last update: Wednesday, October 10, 2001

The Making of Hard Rain

"Flooded" with Christian: Report from the set of "The Flood," Nov 1, 1996. Abridged: We went. We saw him three times. With photos and video footage, we returned home. Unabridged(I'm rather prolific at times but I know fans want any details so here they are...) Tuesday night our local news reported that "The Flood" was filming an hour west of us in Huntingburg, Indiana. For two days, I considered going but kept thinking - what business did I have (as a 30-year-old happily married new mom who runs my own company) traipsing off to see a movie star (let's be honest - the trip was really in hopes of meeting Christian) that I might not even get to see, or then only from a distance? And, I had forgotten the name of the city.

(All pictures thanks to Elizabeth!)

So, I got on the 'net and visited Avril Hodge's web site and saw that it was Huntingburg. Then I did a search on Huntingburg, found a hotel phone number, and called it the next day. I asked the nice woman who answered the phone if she knew how long the filming was taking place. She said through Saturday, and that I really ought to come up. So I called a friend of mine, Kate, who's often joined me in such crazy adventures, and she really wanted to go. (Another friend said, "Elizabeth, you work all the time. Who cares if it's silly? Do it.") The possibility of seeing Christian was certainly THE motivation for going, but the presence of Morgan Freeman definitely justified the trip. "Shawshank Redemption" is one of my favorite movies. Friday, Kate met me at my house. I had my new camcorder but almost couldn't find my camera. I didn't know how cold or warm it would be -- it was cold and cloudy but afternoon sun was predicted. (A tip for those of you visiting such a set - I wore a typical-for-me casual black dress and brown suede coat but I should have dressed more like the production crew - fatigues, boots, heavy coats, baseball caps. That way you can blend in and more easily go places you aren't supposed to). My baby son was asleep on his nanny's chest when I left - making it easier to leave than if he were smiling and laughing, and we set out on I-64 west towards St. Louis. The drive was beautiful - all the fall colors are out. It seemed like no time before we reached Highway 231 to Huntingburg and Jasper. About seven miles down the highway, we saw a huge crane like the kind they use to demolish buildings. The road was closed so we took a right and parked on the next block. We didn't see very many people at that point at all. We walked down toward the main intersection. There were piles of sandbags lining the street. The intersection had a monument and was flooded very much. We asked some spectators what was going on, and they said they hadn't seen any actors. A couple girls told us Christian was at his hotel and was due back at the set at 4 pm. I had a small gift for him and asked them if they had any ideas on how I'd get it to him. Give it to an assistant or leave it at his hotel front desk? After all, I didn't come all this way to have it treated like just another piece of fan mail that he might or might not see, right? The girls said they heard he was at the Holiday Inn (no abundance of five-star hotels in southern Indiana). Then the rain machines started. That's what the crane was for - you could see a matrix of sprayers high above the buildings. And it didn't just rain in one little concentrated area, as I had imagined. It rained over a whole block, and hard! Everyone crowded under awnings. You couldn't see a whole lot of the action down the block (the flood area kept people pretty far back). I did see a white sedan followed by two big trucks driving into the flooded intersection, and while I was there, they repeated this a few times. Kate and I decided to leave and go find some 8mm camcorder tape (I wasn't going to tape over my son for anyone), so we set out on Hwy 231 farther north looking for Revco, a local drugstore, as someone told us that would be our best bet. After driving for several minutes, it looked like we were deep in the country again. I said "maybe we should turn around, we must have passed it." Kate said, "Wait, I see the Holiday Inn up there." So I said, "Hey, we could stop in there and ask for directions to the Revco!" Legitimate excuse, right? We didn't see any activity at the hotel except for one woman sitting in a Mercedes in the parking lot. The front desk people told us where to find Revco. I asked the clerk if she'd seen "anyone special" today. She said she hadn't seen any actors. Well, we decided to go ahead and leave. I mean, we were so obvious - two young women lurking around a hotel with no other reason to be there. But as we went back to our cars, I saw an van parked out front. I said to the driver, "Seen anyone special today?" He smiled and said yes. So I went over to him and started talking to him. He said that right around the corner was a car waiting for Christian, and that he was supposed to come out any time now. I looked at Kate - she said, "No, let's go. I don't want them to tell us to leave." I said, "Well, we can at least ask if we can take his picture or something?" I wanted to be respectful, but hey, we could at least ask after all... We went around the corner, and there was a woman in a big blue American car, and a big burly guy standing on the sidewalk. I said "Are you waiting for Christian Slater?" They were nice but didn't let on who