We get lots of film crews at the Chelsea, shooting videos, TV episodes, and even big-budget Hollywood movies. They pull up in their trailers, blocking the street so you can’t get across it, and they set up tables on the sidewalk and pile junk in front of the door, so even entering the hotel becomes something of an ordeal. They crowd the lobby and the stairwells and tie up the elevators, holding them on one floor or another while they load them up with equipment. At first it’s exciting, but after awhile it gets to be a nuisance. We have to put up with a lot for the sake of art here at the Chelsea.
But we do get to see the stars. Lately I’ve run into David Ducovney, Robert DeNiro, Julie Delpy and Randy Quaid. I can’t even begin to name all the famous people I’ve encountered in the elevator (Arthur Miller was the best, but then he’s a celebrity of a whole other order). One time I was riding it down with a girl who lives on our floor, Carla, a playwright, and when we got to the lobby, the door opened, and there stood Sean Penn, surrounded by his retainers. It was two days after he had won his Oscar for Mystic River, and Carla said, “Congratulations!” Penn just glared at her. As we walked through the lobby, Carla, a bit puzzled by his reaction, turned to me and said, “He did win, didn’t he?” Madonna shot her "Sex Book" here, in one of our more beautiful rooms, but since then she hasn’t been back. Ethan Hawke is here all the time, so who cares?
But for the most part these crews seem to be made up of kids in their twenties: trustfunders straight out of college, arrogant, thinking the world should bow down and worship them. This is probably the first job most of them have had in their lives. You can tell they all fancy themselves the next Spielberg. (Not the next Bergman or Fellini, in other words; that would be beneath them. If they were little Bergmans or Fellinis they would probably move in.) They think what they’re doing is of the utmost importance, even if it’s just running to the deli for a cup of coffee for Robert DeNiro, and they can be incredibly rude and disrespectful.
One time a crew was filming a scene in front of the hotel. We were all dutifully standing by—residents and passersby alike--because we were told to, and also to see whatever star they were filming appear from his trailer. It was taking a long time, but finally they got the cameras rolling. I spotted Sean Penn waiting in the wings, waiting for his cue. At about that time, Magda, an elderly lady who lives in the hotel, came walking up on her cane, irritably calling out “Excuse me! Excuse me!” as the crowd parted to let her through.
“Could you please wait a moment?!” a trucker-hatted hipster snapped.
“No, you wait!” Magda said, and walked right through the scene they were filming, taking her own sweet time, I might add. We were all very proud of the old girl that day. Ed Hamilton
(Next Week: Dumpster Dining)
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