People often think working in movies is glamorous. But making a big movie is like mounting a military campaign. A film set is a workplace. Many days begin before sunrise, driving to set while the city is still asleep. When we're shooting, a twelve-hour day is our baseline. There's little—if any—downtime during those hours because filmmaking is so fluid. Constant change is the norm, and you never know where it might come from. Maybe new stunts are added for your superheroes, so you need another 100 meters of Eurojersey to make more multiples. But the only factories that make the fabric are in Italy, and they're closed for the month of August. Or one of your locations is flooded, so the next three weeks of your shooting schedule need to change. But whatever happens, you have to roll with it, because the cardinal rule of moviemaking is: NEVER HOLD CAMERA. I once worked a twenty-hour day because we only had one day to shoot at the Natural History Museum—Monday, when it's closed to the public. And a month-long shoot in the Cayman Islands gave me exactly one day off. So glamorous? No. But it's never boring, and nearly every day brings the chance to learn something new. For me, it doesn't get much better than that. #BehindTheScenes #MovieMaking #HollywoodInsider #LifeOnSet

About sixteen minutes. That's approximately how long Anthony Hopkins appears onscreen as Hannibal Lecter in THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS—but it was enough to win him the Academy Award for Best Actor. What makes his performance even more remarkable is how much of its power came from what Hopkins DIDN'T do. He made Lecter eerily still, controlling even his blinking. Hopkins later explained he discovered the power of stillness—that by barely moving, he could hold the audience's attention. He made his vocal choices just as carefully. Rather than give Lecter the growl of a conventional movie villain, Hopkins drew inspiration from the cool, precise voice of HAL 9000 in 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. He also incorporated vocal elements influenced by Truman Capote and Katharine Hepburn. Even Lecter's unforgettable first appearance was built around restraint. When Clarice Starling approaches his cell, Hopkins stands rigidly in the center, already waiting for her—an unnervingly attentive presence before he says a word. Sixteen minutes. One Oscar. And a terrifying character built largely around what Hopkins doesn't do. #HollywoodFunFact #SilenceOfTheLambs #AnthonyHopkins #BehindTheScenes

What happens when mystery meets Hollywood? Come find out! I'm looking forward to joining fellow author Elizabeth Crowens for an afternoon of mysteries, movies, and behind-the-scenes conversation at “Mysteries with a Hollywood Twist,” presented by Sisters in Crime Orange County. We'd love to see you there!

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