Amelia Ali of Milton wore “gangsta” garb – bandannas, white tank top and heavy
makeup – as an extra on the set of “The Fighter,” a Mark Wahlberg movie about Micky
“Irish” Ward, a pro welterweight who rose from the seamy streets of Lowell to fight
Arturo “Thunder” Gatti in a legendary boxing trilogy.
Ali, 24, was cast to be part of a carload of Puerto Ricans in a street scene. “The casting
director, Aaron at Boston Casting, saw promise in my ethnically ambiguous face.
Apparently I can pass for a Puerto Rican and a gangster!” said Ali, who is of West
Indian and Syrian descent.
Moviemaking is a financial windfall to Massachusetts, thanks to legislation that allows
film producers to lessen costs through a 25 percent state tax credit and an exemption
from state sales tax signed into law in 2007.
As a result, locally produced movie and television business is booming. According to
the Massachusetts Department of Revenue at the end of fiscal year 2008 moviemakers
spent $676 million. Direct employment of state residents in film production rose by 537
percent (3,177 new jobs) since 2006.
Ali is one of hundreds of movie extras hired to create “atmosphere.” Her scene in “The
Fighter” depicts Lowell as a crime-ridden town in the 1980’s where Micky Ward and
Dickie Eklund were popular locals long before the boxer’s rise to fame.
As extras, Ali and friends ride in a beat-up 1975 Ford. At 50 mph, the stunt driver
screeches to a halt just as Christian Bale drunkenly staggers in front of the car, leading
a posse of friends promoting one of his brother’s fights.
“As Micky and Dickie are rounding a curb, our car rolls up, nearly hits Dickie and he
slams his hands on the hood. We pop out of the sides of the car and start screaming
to him, “Eh, Dickie!” The day was very humid with a temperature of 95 degrees. The car
was so old, it needed to be jumpstarted twice and the windows could not roll down.
“[Director] David O. Russell walked up to the car, realizing how incredibly hot it was,
demanded immediately someone get a brick and break the windows,” she said. The
movie’s opening scene took fourteen, exhausting takes. For one day’s work, Ali
received $120 as a nonunion actress.
“He’s (Bale) a very intense and dedicated actor. I got a firsthand glimpse of how much
work goes into a few seconds of on-screen time,” said Ali.
Ali first heard about the casting call from Andrea Johnson, her teacher at Berklee
College of Music where Ali is a music business major, songwriter and composer. Ali is
no stranger to entertainment. Out of 50 acts, she was chosen to open for Ludicris in
2007 and sang a Mary J. Blige cover song.
“I performed for an arena of over 2,000 people, sharing the stage with Latoya Luckett,”
said Ali. For “The Fighter,” Boston Casting was looking for women ages 19-25 to play
street toughs. On a whim, she sent a picture of herself taken at a family wedding. She
was chosen and asked to show up at the Lowell set at 5 a.m. wearing “gangster-like”
clothes.
For many working as extras, it is a chance to meet celebrities and people from varied
backgrounds. Ali met an engineer from MIT, as well as local youths from Lowell. She
recalled that Christian Bale stayed in drunken character all day. “I was so impressed
with his intensity. He even introduced himself to us in character. I introduced myself as
‘Ali, sting like a bee,’ which he vowed to remember and scream out during filming,” she
said.
She observed the keen attention to costume details, such as the one hundred pairs of
vintage 1980 special edition Reebok sneakers actors and extras wore during the
filming. Ali’s parents, owners of Ali’s Roti’s Restaurant in Mattapan and in Boston, are
Caribbean immigrants and were dubious about the entertainment field for their
daughter. But her love of performing carried her through Milton Academy, Pace
University in New York and Berklee. Ali hopes someday to own a publishing and
production company and to be a successful songwriter.
The list of movies being made in Massachusetts continues to grow: “Paul Blart: Mall
Cop,” “The Proposal,” “Shutter Island” and “The Invention of Lying.” In July, “Furry
Vengeance,” starring Brendan Frasier, was filmed at Topsfield Fairgrounds. In October
at Franklin Park Zoo, Kevin James will star in “The Zookeeper.” Last year California
governor Arnold Schwarzenegger publicly grumbled at the stiff competition by the Bay
State for movie dollars.
The local filmmaking boom offers aspiring performers a chance to chase their dreams.
