It's not every day you are asked to make your screen debut, so Daniel Howlett jumped at the chance when he heard a film director was looking for extras in Darlington.

I REMEMBER reading that Daniel Day-Lewis nearly died of pneumonia while filming Gangs of New York because he would not take medication that was not available in 1863, the year the film was set.

It was with a similar intensity that I planned on playing “generic mourner number 48” in Talk You Down, a short film that was shot at the weekend at locations in and around Darlington.

The plan is to enter the work into film festivals, and director John William Fletcher hopes to have it ready for a screening at Darlington Arts Centre in March.

Getting into the zone was not easy. I even resorted to pretending it was my mother’s funeral to get me in the mourning frame of mind.

It is not only looking sad that is hard.

As we were about to shoot an outdoor scene, John shouted “Whatever you do, don’t look at the camera!”

I wasn’t going to, but after that I found myself looking for it just to be sure I knew where not to look.

Small-talk was also difficult.

The mourners were told to mingle and have a little chat. I had nothing to say, so I told Irish singer-songwriter Oonagh Cassidy, who made a brief cameo in the film, that grey squirrels were not indigenous to England and went into far too much detail about how they have decimated the natural red squirrel population.

She must be a really good actor though, as she looked genuinely devastated while I was prattling on.

Speaking after filming had wrapped, the director explained his reasons for coming to the town and giving me my acting bow.

He said: “The plot centres around a man going for a cigarette and bumping into a stranger who is threatening to throw himself from Darlington Town Hall roof.

“I don’t want to give too much away, but there are tragic consequences from the encounter, hence us filming at the crematorium. I can say no more, though. People will have to see for themselves when we release it.

“It has got a real local feel to it. I have lived in Darlington for some time and all the extras are from the town.”

Whether or not I will make it to the final edit or end up on the cutting room floor, only time will tell, but I think I might write an awards acceptance speech just in case.