Good morning!

So my third week in London has come to an end, as well as the long and winding road of shooting the show.

As I am laying in bed in my friends apartment looking through a tiny sunny window, I can’t quite believe that this is all over. I have been so lucky to be on this job, travel Thailand and have so many beautiful and sometimes rather crazy experiences with my colleagues who became real friends now.

This chapter has come to an end and even though we had a long gap of pandemic in-between our shooting it still feels like one continuous job.

Anyway, onto some new things in life and I have some changes coming up once again. Let me take you through my past week first, so maybe some element of surprise remains.

Here it is:

Monday. Sleepy day after a busy one day weekend. Woke up early to pack my suitcase up and move to Tring after work. We are pretending to be in Karachi today. Art department built a street which was meant to look like the one we used when filming on location in Bangkok. Honestly it came very close, just no heat, smell and flies. An upgrade of the shooting experience, but definitely a loss on atmosphere.

Tuesday. Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time a girl took a job in London and was told that because she is considered London based, will have to provide her own accommodation and transport. As it turns out she was the only one doing that, because others even though they lived in London, got their hotels paid for. Moral of the story is to insist to get what you want. Also received a rather misogynist comment from my colleague today, when he referred to my appearance (blond hair), saying that it’s “doing it for him” and that’s “ok, because he is married to one”. It was all in the context of me asking him about the positions of certain, background extras and him telling me, that “he can do, whatever I like”. I did not call him out on his remark and still feel pretty bad about it, but, honestly it all happened so fast and I really did not expect it, so my usually feisty reactions in this respect slowed down.

Wednesday. A lot of continuity today. Picking up little scenes from different episodes to add final touches, inserts and what not. The end is near for sure. Strange to see the sets built based on the locations we shot in in Bangkok. Movie magic at its best, no one will be able to tell the difference. (Hopefully)

Thursday. So I woke up with my alarm this morning, switched it off and then proceeded to sleep again. Woke up 5 minutes before the call time and could not believe it. Also had some extra vivid dreams of falling from the 7th floor building with the whole flat I was in and barely surviving, twice. So yea my morning rush to work was rather special today. Other than that, the day was actually really really good. My agent David arranged an interview for me for tomorrow on the show in Manchester, which would take me all the way to Christmas if I was to do it. I have never been to Manchester, so that would be fun. In the evening we had a dinner with some of the crew. That was super nice, also like a mini farewell party before the wrap tomorrow. Due to the COVID, there will be no wrap party, so that’s a bit of a shame.

Friday. Last day. I went to bed late last night as I was reading the scripts for my interview today. The story was actually very engaging and I’d be very excited to work with it if I was successful. Fingers crossed for sure. Fast forward to post interview – it went well and now I just need to sign the deal memo and hooray. I am going to Manchester! The rest of the day was kinda peaceful, but nice. Not sure how else to describe the last day. After the director called cut we were still pretty confused whether the end is real. Haven’t felt like this in a while honestly. We had few drinks after wrap in a studio adjacent to set and the mini team went to the local pub and then some Italian food after. We all ended up in the hotel where everyone was staying around midnight and had one last one there.

Saturday. Me and the art department girl were given a room each to stay over last night at the hotel. That was super nice and we had one last breakfast with everyone in the morning. She also drove me home back to London. She is cool. The rest of the day was kinda chill at home with my super duper friend. She did not know yet that I had a new job confirmed and in general we haven’t talked in few days and it felt like so much has happened. We called our mutual friend over FaceTime and had such a nice hang out. The FaceTime friend is coming to Scotland for a job next week, so we are planing a meet up in Manchester now. Fun fact – the FaceTime friend is actually the same friend from a couple, who’s boyfriend was visiting her in Lithuania,  I met up with in Vilnius before leaving for UK. I know it is a very confusing description and probably only fun for me, but still.. Perhaps I should call all those people by their names…? Or give them nick names? Maybe I’ll try next week…

Sunday. We went for a pilates reformer class. It was abs and glutes again. So I really do feel it. Good class for sure. The rest of the day we relaxed and watched “Come dine with me” – highlight of British TV for me.

So yes there you have it. It seems that my London Diary will come to an end soon. I am starting my Manchester job tomorrow with 3 week prep, which I was told I can do from home for now. After I’ll embark on 13 week shoot up north. I am pretty excited about it and super grateful that I got a new job right after the wrap. No time to be sad about the past and just look forward to the future. Also I feel like I am starting to build new friend circles back in the UK and it feels good. I might end up moving back here a bit more full time again soon.

Highlights:

  • The end of the serpent.
  • New job in Manchester.
  • New friends.
  • Old friends.
  • I had a realisation that even a prospect of getting on the new job or having an interview set up excites me more that any boy/man/romantic interest. 
  • I love sharing my little victories with my mama, she is always so happy for me. 
  • My sister started dating again and is settling into the new apartment, I am so excited for her.
  • If Covid gets better I would like to fly to Vilnius for a visit when I’m in Manchester.
  • Life is good.

Cheers with a glass full of happy busy and employed elephant!