Suzy Nakamura must be funny if Christopher Guest cast her in his latest improv comedy movie. For Your Consideration takes the familiar Guest troupe to Hollywood as various actors caught up in awards season. Nakamura comes from the Second City comedy school so she fit right in.
What’s your role in For Your Consideration?
“I’m a camera assistant.”
Do you improvise?
“Yeah, obviously with Christopher Guest you improvise a lot, but I was sort of a secondary character. He uses his core cast members for the main parts and because he was shooting a movie within a movie, he wanted improvisers to play the crew for the movie within the movie. So he had a bunch of Groundlings and Second City people and we filled in that crew, including the sound department and the assistant director. Jim Pitof plays the director of photographer and I’m his camera assistant.”
What chaos must be going on with the making of the movie?
“Well, the actual chaos was because we were shooting the movie within the movie, then they were actors playing actors playing a role, the makeup bags actually had to have the fake character’s name, the real character’s name and the actress playing that character’s name on it. It got really confusing because the wardrobe was so good that you would actually ask a crew member a question and they would say, ‘Oh no, I’m an extra.’ So it got kind of confusing, but I’m looking forward to it because there’s enough madness that’s inherent in making an independent film, and it also focuses on award season in Los Angeles so it should be interesting.”
Did you learn how to work the camera?
“I did. I don't know what they’re going to use. He shot a lot so I don't know what is going to end up in the actual final cut, but I shadowed a real camera assistant for an entire day. He basically taught me how to check the gate, load film, how to pull focus, how to measure and it was like a big deal. It’s hard.”
