When you go to a movie or watch a TV show, you concentrate on the actors that are performing. In scenes where there are other people doing various things, but not speaking, those are the extras. They may be part of a crowd in the background, they may be an integral part of the scene performing a particular action, or something in between. I've done both, and believe me it's a lot more fun having a specific action to perform than merely being part of a large crowd. It can also be more demanding, however.
Hollywood extras come from all walks of life, ages, races, and backgrounds. There are as many reasons for becoming an extra as there are extras. My daughter worked briefly as an extra when she was in college, and that indirectly led to my becoming an extra. I had retired from a 32 year career in the computer software industry and was looking for part time work that could supplement my income, not be too stressful, and would enable me to meet interesting people. My daughter said that being an extra would be a perfect way to achieve those objectives. That's why I became an extra.
Some of the other extras I've met became extras for a variety of reasons. Many are retired from another career, such as myself, but others had one or more of the following reasons:
- Trying to become actors or actresses.
- Engineers and other professionals that had been laid off.
- College students picking up some extra money.
- Housewives doing this as a hobby.
- People who considered themselves professional extras.
- People who are "star struck".
- Out of work actors and crew members.
- Friends and relatives of cast and crew.
- Local residents recruited for filming at a remote location.
- Many other reasons.
I met one extra who was a graduate student gathering material for her Master's thesis, which was on the subject of filmmaking through the eyes of an extra.
There is also a variation on how much extras work and want to work. Many want to work as much as possible, every day and as many hours as possible each day. Since money was not my major motivation, I preferred not to work on consecutive days, and my heart wouldn't be broken with a short day. Later I will go into the factors that determine how much work an extra will get, as well as how extras are compensated.
There are five general types of production on which an extra can work. They are 1) feature films, 2) made for TV movies, 3) TV dramas, 4) TV sitcoms, and 5) commercials. I will include cable movies and made for video movies in the TV movie category. Later I will go into the similarities and differences among these categories from the viewpoint of an extra.
In the hierarchy or social status of those involved in the production of a movie or TV show, extras are at the low end of the totem pole, below the lowest paid laborer on the crew. Part of this is because extras generally come and go, whereas the cast and crew are constant for the length of a production. Extras are generally hired for one day only, though they can be recalled and in rare occasions may be "regulars" on a particular show. Also, it is human nature for people to need someone to feel superior to. As in any profession, there are nice people and people that are not so nice. Later I'll give some examples of my impressions of some of the people I've worked with, from directors to other extras.
This page was last updated on September 13, 2003
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