As a beginning actor, Red Tomatoes Crosswalk was my first real acting gig, so I didn’t know quite what to expect. What made a lasting impression on me were Elena’s professionalism, dedication, and focus.
When I first read the script, several suggestions came to mind for improving the English (Elena’s native language is Russian), but I didn’t know whether I was overstepping any boundaries by coming to her with re-writes. There was one word in one of my lines, however, that clearly needed to be changed, and Elena readily accepted my suggestion. When the policeman approaches the vegetable vendor on the sidewalk, the script originally had me saying, “You are a germ of street disorder. There’s no space to walk through here.”
Hmm.
What does she mean by “germ”? I asked myself. Then I looked up the word “germ” in the dictionary and found that one of the meanings is something that serves as a source or initial stage. In other words, in the context of the script, “germ” must mean “cause.” That’s how my line became “You are a cause of street disorder.”
The language barrier was also a challenge when taking directions, but in one instance Elena got me to do what she wanted in a brilliant way. While shooting one of my close-ups, when I’m preventing the designer from crossing the street, Elena said to me, “You are too intelligent.”
Hmm.
What does she mean by that? I thought. Then she handed me a sandwich roll to munch on while I said my lines, which got me to make the facial expression she was looking for. You can see that in the film’s opening montage.
I had some surprises, too. When we did the exterior shots on West 62nd Street, I was instructed by Ilya to wear a shirt over my policeman’s uniform whenever I was off the set so that I wouldn’t be mistaken for a real cop. Since it was a warm, humid day in August, I couldn’t wait to do my next scene so that I could take that shirt off. I also had to put my fake gun away in its box whenever I was done shooting a scene. And speaking of the gun, I was praying that no one would search my backpack as I made my way through Penn Station and onto the subway. How would I explain to an NYPD officer why I was carrying a fake gun and a policeman’s uniform in my backpack? Fortunately, I made it to the set without incident.
I had the time of my life being a part of this film and would do it again in an instant. Not only did I get to be in a film, but I also got to do some stunt work (slipping on the tomatoes), and had fun practicing my rusty Russian with Elena, Ilya, and Alisher. Everyone was wonderful, and I thank them all for making it an experience I will never forget.
Michael Koy
I still can’t believe that you were able to transform yourself into this police officer character and were diligently fighting all sort of aliens. But… we made it happened.