Have you ever wanted to just smash someone in the face?  Perhaps you’ve been bullied, pestered or bothered by annoying classmates, relatives, or even co-workers, and its been festering inside you for years without release.  If you have some inner rage, or just a love of skating, then I think roller derby is for you. 

(Photo property of Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Drew Barrymore, bless her soul, just brought her vision of roller derby to the big screen by making her directorial debut with Whip It, a film about the modern day skating world based on real skating teams like the LA Derby Dolls and the Detroit Derby Girls.  The film premiered in LA earlier this week and hits theatres this Friday, October 2nd.  Don’t the girls look great?

   

I remember watching old footage of roller derby as a young girl and thought how cool it looked, and how I wished I could kick some ass like those girls.  But, growing up ghetto, I never owned a pair of skates or even learned how to skate.  

(Photo property of Fox Searchlight Pictures)

When I saw the metamorphosis of the brilliant Ellen Page on screen as the meek Bliss Cavender who turned into the bold and brave Babe Ruthless, my inner rage screamed hell ya, you go girl, as I realized we all have or have had something bad and scary that we needed to stand up to in our own lives.  

(Photo property of Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Whip It is based on the book Derby Girl by Shauna Cross, who also wrote the screenplay for the film Whip It.  The movie, just like the book, is set and filmed partially in Austin, Texas, but most of the movie was filmed in the Detroit area. 

Ellen Page, Drew Barrymore, Marcia Gay Harden, Juliette Lewis, Eve, Kristen Wiig, Zoe Bell, Daniel Stern, Alia Shawkat, and Jimmy Fallon are all in this film and I stood either next to or just inches away from all of them.  I said to myself, go for it, and I went up to Jimmy Fallon after he left the crew meal tent (Yes, he was that cool that he ate with the crew rather than the actors)  and I went up to him in a circle of dumb little nervous girls and Jimmy and I had a nice little chat while I watched them scamper away.  He couldn’t have been a nicer guy.  Drew was very energetic and kept us all motivated, even when it was around 5:00 am and all most of us wanted to do was to go to sleep.  She even told me during my close up in the stands You look fabulous.  You are fabulous.  I could have died as I have always been a big fan of hers.  Sadly for me, that footage didn’t make it into the film.  I was like two rows behind Landon Pigg.  

But, for about three hours, I stood next to the main camera, and after every take Drew would skate over, and she and her people and I would all review the footage.  The assistant director and camera guys were cracking up at me, but not in a mean way, they just thought it was cool I was old enough to act cool, as some of the other extra’s tried to blatently push their way into scenes and got yelled at from time to time for not following directions or talking.  Being a camera whore, I know where to linger and get placed without looking too pushy, which is why I made it into a lot of shots.  Shoot, even one of the stars bitched at them, which was pretty damn funny. 

I was thrilled to see “the other Wilson brother” Andrew Wilson on set, even though he didn’t make a peep between takes.  Neither did Ellen.  She was very focused and would go to her trailer between takes.  Juliette Lewis was very cool, she stayed on set after her takes from time to time, and she even talked to me and some of the other extra’s.  She’d make jokes and she was very intense on the set.  I’ve always liked her, so it was great to see she was a class act in person.  Plus, the skating and action shots was really cool.  Zoe Bell did some great stunts, and I think her best one didn’t make it in the film, unless I missed it while I was looking for myself.  I saw Kristen Wiig take a big hit to the face and go down.  She was hurt by a real derby girl but she shook it off.  The real derby girls in the movie were very friendly, and some of the extras I met were also real derby girls.  I’d love to be able to kick some derby ass in real life, but I don’t think arthritis and derby mix.   

 

(Photo property of Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Tuesday night I had the pleasure of attending a sneak of the movie Whip It, and I honestly enjoyed it.  I love a good girl power flick. 

Not only did I get to be cool by bringing my step daughter and a few of her friends to the movie before it comes out, but I was actually in the movie, and we all got free Whip It t-shirts to boot.  Here I am in mine. 

I was so happy that we all saw me on screen quite a few times.  For those who are curious what scenes I was in, I am in most of the derby skating sequences near the end of the film.  You can see me for a few seconds over Jimmy Fallon’s shoulder while wearing a plaid beret and black shirt, as well as in front of the cops closing down the game in the fire marshall sequence.  Not to mention a bunch of shots during the final games in the crowd alongside the rink.  In those shots, I’m the big blonde in huge round silver earrings and a pink and black print top.  I found myself in the trailer and snapped these shots.  And yes, I realize I am a dork.  I’ve always been a proud dork!   

