Around 8:57 last night, I had a brief flash of panic: What if they cut my part down? I’m going to feel like the biggest jackass in history!
It was like that moment when you’re on a roller coaster, just before the chain catches and starts to pull you up the first hill: Is this going to be fun, or is it going to make me sick? But then the show started, and all I could do was watch.
I will admit that I felt my face flush when I saw my name on the screen. Anne and the kids cheered, and my stomach filled with butterflies. That was cool.
The show really reflected what I read in the script, almost word-for-word and beat-for-beat. I had forgotten that that is pretty common in television: so many people have to sign off on the story and dialogue that there is little change between what we shoot on the set and what the audience finally sees. It’s totally different in movies (theatrical or television) where the director and producers usually have much more time to cut something together, and there’s always a little bit of mystery about what is (and isn’t) going to finally make it into the final cut. Anyway, I mention it because I’d totally forgotten that’s how it is in television.
I knew that Walter was in the “B” story, and I knew that I only had a few scenes, so I relaxed. The only way they’d seriously cut my scenes down is if I just sucked out loud on the set, and I was fairly sure I didn’t.
When they found the shoe imprint under the kid’s window, Ryan turned to me and he said, “Oh! I totally know you did it, because that’s a Converse imprint!”
Before I could answer, Nolan said, “They had you wear your own shoes?”
“No,” I said. “I wore Converse from the wardrobe department that were exactly like mine but covered with dirt and oil and junk. It was funny to me that I’d take off my shoes each morning, and put on the exact same shoes, only dirty.”
“SHH!” Anne said. Apparently she was watching the show.
The show rolled on, and we all laughed out loud during the “only geeks say ‘da bomb'” scene. I guess I’m not a real geek, because I don’t think I’ve ever said “da bomb.” And if I do, I hope someone hits me in the back of the head so it never happens again.
I knew it would be a long time before I was on screen, but it still felt like an eternity . . . until someone mentioned “that creepy homeless guy” and my family cheered again.
“Oh! I know that guy!” I said, and laughed with them as my nerves started to get worked up again.
Then, suddenly, George and Gary drove into the park, and there was crazy Walter in his little tent.
I thought I looked a little chubby in my face (thank you, Stone Brewing company) but the real volatility that I was hoping for was definitely there. After they walked me off to the police car, Nolan said, “Man, that was scary!”
“It was cool, though,” Ryan said.
“Thanks, you guys.”
Couple of things about that scene:
- That was the first scene I filmed in the show, and I turned the excited “I can’t fucking believe I get to do this!” energy into “My! Name! Is! Walter!” and “It’s Mine!” Heh.
- We had to race to get it filmed, because the skies were really threatening to tear themselves open and rain all over us.
- They cut the scene before I got thrown into the police car, but on one of the takes, Joe Kelly threw me into the car so violently I flew across the seat and slammed my head into the door on the other side. In addition to the ringing in my ears, I got to enjoy the stabbing of a thousand wig pins. It really hurt, but because we were all worried about the rain, I didn’t say anything about it to anyone. I just quietly asked my costumer if she could hook me up with some Advil, which she did. So Walter’s totally hopped up on Advil in that scene.
- I had bruises for several days on my arms and in my ribs from struggling against the cops when they pulled me out of my cool little tent.
- Though it was on screen for about 22 seconds, it took close to two hours to shoot that sequence.
- We shot it in a park in The Valley, about a quarter of a mile from the location where the murdered kid’s house was.
Oh shit, it’s 11am. I haven’t showered yet, and I have to be at the Grand Slam Star Trek convention in 30 minutes.
It feels anti-climactic to stop this entry here, but I’ll write about the rest of the show later today or over the weekend.
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I fired up my ReplayTV tonight to watch your episode of CSI….
they had pre-empted it for a piece of shit basketball game.
There was not even a minute of CSI on the tape.
I was SO pissed.
I will have to download it.
