| AW's Jake & Paulina Go Into The Woods |
| by Lara De Losh (SPW 1994) |
The scenes, filmed on location around Mohonk Lake, near New Paltz, N.Y, and Parker Falls/Big Indian in Ulster County, upstate New York, will begin airing June 20 and continue through mid-July. "Jake and Paulina belong together," Judi Evans (Paulina) noted during a break in the filming. "They are very much alike, and are really the only two people who seem to accept each other for who they are. This adventure will prove to be a real test." The location shoot spanned three days in early June--all sunny and beautiful--and focused on various sites around the lake. (Interiors of a cave and an abandoned hut are being done in the studio.) Despite the time constraints, the AW contingent shot from sunrise to sunset, and managed to pack in a lot of action. While walking across a weathered bridge, Paulina falls through and dangles above the rocks. Jake tries to help her, but in doing so falls through himself. Although stuntwoman Candi Orsini did the actual fall, Evans hung from the bridge, wearing a harness, "while my dress flew up over my head for two hours and people from the hotel came over in boats to look up and watch," she joked. "It was one physical humiliation and degradation after another." Tom Eplin (Jake), however, was made of tougher stock. "After Judi's stunt, I had to do my stunt and break through [the bridge]," he said. "I asked, 'Do you guys want to put a cable on me? And they said, 'No, you'll be fine. Just hang on to the rail.' I said, 'OK, great. I understand where I fall in this pecking order.' " The intent of the location shoot was to make it appear as if the duo was in the middle of nowhere. That was easier said than done. "This group of tourists came up while we were filming," Eplin related, "and they walked right into the shot and started taking pictures. It was hysterical." "It was difficult because noises carried, and we had to keep stopping because someone across the lake was talking or walking through the woods, or a plane would fly by, or a truck would come up to make a delivery," Evans added.
The remote wasn't without its casualties. Both actors lost their voices during the shoot. "Jake and Paulina go down a rock slide, which spills out into a mountain pool of water that was about 40 degrees," Eplin explained, "and they kept having us do it over and over again. We had wet suits to protect us from the cold, but they cut the wet suits (to go under the costumes), which you're not supposed to do. A wet suit is supposed to hold in body heat, and when you cut it the water can go in and out. So our vocal cords became swollen so we couldn't speak." Evans added, "Some of the areas we have been shooting have been pretty precarious." She scraped her leg running through a thornbush "six times, over and over while the production team got the shot," she laughed. "They didn't even stop. They were like 'Throw some Bactine on her and let's go.' " Crew members also took their share of bumps and bruises. "One of the camera guys fell 12 feet off the cliff side, and all you could see was his hands holding the camera above his head," Eplin laughed. "There he is, cut and bleeding, and instead of asking how he was, they said, 'Is the camera all right?' " AW's presence at Mohonk House (where the actors and crew stayed) didn't seem to faze any of the hotel guests. When Eplin, wearing his dirty and torn tux, held the door for one couple, the man looked him up and down and asked, "What happened to you?" Not missing a beat Eplin shrugged, "The women." #
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Jake and Paulina find there is nothing like danger to draw former lovers back together. This week, Another World's kidnapped couple regain consciousness in the wilderness and set off to reach the family before Barry does.
This cost the crew a lot of time setting and resetting shots. The scene where Jake's and Paulina's stunt doubles jumped off the cliff into the water took two hours to ready, and "it will probably only last 30 seconds --' if we're lucky," said director Michael Eilbaum with a laugh.