I can't believe it has been 20 years since my very first movie role. I was playing the part of a girl who follows a celebrity out of an autograph signing and then is immediately afterwards killed in a car accident. This was all I knew because I had originally auditioned for another part but was cast in this one. I was a little nervous about the car accident scene but the assistant producer assured me it would be filmed without any of us actors actually inside the vehicle. They generally don't give the whole script to the day players so I didn't yet know the larger theme of the film.
I was in performing arts school at the time and was pleased with having been cast in my first real part in Deathumentary, an independent film with a budget of about $50,000.
The night before the shoot I was watching a movie at home with my friend Jeannine and on the news came the shocking story that Princess Diana was in a serious car accident and in grave condition. As many now know, she left her Paris hotel with her companion in a car driven by a chauffer, when there was a distraction with paparazzi on motorcycles that played a significant part in the crash. Jeannine and I watched and waited late into the night to see if Diana would survive. She was so young and well liked, it was really hard to believe she could pass away. But as the news came on again we gasped in horror and sadness that she was gone. The worst part to accept was that the Paparazzi that had relentlessly hounded her most of her life, beyond anything ever seen before with a public figure, were a major contributor to her sudden and untimely death.
I was in performing arts school at the time and was pleased with having been cast in my first real part in Deathumentary, an independent film with a budget of about $50,000.
The night before the shoot I was watching a movie at home with my friend Jeannine and on the news came the shocking story that Princess Diana was in a serious car accident and in grave condition. As many now know, she left her Paris hotel with her companion in a car driven by a chauffer, when there was a distraction with paparazzi on motorcycles that played a significant part in the crash. Jeannine and I watched and waited late into the night to see if Diana would survive. She was so young and well liked, it was really hard to believe she could pass away. But as the news came on again we gasped in horror and sadness that she was gone. The worst part to accept was that the Paparazzi that had relentlessly hounded her most of her life, beyond anything ever seen before with a public figure, were a major contributor to her sudden and untimely death.
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| Anna Wendt, Karen Wendt, Leland Crooke |
The next day I arrived on the set ready for my car accident scene, but distracted with the news of the night before. One of the producers then told me that coincidentally the premise of my scene, which had been written several weeks before, was very similar to what had happened to Princess Diana. If you don't already know, the paparazzi were taking photos of Diana while she lay dying in the mangled Mercedes after the accident. This was exactly the premise of the scene we were shooting less than 24 hours later.
As we waited for the other actress in the scene to show up, she flaked out and called to cancel at the last minute.. So I suggested we contact and ask my sister Karen who lived close by if she'd like the role. The crew thought that was a great idea and so they called and offered her the part...if she could get there quickly. She said ok, and in that strange way was cast in her first film as well. Thankfully she was a good sport and got ready and whizzed over there to join us within an hour, keeping the production on schedule. (Too bad we had to both die in our very first scene together.)
In the plot of the film, a man known as Dr. Seymour had happened along a car accident one day, filmed the aftermath and started selling copies of the video. This went so well for him he found another crime scene and filmed that, and on it went. Unbeknownst to any but his inner circle, he then started to actually cause accidents in order to film and profit from them.
Now, twenty years later, it makes you wonder about some of the video and live streaming content you see these days. The screenwriter of Deathumentary must have had an insight, albeit a macabre one, into one particular aspect of the future. Now that we live in a 24/7 live streaming world, let's hope society polices itself on what is and is not "acceptable" media.
Deathumentary, although written and completed in 1997, was not officially released until several years later and only on the film festival circuit. Writer/Director Lawrence Riggins.
Related article: http://www.entertainmentdaily.co.uk/news/paparazzo-who-took-pictures-of-princess-diana-as-she-was-dying-breaks-silence-on-what-he-did-with-them/
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