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Wednesday, October 29, 2008
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Extra-special experience Look for Brainerd's Tiffany Femling in background of the new Clint Eastwood movie 'Changeling' Entertainment Editor A year ago, Tiffany Femling of Brainerd was an extra in "Changeling." Now she and other movie fans are eagerly awaiting the Clint Eastwood-directed movie, which opened in limited release last Friday.
Femling is curious to find out what the movie will be about, because as an extra, she was on a need-to-know basis.
"They move you around a lot and do different things with you," the 1998 Brainerd High School graduate said in an interview at her Brainerd home. "I'm in a church scene with John Malkovich, I'm in a protest scene, I'm on the streets quite a bit. They don't really tell you what it's about. Nobody knew it was a thriller when it was being made, because that might affect how you act."
"Changeling," we now know, follows Christine Collins' (Angelina Jolie) desperate search for her missing son in the face of indifferent law enforcement. The police say they have returned her son; only Christine knows the child is not hers.
Femling, 28, became a 1920s-era Los Angelino for "Changeling."
"We had a fitting; that was really fun," said Femling, who moved to Venice Beach in 2004 and back to Brainerd this year. "It was a huge room with thousands of dresses in it. The clothes were really cool for that era. People treated you different because of the way you looked and what you were wearing. It felt really good."
Acting might seem an appropriate vocation for Femling, because she has schizophrenia, a condition where she often feels "trapped in my own world." Since about age 5, Femling knew she was different, but she wasn't diagnosed with schizophrenia until a few years ago.
"You kind of push people away because you're scared of yourself and then people are scared of you," said Femling, the daughter of Bruce and Carol Femling of Brainerd. "I've had people tell me I'm cryptic and scary. Then it just makes you go into your own little world. It feels like hell sometimes, like the worst feeling you could ever have.
"But I've just come to deal with it. I can't necessarily function in society, but I live in my dreams more. I'm happy with the way things are right now. Even though I have episodes, I realize they're going to pass."
As a youngster, being in Hollywood productions wasn't a specific dream of Femling's. She loved movies and TV, but her artistic endeavors tended toward singing and trumpet playing. She earned a degree in communications, media art and writing in 2002 from the University of Minnesota-Duluth, then planned on going to a fashion school in Los Angeles.
"But I realized I wasn't the best at sewing, and I realized people pretty much wear what they want to wear, and it doesn't matter what designer does it," Femling said."That's when I started doing background extra work."
She dropped off a resume and photograph at Central Casting, and soon got a job on an episode of "The O.C." Other TV shows followed. These are the type of roles where you can only spot Femling if you know when and where to look. Still, Femling regularly recognizes friends and colleagues when she watches network TV.
"It's actually a pretty small world, because you work with the same people over and over," she said.
Her first movie role was a party scene in "The House Bunny." "Changeling," her most extensive job, came soon after. Femling was an extra-special extra on the first day of filming.
Tiffany Femling
Extra in "Changeling"
Favorite actors: Anthony Hopkins, Zach Braff.
Favorite actresses: Audrey Hepburn, Dakota Fanning.
Favorite TV show: "Paris Hilton's My New BFF."
Favorite movies: "Vanilla Sky," "Meet Joe Black."
Favorite musicians: Moby, Yonder Mountain String Band.
Favorite book: The Bible.
Hobbies: Music, writing, photography, hanging out with friends and shopping.
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"There were about 400 people on the first day of the film and they picked 10 people out of the whole group to be featured in some of the scenes, and I was one of the 10 people," she said.
"I was really excited because I wanted to see Clint Eastwood, and I was one of the first 10 people on the crew to see him. They put me in a car, had me walk across the street; then they put you with different people and you have different conversations. They're filming the whole thing - you don't see the cameras, but they're filming you somehow."
Eastwood took a low-key approach to directing, Femling said.
"He does it in a really passive way; he doesn't say much. But it was definitely cool to be in his presence. And then Angelina Jolie, I really liked her. She was really small and dainty compared to how I perceived her. They just seemed like normal people."
Femling doesn't know if she'll pursue acting in the future, but she'll always cherish her Hollywood memories.
"To me, it was just something I enjoyed, and at the time I was trying to make a bit of money," Femling said. "Most people that are doing it want to become actors and actresses. But nobody I talked to had intentions of being Jim Carrey or Angelina Jolie. They're just in a different league."
Still, as Femling knows, reality doesn't always match up with the way you feel.
"I felt like (a star) a lot when I was working on the sets," she said. "Just because of the way they treated you."
JOHN HANSEN may be reached at john.hansen@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5863.
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