we'll have no zombies here...

I didn't do the zombie shoot. I had proper work to do, two gigs with my covers band, and as I generally don't get to bed before 3am after a gig, getting on set by 6.30am two mornings on the trot seemed unlikely. That's the trouble with being old. You come over all sensible and swap running around as a zombie in a field near Woodbridge for finishing off a bunch of visuals for a crisp company's website and visiting your family.

I'm sure they didn't mind too much, and had engaged plenty of extras to cover such a thing and I'm sure a few others did the same too. I emailed the guy to tell him, so it's not like I was rude.

I assumed that I had lost the bug. Having thought about this sensibly, I was considering letting the agency know that they should take me off the books. And then they rang. Right there and then.

Agent; "Hi Stephen, how are you set for Tuesday and Wednesday next week? We need you for a shoot in London."

Me; "Oh, yeah, I can do that! Thanks!"

Agent; "OK, you're booked on that. call me late Monday to get call times."

So now I have to get to London - but I don't know what time the Tuesday call is for until late on Monday, whether I need to stay in London on Monday night as well as Tuesday, I can't book train tickets, and yet I'm really looking forward to doing it. The two things I do know are that it's for a major movie (my first movie job) and where the shoot will take place.

But that's how it works. No-one knows what time the call will be until Monday night, because that's when the production crew decide - based on all sorts of factors. Plus, this one involves some big foreign stars. Up to now, I've been lucky enough to be on BBC and Channel 4 dramas which starred proper actors, but not 'stars', and the productions have involved a fairly laid back, although professional, air about them.

I've rearranged my working week to accommodate these two days as best I can. Clearly I haven't lost the bug just yet. I must have just mislaid it, under that pile of paperwork on my desk...