They must have shot the secret handshake scene with Buck and his buddy a dozen times, each seemingly with a different set of steps and phrases. It was cool to be on set as they were filming…each shot was done multiple times, in different ways, sometimes with different dialog. It was kind of a dive, has since been torn down, and did not have the big marquee out front shown in the movie. So me and 4 of the other guys that responded to the original stand-in call, spent two 14-hour days in a Cicero bowling alley wearing red bowling shirts with a big “5 Aces” logo on the back. Seems they thought it might be fun to have a team of 5 big guys in the alley while Buck is bowling. I was John Candy’s stand-in on Uncle Buck – part 2īut a couple of weeks later, I got another call asking if I would be interested in being an extra in a bowling alley scene. I thanked them for the experience (and pay, which was much better than my regular job back then!) and figured my brush with Hollywood was over. Candy’s double was again available for stand-in work, and I would no longer be needed. I was there 12-14 hours each day, as was most everyone else, who got double-time after 8 hours…easy to see why a movie costs millions to make! The catering trucks were from California, and the cast ate first, followed by the crew, and then any extras or stand-ins…the food was amazing!Īfter about a week of this, I was told Mr. I also got to see Macaulay Culkin and Gabby Hoffman running around in the school in their robes, and the actor playing the dad walking around with makeup tissues sticking out of his collar. While not on set, I was welcomed to eat from the craft services table (which was an amazing spread) and chatted with the crew…really regular people who spent much of their spare time on the set playing liar’s poker (I came out ahead!). I was seated at the kitchen table with a female little person (she was a child actor stand-in as the hours are limited that a kid can be on set) while John Hughes and his team planned how the scene was going to go…the angles, the cuts, etc…it was fascinating! I was also used to set up the giant pancake scene in the kitchen, but the most memorable by far was the dragnet-style interrogation scene between John Candy and Macaulay Culkin. This scene was cut from the movie, but appears in the trailer. One was a scene set in the bathroom where Buck has this suitcase-sized travel bag and pulls enormous bottles of Listerine, shampoo and other items out of it, he also cuts himself repeatedly while shaving and has little bits of TP all over his face. John Candy seemed like a really nice guy, and we exchanged low-key “hellos” as we passed once, but I did not want to get thrown off the set, and did not have any contact with him beyond that.Īll of the house interior sets were built inside the empty gymnasium of New Trier West, which amazed me…any of the walls or ceilings could be removed to allow shooting from whatever angle they needed. As I had never done this before, I was told in no uncertain terms that this was a job and I was not to bother the “talent” as I walked off a set and he walked on. I would literally stand in John Candy’s place, while the scene was set up and lit. Turns out they ended up bringing in his usual stand-in/double/stuntman from Hollywood, but needed an extra stand-in while his double did stunt work and second unit driving scenes. I figured I’d gotten a small glimpse inside the world of movies, but would never hear from them again.Ī few weeks later, however, I got another call, asking if I would be available to do a few days of stand-in work for John Candy. I was thanked and told I’d be called if they needed me. For some of the pictures, they had me wear his hat as well. One-by-one, we were taken into a room where we were asked to put on a fat suit (he was a really big guy!), his shoes, and his overcoat for a series of polaroid pictures. I found myself in line in a hallway with a dozen other guys who roughly resembled Mr. Turns out they were trying to save the expense of bringing John Candy’s usual stand-in from California, by hiring a local nobody who looked like him. I then received a call from a casting agent who invited me to meet at a room in New Trier West High School, which was unused at that time due to demographic changes in the area. I was an extra on Uncle Buck and also worked as a stand-in for John Candy on a number of the scenes shot “inside the house.” It was my only experience working on a movie set, as my mother had responded to an ad that had been placed in our local paper looking for someone who resembled John Candy in size and appearance. I was John Candy’s stand-in on Uncle Buck – part 1
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