 

The movie (Without giving too much away) is about seventeen year old beauty pagent Bliss who lives by the rules of her somewhat over bearing former beauty pageant mother.  

(Photo property of Fox Searchlight Pictures)

She runs into some derby girls in downtown Austin, Texas while boot shopping, grabs a derby flyer, and eventually makes the decision to make the drive to the big city with her BFF Pash. 

(Photo property of Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Bliss meets Maggie Mayhem (Kristen Wiig) after the event and Maggie tells her try out for the team.  Bliss goes for it, and her life begins.  There is teen angst, mamma drama, BFF troubles and even some derby drama.  Oh, and of course, there is a boy.  And he’s in a band.  Enough said.  I’m sure you’ve already seen the big underwater make out scene.       

(Photo property of Fox Searchlight Pictures)

I have to be honest, it was fun being an extra for this movie, even though it was filmed in a dirty and hot warehouse in the middle of a heat wave last summer.  The PA’s kept passing out water and brought out huge tubes that pumped out cold air on us.  One PA was my buddy and kept giving me extra cold air blasts, and I thank him here, as I have Dysautonomia and have no business being on a hot movie set.  Most of the time I was holding a fake beer and a glass of water, and if I wasnn’t paying close attention, I’d get a mouth full of fake beer.  I worked two fifteen hours days and nearly fainted twice, but I just had to get a spot in one of the first movies in Michigan filmed under the new 42% film incentive.  I’d love it if we became the second Hollywood, since unemployment here is at 15.2% and growing.  I just joined the unemployed myself this Monday, and I’d jump at the chance to work on movies, but behind the camera.  I’m no actress, even though I do like my drama.  Here is Drew Barrymore in the D with the Detroit Derby Girls. 

(Photo property of Detroit Derby Girls)

Below you can see Drew with some of the Whip It cast at a party they held at a scrimmage between the Tough Cookies and the Varsity Brawlers at the Doll Factory in L. A. earlier this week.  She is promoting the movie hard and I love that she is giving back the derby community who made the film possible in the first place, along with writer Shauna Cross of course. 

 (Photo property of LA Derby Dolls, taken by Marc Campos, aka. Stalkerazzi) 

(Photo property of LA Derby Dolls, taken by Marc Campos, aka. Stalkerazzi) 

(Photo property of LA Derby Dolls, taken by Marc Campos, aka. Stalkerazzi) 

As if me being in the film wasn’t cool enough, my old movie theatre friend Dennis Przywara (A filmmaker in L.A., who did a fabulous documentary about Star Wars fans called Starwoids that was so good Kevin Smith did an intro) has also co-produced a roller derby documentary in 2006 called Jam.  It is about the comeback of the glory days of roller derby.  

Dennis is currently working with and filming the L.A. Derby Girls aka the Tough Cookies, the real team that the Hurl Scouts from the film are based on.  Dennis is part of the RAD Team, which is their research and development team.  He does everything from helping with parking to manning the cameras at bouts to make their promo films.  Recently Dennis tells me he has been doing the openings at the beginning of each game when the lights go down.  I’m thinking that must make him the real life version of Jimmy “Hot Tub” Rocket played by Jimmy Fallon in Whip It.    

Here is a quote from Dennis about the derby in general – WE ALL do this, including the skaters, for the love of the game.  No one gets paid.  It’s so much fun and the people there are just so damn passionate about the sport (yes it IS a sport) that in a perfect world, you wish you could be there 24/7.  I got bitten by the derby bug from a movie I worked on called “Jam.”

Dennis, I totally agree roller derby is a sport, because I couldn’t stand upright on a pair of skates if you paid me $1,000, let alone do stunts and skate like a pro while doing it.  I’ve gotten the bug too which is why I’ve written this huge blog post!  Hopefully I can catch a real bout someday in Detroit.  I have a feeling after this movie breaks, derby is going to get huge everywhere, especially when people like this guy come to the LA premier.

To visit the Whip It website, click here.  They have plenty of fun stuff.  Go get your derby name and come back and share it here.  I love mine, it is Bad Vendetta.   

To read my former Whip It posts, please click here and here.

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