The shooting dates for the occasionally tantalizing Roger Donaldson thriller, "White Sands," were August 13th, 1991 to October 31st, 1991. I lived in New Mexico at the time and we got word they were looking for extras at a rodeo located somewhere in Santa Fe (not sure where exactly, it has been a while). It was a cold, bitter night and the scene being shot involved Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio's character, Lane, riding a horse while crowds were cheering. Willem Dafoe and Mickey Rourke were in attendance since their scene was shot a few times that night as they sat on the bleachers. The scene was shot and then the 1st AD reminded the crowd to be quiet and mimic shouting and hollering while they recorded ambient sound, I imagine. Naturally, the crowd forgot to mimic and yelled. "CUT," said the 1st AD. This was going for three hours already and then myself, my mom and my brother decided it was time to leave. It was too damn cold and New Mexico nights can be cold, you know, higher elevations.
My younger brother ran into Mickey Rourke at the bathroom and they shook hands (presumably after they were done with their business). Mickey told my brother that he was glad he came out. That's pretty cool. I did see Samuel L. Jackson lurking about as he passed our seats but nobody knew who the hell he was. I did, after seeing "Jungle Fever" especially, but he was not a big movie star yet. Mastrantonio was not present that evening as her riding scenes were performed by a stunt rider. So it goes.
My final thoughts on being an extra (and mind you, I don't think our scenes made the final cut) was the exactness of Willem Dafoe's entrance to the bleachers as he sat down next to Mickey Rourke after several takes. It was amazing to behold. The movie itself is hardly fantastic though definitely watchable. That night though was quite memorable.
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