The scene where Willie beats up the bully skater kid for taunting Thurman Merman was the very last one shot at the Del Amo Mall location in Torrance (before production moved to Thurman's house in Chatsworth). Editorial was warned that the shooting could go late, but since the editing room was located in Hollywood and we had to travel to Torrance to screen dailies (the raw footage from the previous day), we had to allow ample travel time. So when we drove up, the Line Producer looked at me and just shook his head: it was going to be a long wait until we screened dailies! So we decided to go say hi to Terry.
Michael Gay, our wonderful assistant editor, and I walked into the abandoned Montgomery Wards where our sets were, and it was deserted. We wandered out the other side of the store and saw, far in the distance, Billy Bob beating up the bully. We seemed to be in the line of sight, yet no one was stopping us. So we had no idea if we were interrupting the filming or not. To get to the shooting area, we made a complete circle around the parking lot to reach the action. Said hello to Terry, greeted some sound mixers visiting the set, and watched. There was a nice moment where the skater bully actor introduced his Mom to Billy Bob. I wondered what she thought of the grown man pummeling her son.
I should point out that Terry is very particular about extras (and all details in a film, which is part of his greatness). In “Ghost World,” we had a shot that we chose based on how the extra appeared. It’s a testament to his creation of a truthful film universe. So, the next day when I was reviewing dailies of the fight, I was annoyed at the two extras who just stood in the background and stared, unmoving. Then I realized in horror that the terrible extras were Mike and I. And even though we were the worst extras ever, I had to put it in the film, very briefly…blink and you’ll miss it (it's when he says "black eyes"). No one who isn’t looking for us will see us, for I wouldn’t alter the honesty of Terry's world to fuel my ego. The viewer is looking at Billy Bob and the bully, we’re just far off dots in the background. But it’s fun to be a hidden Easter egg in a film.