New Age for Vet Actress

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While making his first film, Matteo Mosterts had to convince actress Linda Gray to don aging makeup and a gray wig to play a 75-year-old aristocrat. The actress who starred in TV drama “Dallas” actually is that age – but looked too youthful for the role without the addition of wrinkles.

“She didn’t love it, but was very open to the creative process,” said Mosterts, 29, whose day job is producing commercials at Culver City ad agency Omelet.

He took a week off to shoot “Wally’s Will,” an 11-minute dark comedy about a moneyed diva, Wally, and her tuxedoed servant, Doofus. Omelet helped Mosterts through its “Eggcelerator” program, which gives staffers funds to work on passion projects outside the office. Mosterts recently finished the film and is submitting it to festivals.

When he met Gray, he said that he geared up to sell her on the project. But the actress already loved the script. So, Mosterts cautioned her, “You know, I’ve never directed anything.” She fired back, “We all have to start somewhere.”

But the shoot wasn’t without its challenges. The short includes a toenail scene in which Doofus applies red paint to Wally’s toes as they sit in a garden at night.

“It was very cold,” Mosterts recalled. “I had to convince Linda that it was worth being in a nightgown outside for more than two hours to get this scene.”


Tackling Diplomacy

As New Zealand’s consul general in Los Angeles, Leon Grice has spent much of the past three years working with the local entertainment industry to film in his country.

When he’s not working to boost trade opportunities for New Zealand, Grice pursues one passion New Zealanders are known for: rugby. His last position before accepting the L.A. post was running part of the Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand. At 52, he’s too old to play the game, but he’s now trying to get the sport introduced at high schools in South Los Angeles. With a version of rugby set to become an Olympic sport this summer, Grice is convinced it can take off in the United States.

“People forget, the U.S. is the reigning rugby Olympic champion,” he chuckled, noting that was accomplished all the way back in 1924.

Staff reporters Daina Beth Solomon and Howard Fine contributed to this column. Page 3 is compiled by Editor Charles Crumpley. He can be reached at [email protected].

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