10 years ago I was busy about 4-8 times a month working as a
movie extra actress. I did a lot of “industrials”. I had a great run acting in
videos for dental offices, a patient with a toothache, a patient getting a check-up,
a patient making an appointment etc.
Flash-forward to 2012 and I just did a bit for a TV series
filmed in Portland. There I met up with a woman who I worked with a decade ago
on some ‘Lifetime’ movies. In typical movie extra style we reminisced and
laughed about the stars, the clothes and the food.
This recent experience was very different from the past
because the series is filmed in Portland. The actors are here for several
months and they work with the same technicians and crew and are therefore more
relaxed. In the past I was treated like a breathing potted plant. “Stand here,
look this way, and don’t move!” This time I was treated a touch more like an
actress!
So if you are curious about what a movie extra does, it is
not very glamorous. The fun is watching what goes on in the making of a movie
or a TV series. Instead of paying for a tour on how a movie or TV series is
made, you work in one!
People who work as background movie extras are usually
interesting. For the most part they are people taking a day from what they
normally do like being a social worker or a teacher or a business owner to have
a day working in the world of make believe.
The TV series is Leverage on the TNT network. The episode
will air sometime this summer and it is the “First Contact Job”. You can see me
in one of the last scenes as a science reporter that is unless I am cut!
Have you ever had the acting bug? Have you also been a movie
extra?
4 comments:
Unreal cool! I have never done it, but would love to...
I want to see your lifetime movie!
The movie 'Take My Advice' is about a decade old, but I was in costume which was so fun. I looked in the mirror and I looked like my Mother from pictures of her in the 40's!
It is very cool and if there is a movie being made in your area that has outdoor shots sometimes they are looking for kids along with a parent for crowd scenes.
I second Rachel's comment. That is awesome! I would also love to do it, but not to be famous. In today's world the truly famous have zero privacy.
It is fun. I was just called again but the shoot was to start at 10 PM until 7 AM. Not for me. I love my sleep too much so I had to decline!
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