
The Curious Life of an Extra - kposehn
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/09/my-life-as-an-extra/541212/?utm_source=atlfb&amp;single_page=true
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stult
At age 55 after raising three kids and being out of the job market for two
decades, my mom randomly decided to get into acting. At the time, tons of
movies were filming in Boston where she lives. She was quickly able to land
lots of extra work, especially because the city lacks the constant supply of
aspiring actors living in NY or LA.

It was a perfect cure for empty nest syndrome. She eventually landed a
speaking role in a major film, though tragically her speaking scenes got cut
and only the scenes where she played a corpse made the final cut. But, she got
the opportunity to act opposite Robert Duvall! And she played Robert Downey
Jr's mother, which by the transitive property of fraternal handsomeness makes
me as good looking as he is (hint: I'm not).

Sadly, she gave up on it after receiving some harsh feedback from a talent
agent. It can be a fun, carefree way to earn some extra cash if you have the
stability not to have to worry about a volatile income stream. But once you
get into the more serious levels of the business, the competition can be
brutal and the industry insiders vile. C'est la vie, I suppose.

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cafard
Good for your mom! Pity about the talent agent, who does sound vile.

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mvdwoord
Ricky Gervais made a hilarious sitcom about the life as an extra. Aptly named
"Extras", with a guest star every episode. Highly recommended, the Christmas
special is one of the funniest things I've seen in a while.

[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0445114/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0445114/)

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AndrewOMartin
Is there any nudity in it?

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deanCommie
You're getting downvoted for people who are missing that it's a reference to a
brilliant scene from the show:
[http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3uir5](http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3uir5)

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dizzystar
I think it's pretty cool that she made a go of it, managed to step up, and
found a new passion.

I did extra work in the mid 00's, and it was an interesting and highly
unstable way of making a living. It was mostly actors and musicians at the
time, as the money was just good enough (for some) to make time for auditions
and workshops.

The rest were people like the author: people who just couldn't find a job and
make ends meet.

I think that extra work in LA is possibly more fickle than out east, mainly
because there are a few thousand people who move out here to become an actor
every week, and the first place they find themselves at is Central Casting.
Being too (fill in the blank) was the difference between working all the time
and working just enough to pay for a calling service. It seemed that the next
step for many was use the free time to launch their own business. It's very
difficult to find a job if your resume says "extra work" for the prior two
years.

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jinushaun
My goal before I leave New York is to be an extra. I just want to be the guy
in the background eating Chipotle. Unfortunately, there aren't many background
roles for people who aren't young tall white/black and beautiful. The listings
are usually quite specific—especially any sort of double work. My best hope is
landing a student project and then working up to feature film or TV.

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danielrhodes
The tall part may not necessarily be true. Many actors are on the shorter
side. Coincidentally, having a shorter stature makes filming easier because
everybody fits within the frame more easily.

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creaghpatr
In Atlanta you can walk on to any major picture if you look up the extra
casting company. I worked on 6 projects last year and that was just part time
and for some extra cash.

Pay is shit but it’s intense and exciting work, especially if there’s stunts
or world class principal actors in the scene(s). That said, sometimes you show
up and it’s grueling. Rolling the dice is just part of the background actor
experience and a handful do get extremely lucky.

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pc86
How much of your time was spent on those 6 jobs? Could you see someone getting
enough work in a city like Atlanta to support themselves as an extra full-
time?

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creaghpatr
I talked to some people who did it full time but many are college age- some
aspiring actors, but a lot of people who just want to work. There's so much
film work in Atlanta that you could do it 5 days a week- and Atlanta is a
pretty cheap city.

But the killer is no benefits and always having to self-organize your work
schedule _while_ working 12+ hour days/nights. I worked on night shoots with
people who stayed up all night then went to a noon call time the next day.
Can't see myself doing that full-time, but I'm not trying to be an actor
either.

edit: to answer your question I worked about 15 set days so roughly 200 hours
and made a few thousand bucks after tax. not efficient, but the fun stuff was
really fun...worth it.

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joncrane
I was an extra in a movie once. I was a starry-eyed young adult who had just
taken an acting class.

It was not glamorous or fun at all. I was hired for two days and I no-showed
and went to my day job on the second day.

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beckler
I was a PA once, and we would call the area we kept the extras as District 9.

