(Photo: Jas Chana)
I love Louis CK. So when I found out that he was filming for season five of his masterful dramedy Louie in the East Village, I knew I had to be involved in some way. This morning’s set was a cramped shopping aisle inside Westside Market on Third Avenue. It was only after the second time I had been shooed away by production assistants that it dawned on me I had actually become part of the fabric of an urban film set. Unfortunately it was as a paparazzo.
Louie — no longer disconcertingly clean-shaven — was acting alongside Pamela Adlon, who plays his love interest on the show. Hadley Delaney and Ursula Parker, who play Louie’s daughters, were also in the scene, acting chirpy and playful despite the biting cold.
The season premieres on FX in April. It’s also a bit shorter, containing only eight episodes in contrast to the 13 or 14 of past seasons. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the balding comedian himself has said that “this season is more laugh-centric and funny than season 4,” referring to the numerous scenes of last years batch of Louie that were strikingly sentimental.
(Photo: Jas Chana)
In the afternoon, shooting crossed the road to the interior of the Heavenly Market & Deli, located just underneath NYU’s Third Avenue North dorm. Just outside the deli, producer Blair Breard told me the freezing weather had forced the crew to cancel the shooting of the day’s street scenes. I asked one of the show’s runners whether I’d be let inside to get a photo of the set. Inside the deli I could see a Louie squatting, talking to one of his daughters face to face. His brow was furrowed in quintessential Louie fashion. But a swift “absolutely not” shattered my last hope.
Looking crestfallen, Breard came back over to me and said, “He’ll come out in a bit, steal what you want.” A few minutes later, the man himself came out and started running up and down an icy Third Avenue. “Louie! Louie!” Adlon yelled, cheering him on. At this point the cameras weren’t rolling, so what C.K was trying to do is anyone’s guess.
But that’s when I snapped the pic.
