Chrissy Williams
A movie about basketball was being filmed at Pierce on Saturday.
However, it was not your typical basketball flick.
“The Minis” is a movie about a basketball team that lacks three things: height, confidence, and a fifth player…
Which is where Dennis Rodman comes in.
The set quieted when the cameraman said, “rolling.” When it was silent he said, “Three… Two… One… Action.”
Immediately Rodman walks out of the campus center. Pleading not far behind are four little people:
“Mr. Rodman, could we talk to you?”
He ignores them and gets into his limousine, parked by the campus center.
In the next shot, the camera focuses on the limo.
Upon “action,” Rodman halfway rolls down the window.
“Hey Minis, you still need a fifth player? I’ll do it. My agent thinks it’s a good idea.”
“Agent?”
This scene follows one where Rodman speaks to what is supposed to be a hall full of people.
“The whole joke is that there’s only eight or so people,” said Dana Michael Woods, 43, who plays George, a player for “The Minis.”
“When he’s introduced, there’s, like, three claps.”
Rodman plays himself in the film.
Perhaps it is jokes like this that caused him to have “creative differences with the production company,” as his bodyguard, who wishes to be referred to as “D,” said.
“D” admired the campus, but he was most impressed with President Robert Garber, who gave the crew a tour and history of the campus before they started rolling.
“Bob has a passion for Pierce. He is a genuine, real nice guy.”
And about Rodman, “D” said “He’s very misunderstood, but he’s a great guy.”
Those on set disagreed.
A security guard said he saw Rodman sitting on the stairs of a trailer with a script in hand, muttering, “So many @#$%ing lines.”
“He’s not playing basketball anymore. I mean, come on,” said the guard.
“You signed up for acting, where you have to memorize lines. ”
As soon as Rodman was finished with his segment he left campus, but the cast members were happy to interview.
Gabriel Pimentel, 27, was the shortest of all the little people, standing 2’8. He was referred to as “the hot little person” who had “flare” by other little people.
In the movie he plays Chevy, who is single, funny and desires surgery to make him normal size. He experiences the biggest breakthrough of the characters and by the end of the film he is looking in the mirror saying,
“Tonight I feel like the tallest man in the world.”
Pimentel enjoys playing basketball and boasts about his ability to consistently sink three-point shots.
He toured with Eminem and D-12 when he was featured in the “My Band” music video.
Clad in cowboy hat, chaps and spurs he stands on stage and lassoes a female from the audience.
He just recently wrapped “Fred Clause,” which will debut in theatres during the holidays.
He stars as Santa’s bodyguard alongside Kathy Bates, Kevin Spacey and Vince Vaughn.
Woods, the tallest of The Minis at just over 4’9″, plays alongside Outkast’s Big Boi in the upcoming film “Whose Your Caddy,” which will premiere sometime this year.
Since director Valerio Zanoli is Italian, said Joe Gnoffo, another Minis castmember, the film will first debut in Italy and then come to America.
Matthew Parsons, a stand in for all the little people, said that they had been filming for two weeks and hoped to wrap by the end of next week.
Saturday was the only day they filmed at Pierce.
“The Minis,” which features a cameo by Dennis Rodman, continues the string of films using Pierce as a set. ()
Dana Michael Wood, Matthew Parsons, Joe Gnoffo and Gabriel Pimentel (from left) run through a scene with Dennis Rodman for the upcoming movie “The Minis” which was filmed at the Pierce College Campus Center Saturday. ()