How are you finding your character?”

“It’s a bit of a stretch for me, this character, being the bad ass I don’t want to turn it into a stereotype; I’m not playing ‘the dark side’. The character’s very intelligent, not as cool as a gangster would be. But still, when I was running down the street shooting, I was thinking, ‘I hope this is coming off’.”

The next scene, is described by Garnet as, “A tough one – there’s five pages of dialogue and smoking. Please don’t look like you’re smoking. Action.”

When Garnet calls “cut”, I realise I had slipped into the scene. Rather than watching the making of a movie that’s remaking a movie, I was watching a thief on the run, fighting for survival, trying to save herself. Paige Gardiner stands out. To say she’s going to be a big star one day would be a cliché, and like any great actress she avoids them in her work. To say the least, Paige proves women can play bad asses. As for Nicholas Cage, that hasn’t been proven.