they were waiting for. I said, "Can we just take a picture?" The security guard said, "You want to take my picture?" I laughed - "Well, no! No offense." He said, "You'll have to ask him." "Him!" I thought, "which 'Him?'" So Kate and I waited. She said, "What will you say to him?" I said, "I guess I'll ask him if I can take his picture." LESS THAN FIVE MINUTES LATER, two people walked out of the room RIGHT BEHIND US and put some bags in the trunk of the car. I mean, the whole time we were talking to the driver and security guard, HE was in the first-floor room right next to us! The guard had been asking us where we were from, and kind of teasing us about why we were really there. I mean, my "inner 15-year-old" was definitely taking over my composure. A couple minutes later, HE walked out. Wow! We were SO LUCKY. Kate and I were the ONLY people there. The guard told us the day Christian arrived, it was a mob scene, with girls throwing themselves on his car. Well - he had a very short haircut, black Wayfarer-looking sunglasses on, and I can't remember what else - I was too excited. I said, "Can I take your picture?" He smiled and said, "Sure, you can take my picture." So I snapped a couple times. Then, my boldness coming from somewhere, I said, "Can I give you a card I made?" holding it out - and he took it from my hand and looked at it as he got into the car. I had made a wallet-size, laminated card with a significant passage from a book that is special to me, and, I've read, is special to him. (If he reads this, I would love to correspond with him about it). After that, the guard gave him something to sign, and I walked around to his side of the car, and took some more pictures (I'll be posting some to Avril's web site as soon as I get them developed). Wow! Can you believe the luck? I laughed and said to Kate, "Well, we can go home now." Unfortunately the woman in the Mercedes and her daughter had gone into the hotel to use the bathroom. We saw them afterwards and they said they had been there for hours. We then made it to Revco, bought some 8mm tapes, and headed back to the set. Another stroke of luck - while the crowd was outside in the cold, and made to stand a half block down the road, we went into a little bar (called the Overtime) to use the phone. One entrance was down where the crowd was allowed, but another entrance opened right onto the set. We hung out there behind a glass door and could see everything close up. There were tons of people hanging around - many kept returning to the food table right in front of us. Some single women were commenting on the attractiveness of many members of the mostly-male production crew. There was a string of director chairs - I didn't know which one was the actual director. Many crew members were entering and leaving the bar entrance where we stood. I met the set designer and a "technical advisor." (Oddly, the tech advisor used a little Olympus Stylus like mine for some shots. I forgot to suggest that we trade cameras for a little while.) There were also golf carts going around. One driver looked a lot like Christian - buzz cut and sunglasses. We saw Christian's "stand-in" go to the food table. One of the bar employees told us stories from the week. Randy Quaid had visited her bar the evening before, and everyone got quite drunk. A friend of hers got pictures with Christian the day before, and she got to talk to him for 20 minutes. Christian had complimented the 15-year-old girl on her photography abilities, saying that she could do it professionally. Every story we heard about Christian proved him to be a very sweet and friendly guy. Another half hour later, Ed Asner walked onto the set in costume. He's the other armored car driver. So, we knew that meant Christian wasn't far behind! A few minutes later, there he was! I stepped out from the bar entrance with my camcorder ready, and got very good footage of him. With my 24X Zoom, I got extreme close-ups. Oh my God, you guys - he is gorgeous. I mean, yeah he's great looking on film - but in person, he is absolutely stunning. And I can't believe no one made me leave where I was -- I was past the crowd lines. Christian was smiling and talking to a crew member, along with Ed Asner. The tech advisor I'd met came in and asked to see the footage I got. I was almost afraid he'd take it away from me - I didn't know what the laws were concerning a celebrity's image, etc. But he just said I got great shots. For an hour after that, shooting took place inside the armored car, which was under a big black tarp. You couldn't see anything, but people outside could hear some lines being read. Then Christian emerged from the tarp and starting walking back to his trailer. A set-laborer from Huntingburg told us the actors' trailers were back behind some buildings across the street from where we were. Kate and I took off in that direction, along with a big crowd. There were about seven to ten white mobile-home-looking trailers lined up at the end of a parking lot. The same driver that was at the hotel was waiting in a car on the far side of the trailer, car running and doors open. Before people made me leave the area, I was down on this side, and smiled and waved at the driver. She said "Did you get some more pictures?" I said "yes!" and held up my camcorder. Then security cleared the parking lot and I was made to go join the crowd on the other side of the trailer. A woman with a headset and long dark hair kept going in and out of