I have watched all three versions of CSI (don’t like “Miami”). None of them are as good as the “original,” which you were on. While I joke that part of the appeal is that everyone on that show is so darn beautiful, I think it is also that they are all so pitch-perfect in their roles. I care about every one of the characters & eagerly look forward to seeing their development.
You played on that level, with the same intensity and caring about your role. Excellent job, very good to watch & enjoy.
Also thought it was interesting that the promos hyped up Stephen Baldwin (who I loved on The Young Riders oh so many years ago) & his role turned out to be pretty small as well. You were not even mentioned, sort of like an Easter Egg on a dvd, a little special surprise. Congrats & good work.
Just saw it, downloaded of course (Japan is still on season 1 CSI) great scene, my wife didnt even recognize you, good job!
BTW: Egg radio playins an audio clip of your scene, “thats a nice blue shirt walter”
::holds up an asahi::
for you my man… kampai
lynx
Wil, you rocked in that episode! I was a little bummed that you didn’t have more screen time, but neither did Stephe Baldwin, so it’s all good!
I finally just watched it. Great work!
I watched your scene a second time.
Hey Wil,
SUPURB Job on Walter buddy! I have shown your episode of CSI to many of my friends this weekend and we’re all hoping that Quentin Tarantino will cast you as the next “Jason” if he gets to do Friday the 13th – the next film! That would be so cool! Only geeks say …..da bomb! You were DA BOMB! BTW – where the heck was Daphne Zunga? Was she the first fligh attendant who was killed? Couldn’t figure out where the heck she was!
Have a great week Wil and will be showing this CSI to many more of my friends.
When I was teaching 5th grade waaaaay back in 1999-2000, “da bomb” was just phasing (no pun intended) out to be replaced by “that’s tight!”. Just think…5 years from now, some geeky character will utter “that’s tight!” and get the same reaction.
Oh, yeah…Great job, Wil!
Will,
Great job on CSI man. You really got under the skin of Walter as a million people above me have said. As if the episode wasn’t cool enough it’s also got Eleiga by New Order in it.
COOLEST EPSIDOE EVA!!1
Great job man 🙂
Wow! I also saw CSI, and was impressed with your Walter. He was intense and scary! I wouldn’t be surprised if you were considered for roles in thriller flicks after this. It says a lot that such a nice guy can be so convincingly creepy. 🙂
I recently started watching CSI from the beginning on DVD. Since I was on Season 4 when your episode aired, I was reluctant to subject myself to spoilers, but in the end I couldn’t resist. I’m glad I didn’t and I hope this brings more roles your way. 🙂
We watched on Thursday, and I was thinking the same thing. “What if they cut his part? Would that like totally suck?”
Not being from TV, I had no idea how it worked.
When I read your name on the screen, I got the butterflies too, just knowing your web site and following along with the whole thing. I’m sure you were a bit more geeked then I was.
Anyway, the show was good, and your portrayal of Walter was ‘da bomb’.
Sorry. Couldn’t resist.
Anyway, it bugs me when people don’t bother to check their “facts”.
MamaSlyth, speaking from personal experience, most, if not all, of the homeless men I see who have hair like Walter have equally frightening beards. Come on down to Licoln and Wilshire and walk around the park; you’ll see facial hair that requires structural engineering.
I actually did grow a beard-ish thing, but it didn’t read very well on camera. My guess is that it’s a combo of the lighting and the makeup.
I also thought I looked a little “healthy” in the face, but I decided that Walter had only been homeless for a few months, so I could justify my Guinness cheeks.
So I am new around here. I had forgotten Wil Wheaton until I saw CSI. My husband said “holy crap, that’s Wil Wheaton!” Which was weird because I just watched Stand By Me over the weekend. He told me about this website, which I obviously discovered. I could not have been more excited!! Thanks to CSI for reminding me of a favorite actor that I had missed! Wil, you are singlehandedly the reason I am a total geek lover! I wouldn’t leave for a date until after Star Trek TNG was over!! Glad to have a way to keep track of you now!
