I’ve never worked with real live cowboys before, so when given the opportunity I galloped to it. Ok not really, I got into a car and drove to set, but close enough. It was kind of what I expected – seeing as though I went in with no expectations – except for looking for someone dressed as Woody talking about snakes in their boots. The outfits were there and boy did they have some great looking cowboy boots.
It was a pickup day for a western film, The Last Request of Sheriff Johnson. Our location was an authentic horse ranch with authentic horses, the smell and all! One of the scenes we were tackling involved hanging the good guy. Have no fear we had at least two stuntmen on set and no humans or horses were harmed in the making of this film. For the set up they had one stuntman wearing a vest hooked up to the rope simulating the hangman’s noose. The scene involved 7 actors (including the stuntmen), one horse, three manly men pulling the vested stuntman off the ground and five guns loaded with blanks. Talk about your fair share of complications! As would be expected, this scene took many many takes. Thank goodness for reshooting in digital!
Next time life calls for cowboys, I recommend saddling up and bringing some Febreze.
Written by Karen Rich.