PHOTOS & VIDEOS: Set Soldier Suzie shares her Cosmopolis set adventure

Rob takes direction from David Cronenberg

I arrived at the set on a side street in downtown Toronto about noon. They were already filming inside the coffee shop, and had been since about 7 am. Every so often someone would shout “rolling!” but all the action was taking place inside. I was rather worried about the weather because thunderstorms were forecast but luckily it held off until the evening and conditions were great for filming, albeit a bit overcast and hazy. There were very few people where I was standing at the barricade at one end of the street…just me, a succession of surly off-duty policemen, a couple of for-hire set security people and the odd passer by who stopped and wanted to know what was filming and who was in it. Security told them and quite a few didn’t recognize Rob’s name until of course Twilight was mentioned. Come on Toronto, get with the program! I snapped a few shots of the limo and the coffee shop and then before long they called lunch.

The Limo!

Knowing nothing was going to happen for at least an hour I walked around the corner and encountered the dressing room and makeup trailers and found a place to perch to wait for filming to begin again. While I was sitting there, a bride and groom in full regalia traipsed down the sidewalk with their entourage of photographers and had a little photo shoot right outside Rob’s trailer, no doubt hoping his door would open and they’d have a ringside seat. No such luck! I had a feeling he’d be heading right past me to the makeup trailer and sure enough after almost two hours Dean escorted him over there for a quick touch-up, and then back to his trailer. Unfortunately by that time the paparazzi had chosen the same spot to hang out and with my SLR camera it may have been assumed I was one of them. Drat those people! A few minutes later Rob headed back to the set.

Torval: A word. Eric: Yes. Torval: The complex recommends extra security. Eric: You're not happy about this.

Not long after I resumed my original position I was joined by @Janners and @Notebookgirl72 who blessedly brought water with them as by this time I was parched from standing in the sun for 3 hours. Screens were moved around, tents were put up and all but blocked us from the action along with several security types but we managed to get a number of shots of the scene with Eric and Torval (Kevin Durand) discussing security precautions by holding our cameras up in the air (my arms are still aching!). The director, David Cronenberg, chatted briefly with Rob and Kevin before they started rolling, and Rob bounced on and off the limo door, waiting patiently for the next take, which was always heralded by “picture up!” The scene took about two hours to film with a handheld camera and finally about 5:30 pm it was all over and crew started striking the set. What a perfect way to spend a Sunday!

Rob and director David Cronenberg

Chauffeur note: Thanks for sharing, Suzie! After the cut, check out her gallery with the captions that accompanied her pictures. The quotes are from the book and are not directly from the scene (spoilerish if you haven’t read the book). Suzie also got a few, quick videos of Rob on set located after the gallery of pics.