Whether you’re an aspiring actor or a budding filmmaker, finding your way to your first professional film set can be a challenge. Crew positions are highly-coveted and quick to be filled. Traditionally, everyone else has to either know someone in the industry or slowly move their way up working on low-budget productions or student films before they can work in a studio production.
Luckily, there is another easier way to work on professional film sets, and that is to work as a background actor—also known as an extra.
Film extras are all those people you see in the background of movie scenes or TV scenes—the ones who don’t talk. They are there to make the world of the movie seem more real. And believe it or not, there are people who make background acting a lifelong career.
The best part is that you don’t need any film or acting experience to become a background actor, which means you can soon find yourself on the sets of some of the biggest movies, commercials, and game shows currently in production. I, myself, had the opportunity to work on big productions like La La Land, Straight Outta Compton, and Grey’s Anatomy (I was a recurring candy striper!)
Working in the film industry has many pros, including getting free food, working alongside celebrities, and getting to travel to interesting locations, to name a few. However, production work isn’t always glamorous, and working as an extra will give you a front row seat to observe how professional film sets work, and learn about some of the main challenges of film production.
For instance, I learned that assistant directors (ADs) seldom sit down. Since it is their job to run the set, they have to set an example for everyone else and discourage laziness in other departments by leading by example. ADs often stand for hours, only sitting down at lunch.
You’ll also learn that everyone is expected to be working at all times. The only people on set who don’t have to work too hard are the extras. Everyone else—the gaffers, crafty, makeup, production design—is expected to be busy at all times. This is because film productions are extremely costly, so producers want to get their money’s worth from every person they hire. If they don’t see you working hard, guess what? There are a dozen other qualified individuals ready to take your place in a heartbeat. This is definitely not a profession for the lazy.
And contrary to popular belief, this is not a glamorous profession. The more sets you work on, the more you realize being onset is often uncomfortable. From standing under the hot lights on set to filming in locations with extreme weather such as the desert, filmmaking demands you to be thick-skinned.
Still, despite the physical challenges of being on set, making movies remains one of the most rewarding experiences a filmmaker can do. If you’re ready to dip your toe in the film world, starting out as an extra might be the right path for you.
Extras on the set of a commercial made on Tongal
There is a bit of work to do in order to find background gigs but once you get it all set up, the jobs should start rolling in. First, you need to sign up with a casting agency. If you live in LA, the most popular agency is Central Casting in Burbank, CA. You need to sign up in person because they need to take your photo with their backdrop and lights.
Central Casting is the biggest extra agency, but there are also smaller agencies, like Jeff Olan, which at one point handled most of the casting needs of shows like Grey’s Anatomy.
The second thing you need to do is get an agent. Yes, there are agents that specialize in background actors. And unlike regular actors who struggle to find an agent, background actors can easily get an agent by paying a monthly fee that guarantees your agent will get you background work. The fee is about $75 per month depending on which agent you get, but it’s worth it because, without an agent, booking gigs is extremely difficult and time-consuming.
One of the best background agents I know of is Lisa Marquis at Cut Above Casting. However, many of these services have scaled-down because of the pandemic, so check their website to see if they are still taking new clients.
Your job as an extra often begins at home. Many times you’ll be asked to come “camera-ready”, which means you must show up to set with hair and makeup done. The next step is to arrive at the filming location with enough time to park so that you’re not late. A production can fire you even if you’re only five minutes late. Once you’ve arrived you need to report to the 2nd assistant director so they can direct you to background holding, where you will wait along with the other extras until it’s your time to be on set.
Waiting for your turn to be on set can get tiresome, so make sure you bring a book or something to pass the time. If you do this job long enough you’ll also start to notice many of the same people showing up to the same jobs you book, which might allow you to make some friends with whom you can pass the time on set.
Sometimes you’ll also be asked to wear a costume, in which case you’ll be asked to change in the designated “background changing” area. And you might also be taken to the hair and makeup trailer to get your hair done if they need you to look a certain way.
If you’re lucky enough, you might even bump into a celebrity in the makeup trailer. I once had my hair done on the set of How to Get Away with Murder while Matt McGorry was on the next chair.
However, you should try not to bother the actors. The only time it is okay to talk to them is if they say hi to you first. One time, RJ Mitte (Walter Junior in Breaking Bad) told me to have a nice day as he was leaving the set, so I excitedly returned the goodbye.
Once the 2nd AD invites you to set, it is very important to remain quiet. Extras are rarely required to make noise. And while most background work doesn’t require any type of preparation, sometimes there will be a coach on set to teach you a specific skill required for the scene. For instance, I once worked in a production where they had to teach us how to walk like zombies. It was a 15 minutes workshop right before we filmed the scene.
But for the most part, most of your background work will consist of sitting quietly in the background, doing camera crosses, or walking in the background. Now and then you’ll also get lucky enough to be assigned to sit or stand next to one of the principal cast. I have been fortunate enough to stand next to Alfred Enoch, Ryan Higa, and Jaime Camil.
It’s very fun when you get these opportunities because you can then look up the episode and see yourself on camera right next to the celebrity. You can find me in many featured scenes next to Ryan Higa in the movie Tell Me How I Die. I even show up in the trailer at minute 00:25.
The Schedule of an Extra
One of the most important things to be aware of if you are going to work as an extra is that working hours are crazy. The booking agency usually gives you an estimate of how many hours you’ll be expected to be on set, but by taking the job you agree to stay on set for however long you are needed, even if the shoot goes over by 5 hours! You can’t leave until you are released or you will not be paid for the time you already worked.
Call times also tend to be all over the place. You might get a 6:00 am call time one day, and the very next day you might be offered a job with a 1:00 am call time—you never know what your schedule will be like, but you are always free to reject a job.
There are multiple types of background work, and each has its advantages and disadvantages.
Now and then, you might also get the opportunity to work as a “stand-in”, which involves standing in the place of the actor while the camera and lighting crew light the scene. Productions hire stand-ins so that the start doesn’t have to be on set while they’re not filming. To be a stand-in you have to have the same height as the celebrity and have a similar hair and skin tone as them. Stand-ins are also paid a higher rate, so it’s highly coveted work.
Featured extras—which are extras that appear on screen for more than just a couple of seconds—can also get paid a higher rate, but this is left to the discretion of the assistant director.
“Bumps” are additional payments you can receive for specialized background work or for lending your property to a production. For instance, some gigs might ask if you are willing to let them use your car in the background of a scene—that will get you a bump. Or if you are asked to do a light stunt, like running up some stairs or being around smoke—that will also get you a bump.
If you do this type of work long enough, you might even earn yourself some SAG vouchers, which could qualify you for higher-paid roles. You can get SAG vouchers from extra work if you are a featured extra or if you are given a line in one of the scenes. There are more ways to get SAG vouchers, but they are always given at the discretion of the assistant director.
Background work isn’t available everywhere, but if you live in cities like Houston, Albuquerque, New Orleans, Miami, Atlanta, and Los Angeles, you’ll no doubt be able to find gigs and even make a career out of it.
Be sure to make the most of your time working as a background actor by being nice to the ADs, paying attention to how things are done on set, and making connections with other background actors—you never know who might be working on a production of their own and might be willing to collaborate with you.
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