BradFortner
December 22, 2023
Behind the Scenes with Fuel Truck Guy
From a standpoint of a novice witness, to greatness, an art form of distinct impression upon our society (The Great American Western), and the epic adventure of a 24 year old traveling in company of the talented production cast & crew of LD, I remain to this day somewhat in awe of what transpired. Just lucky. In a word... blessed.
Happenstance chose me to be there, unioned as a Teamster, and tasked with the management responsibility of Make Up Trailer, Fuel Truck, and anything else a "go for" (lowest ranking man of driver crew) would undertake, usually in a rush with high priority. I knew everyone, taxiing actors to and from set to camp & back; airport, town, or wherever. And everyone knew me. You see, the guy with a couple hundred gallons of fuel is a guy everyone gets to know - especially when on location, the banks of the Rio Grande Texas 30 miles out from Del Rio, the mountains near Angel Fire NM, or several remote shooting locals from Austin to Sante Fe. Sometimes you just need 5 gallons to get back to civilization. And so it went. Meeting greats like Bobby Duval, Tommy Lee Jones, Danny Glover, Anjelica Huston, Diane Lane, Steve Buscemi, Barry Corbin... and on and on it went with super heavy weight acting talent, well it was just another day for me, every day, 16, 17, 18 hour days, 6 days a week, for 16 weeks. What can I say? It was pinch yourself lucky. And the fact I was getting paid was something that literally made me laugh out loud to myself, and on more than one occasion. Sureal. Completely overwhelmed, unable to fathom or adjust really to the lucky strike I had somehow found myself neck deep, smack dab in the middle of. So, I did my best. Tried hard not to stare or intrude into any personal corner of a life when there was acting to be eloquently & expertly delivered. And yet, 16 weeks is a pretty decent span, & over time you just kinda get to know folks... even if they're legendary famous, they're still at the end of the day, just Guys, Gals, Dudes & Duddettes you work with. Everyone on this crew was class. Hard, hard working. I think that's why LD turned out to be so epic. It's the details. Every single little thing was pro. Attention to detail. And in the end, it showed. Some might say it still does. I know one thing for sure - if you'd have told me that 35 years later you could still find LD on Prime, or many other optional venues to sit down & watch the whole thing start to finish, again for the 30th time... I'm not sure I'd have believed you. But I'd definitely have smiled. : )
For me, here's a few highlights I simply can't forget, even now:
1) Robert Duval scene with Indian fight against a creek bank, "injured from arrows", and before hand seeing Make Up Crew use ketchup for blood simulation, I was skeptical & made it an effort to quitely sneak close enough to see Bobby act that scene. And then to see it on screen.. truly unforgettable. His depiction of pain & bravery through pain - unforgettable. No way to forget it once you see what was done in real time vs what it turned out to be on screen. Literally Magic. A master magician, actor of unparalleled skill & subtle technique, body language, & voice & aura inflection. Simply put - unforgettable. Lucky to witness.
2) I'm so thankful that Big Jim & myself did not burn the entire southern Texas border north from the Rio Grande. Rick Schroeder had given us a havelana, shot with his bow on Moody Ranch. When I pulled up to the camp fire pit where we were barbecuing it (in the Fuel Truck carrying 220 gal of gas & 220 gal of diesel), being a southern boy from Kentucky, I really didn't think it a big deal when Jim turned around after briefly speaking with me, saw the fire outside the rock perimeter of the pit... and preceeded to Freak The H Out. If someone (I'm thinking it was Jim, but don't remember) hadn't had sense to sprint over to the water truck & drive through the thick mesquite spraying the fire out, well, let's try not to think about it. 2 acres burned in what seemed like 2 minutes & beating that fire just spread it more. Again... lucky. Very lucky.
3) Tossing a football around between shoots with Danny Glover. Danny is great actor. C- passer. B+ pass catcher. But gent through & through & that's bank. Super down to earth dude.
4) Taking Laso lessons on a hay bail from Barry Corbin between shots. Another great. Very underrated actor imo. Class dude. Give you the shirt off his back.
5) Seeing snow fall so hard it dusted the ground white - ON MAY 27TH near Angel Fire, NM.
6) Topping a hill on NM state hwy at sunset to view the town of Taos for the 1st time. I had to pull over. I prayed & gave thanks. Absolutely beautiful.
I could go on. But there you go. A behind the scenes perspective from the Fuel Truck guy just happy to be a small part of Epic.
👊 🇺🇸
I'm biased. But I give LD 5 outta 5 stars. I rank it with the top American Westerns ever made alongside True Grit, High Plains Drifter, Appaloosa, Silverado, or fill in the blank with your top picks... it has stood the test... of time.
