Officer's talent comes to the 'surface'
By Michelle Hershman, L'07
Student Assistant, University Communications
It seemed like a normal July beach vacation. The Wood family was fishing in Fort Fisher, N.C. All of a sudden, they were told to back away from the water-not because of sharks or rip tide-but because of a mysterious sea creature that might "surface."
It all seemed surreal, like the movies or television. That's when Bobby Wood realized it was. His family was blocking the beach where the TV production crews were trying to film the new NBC drama, Surface.
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Officer Bobby Wood played a police officer and a National Guardsman in two episodes of Surface on NBC
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"That day, we had decided to drive down to the end of the island to do some fishing," said Wood, a University police officer. "After about an hour, a policeman asked us to leave the area because they were filming."
Instead of leaving, Wood and his wife decided to ask the casting director if their 9-year-old daughter could be in the show.
"Everyone always tells us she needs to be an actress," he said. "We were really just seeing if they needed children for the casting calls."
The casting director asked the entire Wood family to come back in two weeks for a two-day shoot as extras. When they went back, it was Wood who was offered a specific role.
"I actually got a uniform and got to be a National Guardsmen," he said. "My wife and daughter were extras leaving the beach. On the show, you can actually see my whole family very clearly."
The Wood family got called back for a second shoot as extras at a pier restaurant who spot the sea creature. Wood, once again, got offered a uniformed role as one of the police officers who helped escort main character Rich away from the crowd of onlookers.
Although Wood said he and his family were excited about being on TV, he's not changing career paths anytime soon.
"We all got paid $150 a day, but it was a long 15-hour day," he said. "Each scene would end up taking 20 times to shoot, and they would keep all the extras there just in case they ended up re-shooting our scene."
However, if they get called back again and their schedule permits, Wood said his family would return to North Carolina to work on the show.
The Woods have already appeared in episodes two and five.
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