Symba Smith - Behind the Scenes

Here are some fun facts and juicy little tidbits from behind the scenes... as told by Symba...

1. I played a beauty pageant contestant from the 1960’s in a "Carrow’s" commercial. I had to wear a wig that stood straight up, (like "Marge" from "The Simpsons"), and was about 1 1/2 foot high. My scalp hurt so badly after having that thing pinned to it all day!

2. While shooting "Land’s End" in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, I had to come from underneath the ocean water and walk across the sand to a beach chair while eyeing the star of the show, Fred Dryer. Take after take I came out of the water, and every time my nose would be running throughout the whole take because of the salt water. Ever try to look sexy while your nose is running?!

3. I was called in to audition for "LA Confidential" only because I had gone in for a general meeting with Mali Finn, (the Casting Director), for a part in the last "Batman". I didn’t book the role in the Batman movie, but I later booked a part in "LA Confidential"! This is a photo of Curtis Hanson, the Director, and me from the set. Later, while shooting "LA Confidential", my feet were actually TAPED into my high heels because the heels were WAY TOO BIG! Luckily, Kevin Spacey is a wonderful dancer, or I would have probably fallen flat on my face!

4. I played six different women in the House of Lords video, "What’s Forever For?" – Greta Garbo, Bridgette Bardot, Joan of Ark, Emma Peel, Venus, and a bride. This is a picture of the Emma Peel character, but if you look closely, you can see the "Greta Garbo" face, too. This shoot lasted from 8 a.m. until about 1 a.m., with six different complete make-up and hair changes! I had to come home, wash black paint out of my hair, and try to get 2 or 3 hours of sleep before I had to get up for a flight to Paris early the next morning – and they say this business is glamorous!

5. In "Naked Gun 33 1/3", I had a 40 lb. bird cage hanging from my waist as a "skirt", with twenty live birds flying around inside of it! (The picture above is a polaroid from the fitting.) They later painted the gown a sky blue with puffy white clouds, and I had long gloves on, too. My hair was done up like a bird’s nest and had little stuffed birds in it – it was so funny! The tragic thing is that I had finally remembered to bring a camera to a shoot, and had gotten some good pictures of the outfit, (and with Leslie Nielson). Then later, my truck was broken into and my stereo was stolen, along with my bag that had the camera that had the film FROM THIS SHOOT IN IT! I was more upset over losing the film than I was over my truck being broken into!

6. A 40 yr. old picture of my Mom appears on the cover of "Hush Hush" magazine in "LA Confidential". You can see it in the very beginning of the movie right after Danny DeVito’s narration ends. This is the same picture that they used in the movie. Doesn’t she look pretty?

7. I was in the make-up and hair trailers for 7 HOURS on "Star Trek Voyager". I also had to go in days before so they could make a cast of my head. Mind you, having a cast made of your head is NOT too much fun! But, I really enjoyed playing an alien - that WAS a lot of fun! The sad thing is that I shot the show on October 30th . . .if I could have just shot it one day later . . .I would have had a really GREAT Halloween costume!

8. I was told that this picture of me from "Sport" magazine almost didn’t make it into the issue until, at the last minute, an ad cancelled, and they then had room for one more picture – I’m so glad, because it turned out to be my favorite!

9. This is a picture of John Landis, the Director of Beverly Hills Cop III, and me dressed as the date of Barbet Schroeder. (John Landis also directed the #1 music video of all time, Michael Jackson’s "Thriller":)

10. I got to play two different women in "Beverly Hills Cop III". My credit was for "Annihilator Girl", (which is what this picture is from), but, I also played the date to real life director Barbet Schroeder who made a cameo later on in the movie.

11. I had forgotten my bikini when I went on the audition for this commercial, and after struggling to find the casting office I wasn’t about to go all the way back home for it. But, they told me that I couldn’t audition for the commercial if I didn’t have a two-piece swimsuit. So, I thought about it, and realized that the bra and underwear that I had on was way bigger than most bikinis, so I asked them if they would mind if I just auditioned in them. They told me that that would be fine, and I ended up booking TWO different parts in the commercial . . .the "swimsuit girl" and the "Mother". The funniest part of this story is the fact that I had on my "Garfield" underwear which were red and said, "Honk if you’re hungry" on the back! HOW EMBARRASSING!! (But, I guess they liked my sense of humor!)

12. This is another picture from the House of Lords video, "What’s Forever For?" I guess it’s pretty obvious, but this is the "Joan of Ark" character that I played.

13. I won the first, (and last, I think), annual "Donahue Bikini Contest" when I was living in New York City. I wore a red & white bikini in support of the troops that were in the Gulf. (I think that was the last year Donahue was on the air, unfortunately - I used to love that show.)

14. For the SAG Awards, my friends at Asanti Jewels, in San Marino, CA, loaned me over $150,000 worth of jewelry! I felt like Cinderella!

15. Deep Space 9 was one of my very favorite shows to work on – everyone was so nice! The guy in this photo was actually 7ft. 1in. tall. He was the tallest man that I’ve ever met in person!

16. I was a hand, foot, and leg "double" on a Gillette commercial, which we shot in Baker, CA. (Baker is the town with the world’s tallest thermometer.) It sits at the southern entrance to Death Valley, and when I was there, it was 120 degrees during the day and 109 degrees at night!

17. This picture is a photo of my maternal Grandmother from the early 1900’s. When it surfaced, I was in eighth grade, or so, and I had really long hair like she does in the picture. Everyone said that I looked so much like her that I should recreate the photo. Well, I ended up cutting my hair before I did. Then, many years later, my hair had gotten pretty long again, so I decided that I should finally recreate this picture. I had her picture and my recreation of it framed together in an old antique looking frame and gave it to my Mom for Christmas. I had also written a song about my Grandmother, which I enclosed in the package. My Mom loved it! (I had a duplicate frame made for my house.) As it turns out, this became one of my very favorite pictures, not only because, (as I’m sure you’ve guessed by now), I love taking "period" pictures, but also because of the very special meaning it has to me.

18. This is my version of my Grandmother’s picture. Just an added juicy little tidbit – I had rented the dress, stockings, and shoes from a wardrobe house, and when I took them back – I got to meet one of the sexiest men on earth . . .Sam Elliot!! He’s the only man on earth who has actually made my knees tremble! Yep, I made a fool of myself, but that’s another story!

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