Age of Innocence

A day in the life of Chuck Nice as he films Cinematherapy

by Chuck Nice

This week WE tv is airing Age of Innocence, starring Daniel Day Lewis, Michele Pfeiffer, and Wynona Ryder. So you have a general idea of the film's tone, I will share with you the movie's tagline: "In a world of tradition. In an age of innocence. They dared to break the rules." If you don't know what that tagline means then you have obviously never watched a chick flick.

This week, instead of getting in-depth about the movie itself, I am going to talk about the episode of Cinematherapy that we taped for the movie.

I very rarely talk about what I do in detail because, quite frankly, I don't think it's very exciting for other people; but I love it. So at the risk of boring you to the point of choosing another blog, I will tell you about a typical day in the life of Cinematherapy.

We start the day early in the a.m., around 7, and by "we" I mean the crew, because I don't show up until 9. The production is shot mostly in Central Park, and we either recruit women who are just walking through the park or we use women who were booked in advance. The crew is awesome! They are people I have been working with (off and on) for a few years, and there is a lot of joking and laughter as we go about the day. The reason for the laughter...I generally laugh at my own jokes. We start the day with a luxuriously catered breakfast, which consists of a Dunkin' Donuts number seven and a choice of beverage (I normally go with o.j., but I'm fancy). After a supercool meal we shoot the walkabout; that's the opening of the show featuring me walking around the streets of New York with a big red blow-up couch. Damn, writing the description of what I do just made me feel a lil' bit like a whore. Actually the walkabout is my least favorite part of the day because it's the most challenging. Every week I have to walk around, holding a giant inflatable sofa, all the while trying my best to be funny. Okay, I feel a little less like a whore because that's not easy...not to say that being a whore is easy work either.

So let's discuss the best part of the show...the interviews. By far, this is my favorite part of my day, and the more interesting (crazy) the woman, the more I love it.

I ask very simple questions, like: Have you ever snuck out of the house to go and meet a boyfriend? Answer: No. I always announced when I was leaving.

Man, that's the kind of woman I really like. The kind that just lays it out there, like, who cares what you think about me; either love me or leave me. I like those women because they reflect the essence of who I am. They are the most intriguing and captivating component of my job and I hope they will continue to show up. Oh, by the way, that's the message of Age of Innocence: Why should you care what someone else thinks of you? Life is far too short for that nonsense. So if you're a little crazy and you don't care what people think of you, please come be on the show. Oh my Lord, what have I just done?