I'm ready for my close up, Mr DeMille

I toddled along to Bedford today on the basis that there was an open audition for extras for a major feature film which is being shot in a nearby aircraft hanger and which the production company cannot name under any circumstances but which everyone else knows is Batman Begins. The town itself turned out to be a small industrialised sort of a place, in vague proximity to Milton Keynes (famed for concrete cows and roundabouts - thus endeth my knowledge) which flatters itself by having a wholly unwarranted tourist office in close proximity to the train station. That or I've become entirely too jaded after living in a major metropolitan area this long.

I made the eminently sensible decision to turn up about an hour early, at which point there were between forty and fifty people in the queue ahead of me (oh alright, there were 46, but don't tell anyone I counted). An hour later, there were a couple of hundred behind me (I can tell you exactly, but that really isn't going to make me look good...). The crowd was surprisingly varied, covering a broad spectrum of ages, races and genders. I'd half expected a brigade of trench-coated goths (of whom a few were present), but on the whole it seemed a fairly representative cross section of society. I found myself waiting with a pleasant family on one side (although their sons ability to dislocate his shoulder at will was somewhat disconcerting), and an extremely nervous lad on the other who refused to be drawn into any sort of conversation, despite my best efforts. He certainly made me feel better about my own social graces, which may not be as lacking as I once thought.

As for the audition itself, well... I'd love to say that I finally got a chance to perform my one man Shakespeare revue followed by my 76 minute self arranged medley of the greatest hits of Andrew Lloyd Webber to the acclaim of all, but alas it seems that particular performance will have to wait for another time. In the end, all they wanted were a few particulars after which a photograph was taken and... that was it. Slightly disappointing all things considered. The opportunity to actually appear in the film does make up for it a little, but given that one of the particulars they seemed especially interested in was whether I had my own transport or not (which I do not), I'm not inclined to rate my chances. Still, I'm glad I went along, since I would have kicked myself to have missed it. Now I just have to spend the next few months sitting by the phone waiting for my moment of fame to arrive. I'm not asking for much really - I think 15 minutes should suffice perfectly well...