The Glamorous Background Job

As a background actor, I’ve enjoyed the walking, sitting, reading, eating catered food, and talking to new people that I call “work.” It’s all been quite fun, in fact. Don’t get me wrong, there is a reason we are paid; the job has its downsides. I’ll tell you a few.

1- First off, we do the same thing over and over, like a factory assembly line. Here’s some homework for you. Pick a movie, any movie. As you’re watching pay attention to the camera angles in one scene and count them. I don’t claim to be a camera expert but I do realize that many angles make a great film. In one scene there are usually at least three to four angles that are captured. Sometimes it’s more like ten. Close up for each character, get the angle from the back, long shots, short shots, … shot shots. Every time there’s a new angle the crew needs to move quite a lot of equipment. Meanwhile… we can’t go anywhere for fear that we will change spots and ruin the “continuity.” As soon as the crew is ready, we run the scene again making sure our hair, props, and blocking are as close to the original as we can get them. We often film several takes as the actors need to work out the scene with their co stars or memorize new lines. So… as background actors we stand there and wait.

2- That leads me to the next point. We wait a lot. I mean… hours and hours of sitting in “holding” waiting. We wait for make-up, we wait for hair, we wait to eat, we wait between takes, and we wait and wait and wait to go on set. One set I was on we were told, “Alright… we’re having lunch in an hour and then we wait for another two hours, so take a nap, read a book, take a load off, you’ll be here a while.” Usually we’re not told how long it’ll be before we’re needed so that was a nice change.

3- We have to be prepared for the elements. Filming can be indoors or we might be working in the rain or in scorching heat. Our costume often dictates how comfortable we are. I was on a set a few weeks ago where I had forgotten to bring my jacket. … That was a mistake I hope to never make again. Holding was outside in the cold and set was not heated. But for those who brought their coats… they weren’t allowed to wear them while we were rolling anyway. Our costumes depicted a heated auditorium… even though it wasn’t. This week there was a casting call for a waterpark in January. Brr… no thank you.

4- That brings me to costumes. The costumes are assigned to you. Which means that sometimes you are given a costume that you wouldn’t in your right mind ever be caught in… and yet, there you are putting it on and filming in it. So far I’ve been lucky to not be assigned terrible costumes… but Ben has had some pretty funny ones. Like the time he was dressed as a dust monster. On one set I was military and had a lot of gear on me. I didn’t realize how heavy everything was until I had been standing with it on for several hours.

5- The schedule. Need I say more? I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ll say it again. The schedule is completely unpredictable. I took a job on Monday as a day job. Little did I know that they would be calling me back for three more days (as they deemed they needed me) to work the same job. I was grateful for the work, but I wasn’t expecting it and had to shuffle my schedule to make it happen. I’d like to announce that because I did, I was able to get all three “golden tickets” through that job and became union eligible! (union)

6- You don’t always know what you have gotten yourself into. On a casting notice the call will sometimes say specifics. Here’s an actual example of a casting notice:

**PLEASE READ CAREFULLY**
**NON UNION SUBMISSIONS ONLY**
Monique is looking for men and women appearing to be 18-22 to portray college students participating in an undie run. MUST BE OK RUNNING IN YOUR UNDERWEAR. MUST BE OK WITH FACE PAINT ACROSS STOMACH. WORKS AT A HIGHER RATE.
NO VISIBLE TATTOOS!
WORKS FRIDAY IN BURBANK.

Alright. You get it. If you’re cast, you will be running in your undies. Before you ask… no. I did not apply for this one. Here’s another example of a casting call:

UNION SUBMISSIONS ONLY
Works tomorrow in Hollywood area. Sarah Beth is taking submissions for MEN age 25-45 who appear to be fit. Must be a Medium, Large or XL shirt. If this is you submit your Shirt Size along with your name and contact info to Sarah, subline “Mover”

Mover? So… moving what? Will these fit men be lifting heavy boxes all day? Will they be packing up a house? Is it a horror? Comedy? What’s the rating on this film? You won’t know until you are on set being told to “move” a shipment of drugs to the get away car.

7- It can be quite strenuous. I have heard of people being cast as a “dead body” and having people piled on top of them while the directors made sure they got the best shot. I was almost in a film where I would have been running from something for most of the day. There are casting calls for surfers, tennis players, gym goers, contortionists, and women with heels. And speaking of heels, you’ll most likely be standing long hours.

8- We have long hours. Twelve to fourteen hour days are not unheard of. In fact, Ben and I welcome them. We figure… if we’re on set, we might as well stay for as long as possible. I generally appreciate sleep… so I haven’t done this, but some do have twelve hour night calls and then work a day shift afterward. Yipes.

All in all… every day is a new adventure. There are days when I know I won’t be watching the film when it airs (due to content) and days when I’m bored stiff as a “bar patron” that doesn’t move for hours. There are also days when I get to watch an amazing performance or have dinner at a fancy restaurant. I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but I am so excited to find out.