Kimberly Jaraj's Airborne Shoot Diary
Written by Nikki Baughan Wednesday, 25 May 2011 07:05
Feature
British actress Kimberly Jaraj (Knife Edge, Iron Cross) shares the diary she kept while making upcoming horror Airborne. She plays an air stewardess, trapped on a plane in a violent snowstorm and struggling to stay alive. And, as she explains, the shoot was as thrilling as the premise - if a little cold...
Day 1: Monday February 7, 2011
Today is my first day of filming on Airborne. It is 4pm, and I am about to be collected to go to a disused airfield in the depths of Surrey. Funnily enough this is the location of the set for Top Gear.
I am feeling very excited about starting shooting, but also slightly nervous as I am playing a lead character and so have a lot of responsibility on my shoulders. I am also nervous about the prospect of acting alongside great veteran actors such as Julian Glover, Alan Ford and Mark Hamil. They are acting legends, and it is a huge honour to be working with them.
By the time I get to the airfield it is dark and all I can see as the car pulls up is a giant jumbo jet. It is quite an unbelievable sight actually and I start to get butterflies in my stomach in anticipation of getting on board and shooting my first scene. Luckily my nerves are put to rest when I meet the crew, I am made to feel at ease by how supportive and helpful everyone is. I am shown to my trailer to try on my rather sexy stewardess costume!
It is about midnight before I get on set. As I step on board, I am overwhelmed by how vast and monstrous the plane is. I am also hit by the cold; it is a giant jumbo jet with no heating! I am immediately handed feet and hand warmers, a big puffer coat and told to hold onto my hot water bottle for dear life. I see Dominic Burns, the film’s producer, and am really pleased to see his friendly face. Shortly after I am introduced to Andrew Shim, who is playing Sam; I am already a fan of from his brilliant portrayal of Milky in This is England. I then meet Gemma Atkinson who plays Harriet, the chief stewardess. She is so sweet and friendly and I am pleased that my very first scene is with her. We start chatting away instantly as we stand there shivering in our skimpy outfits. The scene goes well, we are done in a few takes and I wrap for the night. It is an early one this morning, I am home by 4am!!
Day 5: Friday February 11, 2011
I am getting into the swing of things now; waking up at 2pm and having my breakfast at 3 and getting onto set for about 5pm. I feel completely jetlagged and as though I haven’t seen daylight in a while, but thrilled at how shooting is going and excited to get on set. Although it is grueling I am relishing every minute of it. Today I am filming an action scene in which my character Laura fights off one of the “baddies” Luke (Craig Conway). I have to hit him over the head with a sugar bottle, which I must say is fun…… Not for poor old Craig, but for me! My good friend and co-star Sebastian Street is on set today; he comes to watch me do my scene and I am thrilled to have him there for support.
Day 7: Sunday February 13, 2011
Today I have a one on one scene with Julian Glover. I can’t help but be in awe of him knowing that he has been directed by Steven Spielberg! Luckily, Julian is very kind to me and treats me like an equal. The scene goes really well and I am relieved.
Day 15: Tuesday February 22, 2011
Today is my last day on set and we are shooting in the luggage hold, which has a very low ceiling and is rather cramped! I am not the tallest person in the world and even I am feeling claustrophobic! I don’t know how the crew is managing to stay crouching down for hours on end - I feel like they are all going be hunchbacks when they get out of there!
My final scene with Simon Phillips is emotional in more ways than one. As I wrap on Airborne it is a bittersweet feeling. I am exhausted from the night shoots and the cold and pleased to be getting back to normal hours and the land of the living! However, I also feel a pang of sadness to be leaving my Airborne family and to be saying goodbye to my character Laura, a young woman who - despite initially seeming vacant and ditsy - shows herself to be brave and ultimately heroic. I could really learn a few things from her! I go home exhausted but exhilarated and hopeful that I will be working with all these wonderful, talented people again soon.
Airborne is due for release in October 2011