I enjoyed the show, Wil. And you were really good. I hope it leads to more.
Great job on the episode. Wish you had more screen time though and I was absolutely scared of Walter. 😀
I hope they bring you in for more episodes on CSI, this time without the painful wig and all. Good luck
I know my voice will be lost in the sea of other voices. But I have to say, Mr. Wheaton, that your CSI performance was fantastic. I loved it. Loud, crazy, convincing. Keep up the good work.
OK… watched your episode finally tonight…
Great job! The whole episode was really good and I think it’s the first time I’ve been close to tears from watching CSI…
Walter was scary. If I hadn’t seen the opening titles and knew you were in the episode, I think it might have taken me alllmost to the end ofyour segment to realizze who you were… When you were talking and you were offscreen though, I recognized your angry voice as the one I remember identifying with all those years ago watching ST:TNG. Nothing wrong with it, of course, it’s your voice, after all.
It’s funny, when you do the voice-over for Aqualad, I totally disassociate it with you, even though I know it’s you, but when I heard your voice and there was no person to associate it with because you were off camera…. Hey! that’s Wil Wheaton!
Great job, Wil. Hope it leads to more and varied TV roles if that’s what you wish for yourself. Personally I think you’ve got a really good author gig going, but I know it’s tough to leave the acting thing behind once it’s in your blood.
Watched CSI only for Wil’s part in it—I thought he did a great job!! However, his time was too short!!! They could have developed the plot more by using Wil and his character more!
Here’s the skinny from Yahoo! (emphasis theirs) News:
Here’s a rundown of the 10 most watched prime-time shows for the week ended Sunday, according to Nielsen Media Research:
1. CSI, CBS, 29.4 million viewers
2. American Idol (Tuesday), Fox, 27.7 million viewers
3. American Idol (Wednesday), Fox, 26.9 million viewers
4. American Idol (Monday), Fox, 23.9 million viewers
5. Without a Trace, CBS, 23.3 million viewers
6. Survivor: Palau, CBS, 21.8 million viewers
7. CSI: Miami, CBS, 21.7 million viewers
8. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (8 p.m., Sunday), ABC, 18.4 million viewers
9. Two and a Half Men, CBS, 17.4 million viewers
10. Cold Case, 16.6 million viewers
RakDaddy – all the men you recognized as homeless may have had beards, but that doesn’t mean that all of them do. I do know of several homeless people who managed to take care of themselves a little by using community services and charity organizations.
It’s a big myth on many people’s part that a homeless person always looks scruffy. I’ve personally interviewed workers in clinics who handle almost exclusively mentally ill homeless clients and only about a third of the clients I saw had the type of beards you are talking about. Razors don’t cost that much and some homeless ministries do hand them out.
I’m sure that you saw what you saw, but I’m trying to explain that the other types of homeless people may be flying below your radar setting. You might want to volunteer at a soup kitchen or some place similar before sticking to your statement.
There are people who are homeless, who even have jobs. Low paying ones, of course, but it does happen. I personally knew a professional guy who was homeless for a while and he got himself a special wrench so he could shave at some of the public water spouts.
There are degrees of destitution.
An aside: Sorry, Wil. I’m doing research on possible social service practicums for my major. After you listen to enough social workers, you get kind of touchy on the subject of people painting all persons of a certain designation a certain way – especially homeless ones.
hey wil, i just saw the nielsen ratings for last week.
your show was number one!
i’d like to think it’s because you have such great fans! congrats again on your great role!
Wil! Fantastic job on CSI. For some reason my DVR system didn’t tape it, so I went trolling on the net for the episode. I’m so glad I did! Great job on making Walter seem scary!crazy. You were almost unrecognizable, which is exactly how it should have been. What a feather in your cap!
Seriously, great work and I hope this leads to more guest appearances.