As anyone who knows me knows, Blade Runner is my favorite movie. (It’s also the greatest movie ever made*, and I won’t argue with you on that one - it just is.)

*Ok, maybe not literally, but close enough.

It’s a film that works for me on any number of levels: an existential meditation on what it means to be human and how we confront mortality; a socio-economic study of post-state anarcho-capitalism in a ravaged natural world; an examination of Nietzsche’s übermensch (Roy evokes “Caesar with the soul of Christ”); a cautionary tale of technology no longer in the service of human needs; and also just the most compelling and aesthetically beautiful mise-en-scène ever put on film. It’s a dystopia, and yet still you very much want to live in it - if only for a bit. I love almost everything about it - except for the unicorn sequence that Ridley Scott snuck in to the post-1992 versions. Because as any smart person knows, Deckard is not a replicant.

I may write a separate post about that later.

Another reason I feel a personal connection to Blade Runner is that I was a member of the Dallas test screening audience three months or so before the film was released in theaters. That test screening, and the one in Denver at around the same time, is part of the film’s lore. (And unbeknownst to us, Ridley Scott and Harrison Ford were apparently in attendance, incognito.) It wasn’t even finished yet, as a matter of fact, and I remember someone from the production telling us before the movie started that Vangelis hadn’t finished the score and so the last 25% of the movie used stock music. Even so, we were all blown away by the movie - although we didn’t quite get it. I think many of us thought that Rachel, Roy, Leon, Zhora, and Pris were robots, not bioengineered artificial humans. At least I did. (See image below.) We had to fill out questionaires after the screening, and I got a follow-up phone call the next day to ask me further questions about my reaction. I recall that they were particularly concerned with the ending.

Definition of replicant used in the workprint (pre-theatrical release) version of Blade Runner, which is what we were shown in the test screening. It conflates “replicant” with “robot” and “android” - which in science fiction tropes were very differ… — Definition of replicant used in the workprint (pre-theatrical release) version of Blade Runner, which is what we were shown in the test screening. It conflates “replicant” with “robot” and “android” - which in science fiction tropes were very different things that what replicants in fact were, which are bioengineered artificial humans. This is a big reason why I was confused in the test screening - I thought they were essentially robots, and found it hard to see them as anything other than sinister. Later, of course, I understood what they were (essentially, artificial but emergent humans) and recognized that we were supposed to (at least partly) empathize with them. Indeed, one can watch Blade Runner and see the real humans as the villains and the replicants as the sympathetic characters: replicants are us, confronting God with questions about who we are and why we must die. This definition was removed for all later versions of the film.

I wish I remembered more about what my immediate reaction was. One thing I do remember is the ripple of tension and shock that resonated in the theater when Pris was killed. People were like “WHOA - holy SHIT!” Anyway, since the test screenings were used by the film’s producers as ammunition against Ridley’s cut, you can partly blame me for the fact that they added the voice-over and happy ending on the original theatrical release. (The voice-over has its charms - although I prefer the one without it - but the happy ending was sappy and untrue to the spirit of everything that had come before.)

Anyway, as we all remember (right?), it’s set in a dystopic Los Angeles in November 2019 - which back in 1982 seemed like the distant future. Now, it’s the present and in a couple of weeks will be in the past.

So how could I not visit the real LA in November 2019? I couldn’t not, right? So I did, along with a few other die-hard Blade Runner fans, to make a pilgrimage to the various places used as filming locations used in the film. Along with my friends Ross, Sissie, Czarina, Amjad and our most excellent knowledgeable-about-all-things-Hollywood-despite-not-living-there guide Francis, we visited Warner Brothers Studios, The Bradbury Building, Union Station, and 2nd Street Tunnel. (Also Ennis House, which they went to but I had to miss.) We also had drinks and dinner at the Formosa Cafe - which wasn’t one of the BR filming locations (but it was in L.A. Confidential), but it was very Blade Runner-esque so we just had to go - and were joined by our friends Mark and Karen. Always great to see them, too.

The Bradbury Building was the clear standout. It really is a spectacular interior, although its overall dimensions (except for height) are much smaller than I had imagined. We had coffee at the Blue Bottle Coffee Shop inside the Bradbury - and realized that the Pris-meets-J.F. Sebastian scene was probably filmed right there when the whole lower floor of the block was differently configured.

The other real standout, and the one I was really looking forward to, was the New York Street set at Warner Brothers Studios - which is where most of the film was shot. The Blade Runner production used Stages 4, 24, and 25 (the latter was J.F.’s apartment), as well as New York Street for all the outdoor street scenes. Due to an actor’s strike just before production, the design department had a couple of extra months to dress up the very elaborate street set (known to the production crew as “Ridleyville“) and add even more layers of props, facades, piping, graffiti, and grime than would have otherwise been the case. The result was an astonishing degree of verisimilitude: the November 2019 Los Angeles of Blade Runner felt like a real place.

I’d done my research in figuring out what was shot where on New York Street, and although we didn’t get to spend a whole lot of time there, we got to get our photo taken just in front of where the White Dragon Noodle Bar was located. In the above photo, I’m standing just 5 paces from there - and I’m also pretty sure that the building Deckard is leaning against reading the newspaper when he first appears is the one right below where my right hand is - but there was so much set-dressing and false facades on the set that you can hardly recognize anything. Scroll to the bottom of this page to see a map I created showing what I think are the approximate locations of where major events were filmed on the New York Street set at Warner Brothers Studio.

