A Day in the Life of A Martinez

SOU, 1991

by Bonnie Siegler

After about a 90-minute commute from his Malibu home, A arrives at the Santa Barbara studio in his black Ford Ranger pick-up truck.  "I'm up at 6:45 a.m. every day to have breakfast with my wife Leslie and Cody; hopefully Devon is still asleep."

Inside A's dressing room, the first thing that you see is a refrigerator, "a parting gift from Marcy," he says.

A rehearses with Krista Shook, the Eden look-alike.  They go over their scene a few times, until A and crew seem happy with it.

It's 11:15 a.m.  A tapes the voiceover for the last fantasy scene that he's doing that day.  In the script, Cruz dreams that Eden has somehow returned to him.  "Eden, Eden," A's voice reverberates from the room.  "Eden?  Is that you, darling?  Are you coming home?  Stop tape!  Ah,....I screwed up."  Just one more take and a playback and time to visit the production control booth.

This is where the inclusion of A's voiceover will be incorporated into the dream sequence.

Exiting the control booth, A rubs his hand over his stubbled face:  "I guess it's time for a shave."  So at 11:30 a.m., we're back in his dressing room.  "Can you believe there's no hot water to shave with unless you run the shower for about five to ten minutes?"

Up next for A is hair and makeup, followed by a meeting with the costume designer, who helps A pick out a matching blazer and shirt for his upcoming afternoon taping.

Maria Ellingsen (Katrina) asks A if he has a few minutes to go over a few scenes, so they head back to the newspaper office set for the Santa Barbara Conscience.  Satisfied that the scene will work when taping later, the two exit just as the 12:30 lunch break is called.  After the 65-minute lunch (union rules), everyone is busy getting into costume, having finishing touches of makeup applied, and then off to their appropriate sets.  "I don't think that the audience realizes every little detail that goes into making a one-hour daytime show," A offers, "but I love it!"

It's still another six hours before A's day will end with his usual drive home to Malibu, dinner with Leslie, quality time with his kids, and then a review of tomorrow's lines.  Remember, A and family live in a mobile home, awaiting completion of their dream house - a house that has been under construction during practically every interview that A has done with SOU.  Is there an end in sight, A?  "We should be in our house in three months," he tells.

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