GMMR: On the Set of PRIVILEGED

Visiting the set of one of your favorite television shows is always a bit surreal. You walk into a building and you are immediately engulfed in a world that you have only seen on your TV screen. What looks like massive rooms on-camera turn out be tiny little half wall sets. What appears to be a gorgeous outdoor garden turns out to be fake trees strategically placed for the best camera angles. What seems like a whole world on TV ends up feeling small and functional when you are on set.

But then something really cool happens. You settle in, the director says “Action!”  and you look through these tiny monitors…and there’s the magic. The universe of your TV shows comes to life through these monitors and things look just like they do from the comfort of your couch.  It’s about this time you realize just how very cool the whole process is.

I’ve been lucky to visit a number of TV sets over the past few years, and it’s never lost its thrill. I’m a dork – this I know and acknowledge – but going behind-the-scenes of a show I love never, and I mean never, gets old. It’s one of those tings I don’t take for granted…believe me.

All this lead up to share with you some of the sights and sounds and people I met when I recently spent the day on the set of my new favorite show of this past TV season – PRIVILEGED.

I’m always a bit nervous walking on to a set. Will the people be nice? Will they resent I’m there just hanging out during their work day? Will I accidentally knock something over with my bag and ruin a take of scene (you know the perfect take) that will inevitably have to be reshot but the actors have just given it their all and therefore don’t have anything left, which leaves the director with a less than perfect scene which will have to go in to the final cut because he has no other choices, and in turn I have forever negatively impacted a show? You know, those kinds of worries.

To relieve you of the drama, I will say that everyone I encountered on the set of PRIVILEGED was genuinely nice, and I didn’t do anything to disrupt any scenes. Whew…I was tempted to steal some of Sage & Rose’s prop jewelry, but alas my self control was well in tact that day.

For those of you who may never be lucky to visit a working TV set, let me tell ya…it takes a lot to put together a single scene. I was there a good part of the day and only saw one scene being filmed. It must be said that it was a BIG scene for one of the characters and everyone on set took a lot of care with the scene to get it just right. But what really takes all the time is everything happening around the actors. The lighting, the camera angles, the hair and makeup – it’s all very well planned with great detail.

While I was there, I watched a scene being filmed with Sage (Ashley Newbrough) and Luis (Ignacio Serricchio) – a cousin’ of Charlie’s who gets a job working alongside Marco – you’ll meet him in tonight’s episode.

Without giving too much a way, I can tell you that the scene, which took place in the mansion’s courtyard, was intense. And it required Ashley to be working an exquisite, custom made red gown. (Seriously the girl knows how to work a dress.) The scene was shot from a few different viewpoints which required a lot of camera movement and set-up, but the actors brought the good stuff to each and every take. I’ll tease a bit more when we get closer to the ep, but I would feel bad if I ruined it.

During one of the longer breaks in between filming, I got to spend some time with Ashley. We talked about her family and friends, and how she is adjusting to her new life as a TV actress.  We also talked a little bit about the fan reaction to the show. “People love and hate Sage” said Newbrough. “I’ve had a lot of mixed feedback on the character, which is great. It just goes to show that Sage isn’t your average bitch. People may in one minute think she’s mean and rude, but then they also say that they love how sweet she is with Rose. Sage is definitely a difficult girl, but I’m glad the fans can see through it all and see that she’s had it tough and that she is just being, I don’t know, guarded.”

Ashley also talked about her off-screen friendship with her on-screen sis, Lucy Kate Hale (Rose), “One of the great things about being such good friends with Lucy off the set is that we don’t really need to turn it off and on for the camera. We are that close. My mom goes back and forth between L.A. and Canada [where Ashley is from], and recently she was gone for a few weeks, and Lucy stayed with me. We had so much fun that when she had to leave I was like ‘Oh my God, don’t go!’. It worked out not only because we could go over our scenes at night, but more importantly because it was just so much fun.”

The sense of friendship and camaraderie was something I most certainly felt when I was on set. Later in the day I headed over to JoAnna Garcia’s trailer to find her already done with hair and makeup and just chilling out with Brian Hallisay who plays Will. JoAnna also told me of he vibe on the set. “I know it’s kind of a cliche to say that we are all like family, but it’s true. Everyone I work with is just so great that I feel protective of them like I do my family. It doesn’t feel as much like work when you get to hang with your friends all day.” That much I could see in the banter between JoAnna and Brian. When I first met up with them they were telling me about a recent promotional trip they took to Chicago, and while I don’t think it’s my place to be retelling their story, I will say that they certainly know how to have a good time and make the best out of a “work” trip.  It was right there and then that I decided to quit my job and go work full time on PRIVILEGED.  Ok, maybe not, but it seemed like a fun idea at the time.

I’m going to share more of my conversations with Ashley, JoAnna and Brian soon, but I thought for now I would share some of the behind-the-scenes pics that I snagged during my set visit.

Before we get to the pics…a special thanks to everyone at PRIVILEGED for letting me hang with you for the day.  I had a blast!  And a special thanks to my girl Robin for being so great to me…as always!

And don’t forget to tune into PRIVILEGED tonight (December 1st) on a special night and time. 9pm on The CW (right after GOSSIP GIRL).