We got an added kick by seeing the famous blimp model at Warner Brothers, which of course we took numerous photos of - and though a little Photoshop magic, it “reappeared” over New York Street! (This was a very quick and dirty Photoshop job.)

We also visited the Petersen Automotive Museum (which is fantastic btw) where they had a special exhibition, “Hollywood Dream Machines: Vehicles of Science Fiction and Fantasy”, which had several of the cars and props from both the original Blade Runner as well as the sequel Blade Runner 2049.

And then I get back to Honolulu and what should happen but my acting coach, Wayne Ward, chose a scene from an early script version of Blade Runner as that week’s scene. It was surprisingly difficult to play the scene - although my partner Iris Wilhelm-Norseth made it easier - because although at a superficial level it’s completely banal dialogue, at another it’s very deep and a lot of subtext (upon subtext upon subtext). In this version, Rachel has found out (definitively and quite brutally from Tyrell) that she's a Replicant. Like the film, Rachel just saved Deckard's life by shooting Leon, and they then return to his apartment where they made love. I needed to balance Deckard's jaded cynicism with his affection for Rachel; he also still sees her as a Replicant but also an (emergent) human. Rachel, on the other hand, is grappling with the new knowledge that she’s in fact a Replicant, and her innocent questions are drawing out Deckard’s forgotten humanity. (All the real humans in Blade Runner are dehumanized, while all the “non-human” Replicants are experiencing and trying to understand their human emotions, which is just as authentic - if not more so! - than that of the humans.) So - there is a lot going on in the subtext of this scene.

Despite my familiarity with the material, it was not easy to play, and of course Harrison Ford did it better - but I’m glad I got the opportunity and I think it at least wasn’t awful. Looking at it now, just two days later, I can already think of things that I’d do differently. For a start, I think I’d open the scene rubbing my eyes, sleepily, as though I’d just woken up. It’s funny the things one thinks of after one sees it as filmed. (Which might be a good tip for future rehearsals.)

A side note for actors: I think this scene was the first time I really tried some version of method acting. I listened to the BR soundtrack for several hours before we did the scene, and forced myself to adopt a gloomy mood, and I stayed with that until the class ended. I’m not sure I really believe in hard core method acting - at least for me, although obviously it works magnificently for some actors - but for really stretch or deep roles, there’s something to trying to stay in character for the duration of a particular shooting period.

And finally, below are several other photos from our “Los Angeles, November 2019” trip. We also visited the Neotropolis Bar, which was a pop-up bar directly inspired by Blade Runner. We had a lot of fun there, and hope they might continue in some form or fashion.

My thanks and appreciation again to my friends Amjad, Czarina, Sissie, Ross, Mark, and Karen for being such lovely company, and in particular to Francis French for being such a great and knowledgeable guide (as well as a good friend). You people rock.

And thank you also to my lovely family: my wife Anastasiya and perfect 12 year old daughter Nastyusha, who were so patient in indulging my obsession with this movie during our trip. They were so perfect that now I’m starting to wonder if they are in fact Replicants. Which, I suppose, wouldn’t be so terrible.

A replica (made by the original prop maker) of the Spinner from Blade Runner (1982).

Deckard’s Blaster from Blade Runner 2049.

People’s Car (actual screen-used prop) from Blade Runner (1982).

With friends on the New York Street set on the Warner Brothers lot. (Thanks to Francis French for adjusting the photo).

The original filming model of the blimp from Blade Runner (1982), at Warner Brothers Studio.

In front of the Million Dollar Theater (directly across street from Bradbury Building).

With friends and family outside the Bradbury Building. L to R: me, Anastasiya, Czarina, Francis, Sissie, Amjad, and Ross.

On stairs in Bradbury Building. L to R: me, Anastasiya, Czarina, Ross, Sissie, Amjad, and Francis.

Roof interior, Bradbury Building. It really looks like the blimp could fly over at any moment!

Francis as Pris, Burke as… J.F. Sebastian? L to R: Francis, me, Nastyusha, Anastasiya, Sissie.

With Amjad, Francis, and Ross inside the Blue Bottle Coffee Shop.

In Union Station, where the police headquarters set was located in the original film.

At the Formosa Cafe (not in Blade Runner, but it was in LA Confidential) with friends and family. We chose it because it was very Blade Runner-esque. (And we highly recommend it!) L to R: Nastyusha, Francis, Mark, Karen, Amjad, Czarina, me, and Anas… — At the Formosa Cafe (not in Blade Runner, but it was in LA Confidential) with friends and family. We chose it because it was very Blade Runner-esque. (And we highly recommend it!) L to R: Nastyusha, Francis, Mark, Karen, Amjad, Czarina, me, and Anastasiya.

With friends at the Neotropolis. L to R: me, Amjad, Francis, Czarina.

Map I created estimating the locations of where various sets and shots were filmed on the Ridleyville set on New York Street at Warner Brothers Studio.

Screenshot of the opening Deckard shot. Note the column, which is identical to those in the facade right behind our group photo.

Screenshot from the alternate take of the opening scene (from the Blade Runner Final Cut “deleted scenes”) showing the location of the White Dragon Noodle Bar. What’s relevant here is the curb, which matches exactly to the location I identified on t… — Screenshot from the alternate take of the opening scene (from the Blade Runner Final Cut “deleted scenes”) showing the location of the White Dragon Noodle Bar. What’s relevant here is the curb, which matches exactly to the location I identified on the map. However, they used some sort of curb extension (note the different color) to make the sidewalk jutt out an additional couple of feet.

Here We Are: Los Angeles, November 2019