DAY SIX (Tuesday, November 12)

Big photo session today. I get fully into my character makeup, including my new mustache, and wardrobe, and have water spritzed onto my face.

The shoot is for some promotion; posters, or images for the platforms that the movie will stream on.

It’s good practice “being” the character of Tim without any real pressure to accomplish anything other than dramatic poses.

My call time is 5:50 am. I get up and quickly get into the van. The morning is rainy and gloomy.

After makeup, hair and wardrobe, we are driven back to the hotel, which doubles as our first location; the spot where myself, Samantha Coughlan, the actress playing my daughter and the young actor River Codack, playing my grandson, meet Rodrigo the tour guide.  We also meet the young ladies who are also on the tour.

In between torrential downpours which last most of the day, we shoot the scene of entering the van, and the dialogue inside.

We have an international crew made up of Brits, Maltese, Italians, Spanish and some Dutch, along with American, British and Canadian actors, several of which report they are suffering from various ailments, stomach, ear infections and allergic reactions.

Today, almost a week in, we receive an email from production alerting us that the tap water in Malta is not particularly safe to drink, and that we should probably drink bottled water or filtered water. Now they tell us!

I had purchased some large bottles of drinking water earlier, since I didn’t entirely trust the water coming from the faucets, and I’m glad I did.

I wear my false mustache today for the first time. Along with my temporary tattoo, my “wife’s” wedding band on chain around my neck, and my NYFD character accent, I’ve got a solid physical portrayal going.  James the director is very positive and supportive.

Even though we are only going in and out of a van all day, it’s exhausting. After wrap, I walk up to the restaurant on the hill above the hotel to eat dinner outdoors. Several of the actors also came to the same place, but chose to eat indoors. After I eat half my meal –pumpkin soup and a chicken sandwich on local bread– I join them.

Despite complaining of sickness, a couple still opt to have cocktails before dinner. I manage not to scowl.

Once their food is served, I leave them to eat and walk back to the hotel. I watch the first half of a Wes Anderson film that I’d seen before but didn’t recall much of, The French Dispatch. It’s an amazing piece, not really a movie, more like a series of incredible moving illustrations. An homage to the essays, cartoons and bemused attitude of the New Yorker magazine’s stable of contributors in its heyday. There are so many elements to take in visually that it really requires, like many of Wes Anderson’s films, multiple viewings, not to mention liberal use of the pause button.

Tomorrow another early call, 6:10 am.