April 29, 2009My Ride in a Famous Taxi
Taxi cabs are, without a doubt, my biggest vice. I’ve often said that cabs are to me what crack-cocaine is to a crackhead. I realize that may sound overly dramatic and you might, at this point, be wondering why I speak of this common mode of urban transportation with such disdain. Well, here you have it: when you’re a young working person in New York (and you don’t work for a bank), pricey cab rides can be the total demise of even the most conservatively kept budgets. So, for my not-so-conservatively kept budget, taxi fares are the difference between getting by (0-2 rides a week) and complete ruin (3+ rides per week). It is a constant battle to resist the urge to take a taxi. I am always running late, trying to get from one place to another in a timely fashion, attempting to traverse major expanses of the city, etc. And so, today, when I got out of work late with approximately negative seven minutes to get where I needed to be, putting up my hand to hail a yellow one felt like just another hit from the crack pipe. But this time, it was different.
Sure, the meter ticked the same way, the voice of Al Roker greeting me on the taxi tv was not unfamiliar, and the wave of guilt that overwhelmed me as I settled into the back seat was typical, but I couldn’t help but notice that this cab was a little different. In the first place, there was no partition, which made the cab feel much cozier and relaxing than usual. Further, the taxi’s interior cabin was totally immaculate (highly unusual). And then there was the driver, who, friendly as sunshine, engaged me almost immediately upon the shutting sound of the passenger door through which I entered.
Charlie was the driver’s name and, before long, I learned that Charlie was one of the three NYC cabbies in the Screen Actors Guild and that I was riding in one of the only authentic taxis to appear in a host of recognizable movies and television shows.
Charlie and his cab have appeared in countless New York small screen productions (including a few iconic ones), among them: Law and Order, Sex and the City, Gossip Girl, CSI, and most recently, ABC’s Cupid. In recent time, Charlie and taxi have appeared in major movies such as Duplicity (with Julia Roberts and Clive Owen), the recently completed The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 (James Gandolfini, John Travolta, Denzel Washington), and the currently filming Extra Man (Katie Holmes, John C. Reilly, and Kevin Kline).
When I asked him how it all works, he explained that he gets hired for a minimum of 4 hours and paid quite a bit better than he would be if he was driving around and picking up fares. Cameras are sometimes stationed inside of the car, but are more often positioned alongside of the cab with lenses peaking through open windows. Charlie expressed that being an actor and working in these major productions is not as easy at it seems and he admitted that he was relieved for a few days off from grueling shoots (his next one starts later this week and will shoot through the night in the area around Columbus Circle).
I asked him how this opportunity came to him. He told me of the day that he picked up a lady at JFK ten years ago who complimented the cleanliness of his cab and asked if he would drive her around for a few hours of the day. He agreed to do it, getting a good vibe from the lady and he waited for her while she popped out of the cab periodically to run errands, take meetings, or jot down notes about various places. When it was over, she paid him and asked if he would be interested in being in a movie. Charlie’s (and his taxi’s) acting career began there.
You just never know what you’re going to get in New York.