For Ali, landing a spot as an extra in her first-ever movie is just another sign that
pursuing this field was meant to be.
makeup – as an extra on the set of “The Fighter,” a Mark Wahlberg movie about Micky
“Irish” Ward, a pro welterweight who rose from the seamy streets of Lowell to fight
Arturo “Thunder” Gatti in a legendary boxing trilogy.
Ali, 24, was cast to be part of a carload of Puerto Ricans in a street scene. “The casting
director, Aaron at Boston Casting, saw promise in my ethnically ambiguous face.
Apparently I can pass for a Puerto Rican and a gangster!” said Ali, who is of West
Indian and Syrian descent.
Moviemaking is a financial windfall to Massachusetts, thanks to legislation that allows
film producers to lessen costs through a 25 percent state tax credit and an exemption
from state sales tax signed into law in 2007.
As a result, locally produced movie and television business is booming. According to
the Massachusetts Department of Revenue at the end of fiscal year 2008 moviemakers
spent $676 million. Direct employment of state residents in film production rose by 537
percent (3,177 new jobs) since 2006.
Ali is one of hundreds of movie extras hired to create “atmosphere.” Her scene in “The
Fighter” depicts Lowell as a crime-ridden town in the 1980’s where Micky Ward and
Dickie Eklund were popular locals long before the boxer’s rise to fame.
As extras, Ali and friends ride in a beat-up 1975 Ford. At 50 mph, the stunt driver
screeches to a halt just as Christian Bale drunkenly staggers in front of the car, leading
a posse of friends promoting one of his brother’s fights.
“As Micky and Dickie are rounding a curb, our car rolls up, nearly hits Dickie and he
slams his hands on the hood. We pop out of the sides of the car and start screaming
to him, “Eh, Dickie!” The day was very humid with a temperature of 95 degrees. The car
was so old, it needed to be jumpstarted twice and the windows could not roll down.
“[Director] David O. Russell walked up to the car, realizing how incredibly hot it was,
demanded immediately someone get a brick and break the windows,” she said. The
movie’s opening scene took fourteen, exhausting takes. For one day’s work, Ali
received $120 as a nonunion actress.
“He’s (Bale) a very intense and dedicated actor. I got a firsthand glimpse of how much
work goes into a few seconds of on-screen time,” said Ali.
Ali first heard about the casting call from Andrea Johnson, her teacher at Berklee
College of Music where Ali is a music business major, songwriter and composer. Ali is
no stranger to entertainment. Out of 50 acts, she was chosen to open for Ludicris in
2007 and sang a Mary J. Blige cover song.
“I performed for an arena of over 2,000 people, sharing the stage with Latoya Luckett,”
said Ali. For “The Fighter,” Boston Casting was looking for women ages 19-25 to play
street toughs. On a whim, she sent a picture of herself taken at a family wedding. She
was chosen and asked to show up at the Lowell set at 5 a.m. wearing “gangster-like”
clothes.
For many working as extras, it is a chance to meet celebrities and people from varied
backgrounds. Ali met an engineer from MIT, as well as local youths from Lowell. She
recalled that Christian Bale stayed in drunken character all day. “I was so impressed
with his intensity. He even introduced himself to us in character. I introduced myself as
‘Ali, sting like a bee,’ which he vowed to remember and scream out during filming,” she
said.
She observed the keen attention to costume details, such as the one hundred pairs of
vintage 1980 special edition Reebok sneakers actors and extras wore during the
filming. Ali’s parents, owners of Ali’s Roti’s Restaurant in Mattapan and in Boston, are
Caribbean immigrants and were dubious about the entertainment field for their
daughter. But her love of performing carried her through Milton Academy, Pace
University in New York and Berklee. Ali hopes someday to own a publishing and
production company and to be a successful songwriter.
The list of movies being made in Massachusetts continues to grow: “Paul Blart: Mall
Cop,” “The Proposal,” “Shutter Island” and “The Invention of Lying.” In July, “Furry
Vengeance,” starring Brendan Frasier, was filmed at Topsfield Fairgrounds. In October
at Franklin Park Zoo, Kevin James will star in “The Zookeeper.” Last year California
governor Arnold Schwarzenegger publicly grumbled at the stiff competition by the Bay
State for movie dollars.
The local filmmaking boom offers aspiring performers a chance to chase their dreams.
For Ali, landing a spot as an extra in her first-ever movie is just another sign that
pursuing this field was meant to be.
 |  |  |
Mass. Movie industry boom gives locals a chance
to chase their dreams
by Roland Hansen
to chase their dreams
by Roland Hansen
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