I play a reporter in the Rodrigo Cortés paranormal thriller Red Lights starring Robert De Niro, Sigourney Weaver and Cillian Murphy. This indie film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 20, 2012 and was released in the UK on June 15th and the U.S. on Friday the 13th of July.
Roxanne, you don’t have to put on the Red Lights…
“Let me read your Palme d’Or…”
“Ah, Rodrigo, your lifeline tells me that even though Red Lights didn’t win the Palme d’Or, it is a must see.”
Bona nit, Barcelona
Night shoot in Barcelona! We shot at the stadium of the other ”futbol” team in Barcelona, RCD Espanyol. Since we were shooting on the outside of the stadium, the inside of the stadium was our green room that night, with 40,500 seats to choose from…
Pickpockets. Google it.
When I type “pickpockets” in Google, the autocomplete suggests “pickpockets in Barcelona” as the first alternative. Is Google’s algorithm indicating fact or fear or both? When I first visited Europe I followed the prevailing American tourist advice to wear a money belt. Since then, however, I’ve scoffed at those sweaty money belts and the idea that Europe is so overrun with pickpockets I can’t keep my wallet in my right front pocket as I do in every single American city. Isn’t this fear just a fear of the foreign, a fear that the film Taken so effectively exploits for example? Well, true or not, guess what? Yep, I found myself the target of a Barcelona pickpocket, one with a classic technique I’m told. I tell the story here.
Vintage Barcelona
Now by “vintage” I don’t mean the classic Sagrada Familia, not even the Extra Crispy Sagrada Familia.
And I’m also not referring to the gothic Starbucks architecture…
I’m talking about vintage clothes. Barcelona has one street, Carrer de la Riera Baixa, where I counted eleven vintage clothing stores, all in one block.
At Holala! I found a classic Seahawks football jersey t-shirt from the early eighties. Did I mention I’m from Seattle?
Zeattle Zeahawks
I’ve since worn this Seahawks shirt throughout Europe hoping to meet a Seahawks fan half way round the world. My hopes are based on the fact that American football actually enjoys quite a following in Europe. But I’d had no hits, that is until Vienna when I got in line to ride the giant Ferris wheel immortalized by The Third Man…
One of the Ferris wheel operators pointed to my shirt and said “Zeattle Zeahawks.” He knows the team! This was the moment I’d been hoping for! A Seahawks fan! I then asked the leading question “Are you a fan??” But to my dismay he replied “No, Zhicago Bearz.” To make matters worse, my Chicago-born wife is a big Bears fan. So she ended up being the one who got to relish this moment while I, much like my beloved Seahawks, once again fell short. I should have known. Chicago is after all the home of Vienna Beef hot dogs.
(Kind of) related posts:
- My Facebook page posts on the aforementioned pickpocket incident and the stadium “green room.”
- My Barcelona, Lisbon, and Vienna photo sets on Flickr with the palm reader, stadium, Sagrada Familia, Starbucks steeple, vintage clothing store, and Ferris wheel.
