iâm reading emma thompsonâs diaries from the filming of sense and sensibility and there are some really great bits
danny de vito sent good-luck flowers on their first day of shooting
in the published draft of the script, colonel brandon and willoughby fight a duel offscreen after brandon confronts him about impregnating beth, brandonâs ward
âkissing hugh [grant] was very lovely. glad i invented it. canât rely on austen for a snog, thatâs for sure. we shoot the scene on a hump-backed bridge. two swans float into shot as if on cue. everyone coos. âget rid of them,â says ang [lee]. âtoo romantic.â
for a number of outdoor scenes, they would fire a shotgun in the air just before the cameras started rolling to get the local crow population to shut the fuck up for a few minutes
there was a dedicated line item in the budget for hiring flocks of sheep for exterior shots, ang lee was determined to use them as often as he could
âlater found ang looking at the estuary with a mournful expression. i went and stood beside him. after a moment he said, waving towards the water, âtide goes in, tide goes out, tide goes in, tide goes out â and still no sex.â âdo you miss it?â i enquired, after iâd stopped laughing. he nodded sadly. his family wonât be back for weeks.â
while filming the scenes at the palmersâ house with the screaming baby, it turns out that âweâve hired the calmest babies in the world to play the hysterical thomas. one did finally start to cry but stopped every time chris yelled âactionâ. later: babies smiled all afternoon. buddhist babies. they didnât cry once. we, however, were all in tears by 5 p.m.â
âvery nice lady served us drinks in hotel and was followed in by a cat. we all crooned at it. alan [rickman] to cat (very low and meaning it): âfuck offâ. the nice lady didnât turn a hair. the cat looked slightly embarrassed but stayed.â
during the london ballroom scene hugh laurie kept treading on the train of imelda stauntonâs gown, âwhich pulled it down so far it exposed her boobs. keep it in, i said, but she wouldnât.â
âsunday, 11 june: drank far too much last night and woke at 5:30 a.m. couldâve gone on drinking all night. quite grateful for a hangover, it provides a bit of peace. walked on to my balcony completely naked last night and took the couple that have moved into the suite next door slightly by surprise. walked back in calmly affecting insouciance and then bit all my pillows, one after the other.â
while resetting a scene involving a carriage, âang rode off on a bicycle and didnât return. found him locked in the loo at trafalgar, having broken the key. heâs being rescued at present.â
ânoon. finish scene with alan. me: âoh! iâve just ovulated.â alan (long pause): âthank you for that.ââ
âhugh g. in a spot of bother up la, apparently. something to do with a blow job. itâs all right for some, i thought.â