Wearing Two Hats

Gerard Butler donned his producer hat and flew out of LAX yesterday to do some pre-production duties  on Playing The Field, the romantic comedy which starts filming on March 31st in Shreveport, LA.

Now when I talk about his producer hat I take it you understand that I am not talking about the hat he is wearing in this photo, although I suppose this COULD literally be his producer hat, if he so chooses.

Official Producer's  Hat?

It wouldn't be a bad thing if he does choose to make it so because I have a sentimental attachment to gray knit caps and that particular one seems to be a favorite of his too.  While he looks quite fetching wearing it in a lot of the recent photos we have seen of him,  I love it not only because of that "fetchingness,"  but because my mother had an attachment to one just like it...a cashmere in the same color I gave her for Christmas about 5 years ago.

In her last few years of life, as soon as the weather turned cold, out came the cap.   My sisters would give her new ones, with matching gloves, but she would put them away and if there was a strong breeze of any kind, she would put the thing on her head to keep the wind from messing her hair and keep her head warm.

By this time, the cap had seen better days, but she would not be parted with it, even when two of my siblings started teasing her about looking like a bag lady on her outings to the doctor. My mother would just make a face at them.  She never went out without putting on a little blush and some soft lipstick so that in reality, the hat did look cute on her.

As some of you know, when people get older and lose  body weight and bone mass, they have problems controlling their body temperatures.  She was either too hot (having literal flushes) or too cold.  She would rise at 5:00 A.M. and on would go the hat before she even had her morning cup of coffee.

I teased my daughter the other day, when she asked me what happened to grandma's little hat, by telling her I had given it to Gerry (and sent her to Just Jared for the proof).

So I suppose that little grey cap has joined a few of the other endearing things about Gerry that make me like him, producers hat or not.

Mixed feeling?

As I was looking at a few of the other airport photographs, I couldn't help looking at this one and think that he has mixed feelings about this journey....excitement at starting a new project, but at the same time a little sadness at leaving behind his friends and what I think was a fairly nice little stretch of time spent in La La land this time around.

He has a tough time ahead of him, wearing two hats on this project.  While we may look on at the glamour of his life from the outside, a lot of it is hard work and long hours.  We know that Gerry sometimes puts his all in whatever he does, whether it's having fun or working and,  I think he spends a lot of sleepless nights on both of them too.

After reading about Steven Soderbergh, who said he is retiring after his next two projects and understanding that they are different people and circumstances,  it just confirms for me how demanding and time consuming making movies can be when a producer is really involved in a project, much less being the lead actor too.

So I wish him well on this movie and hope that, in addition to learning a little more on the curve of producing your own projects,  he also has another successful one on his hands.   I'm sure I'm safe in saying that Shreveport, LA. will never be the same when Gerard Butler and company leave the area after the shoot.

Wish I could be there to see some of it...but I'm sure we will some how stay informed on a little of what happens there.

Go get em kid!  And take care of the *hat, will ye!


Songs out of tune, the words always a little wrong...Canzoni Stonate


*ALL of my my mother's things remain untouched since her death late last year.