Life on film sets

The life of a (not) very famous background extra

It was not an auspicious start. I didn’t know until 9:45pm what wardrobe options I was expected to bring to my 7:45am call time the next day. And the set was an hour drive away. It was for a Christmas movie, and while I adore this holiday (Exhibit A: last week’s post), I own not a single Christmas sweater, nor a red top, nor a Christmas-green sweater.

So there was that small issue. Also, I’d never been on set and didn’t know exactly how to show up or what to really do on a set. I was daunted.

I gratefully made a friend, Mimi, right at the start, and we palled around until she got called up to the big leagues. They saw in her star potential and she got to play the wife of a supporting main actor. I, on the other hand, was selected to be a server. Either they agreed that my wardrobe options were lackluster, or they just thought I looked sturdy enough to wield a heavy plastic tray for ten hours. It’s remarkable how quickly my fellow server, Mirah, and I came to feel like actual coworkers; we were the only ones doing our jobs, delivering and cleaning beverages and plates of food—over and over—and I must say, we got pretty good at it.

I had to learn on the job all the verbal cues, how to read the sometimes really subtle physical cues, and that it mattered that I remember from where I got things.

Caption: Would you just LOOK at my famous ponytail? Photo credit: a bestie whose kids thought I was pretty cool for being in a MOVIE.

How far I’ve come from those early days. A whopping seven months later, I’ve spent nine days as background in four additional productions and on five sets. I’m essentially a professional now. Yes, background work is rookie-level acting, but it is still more acting than I’ve done in my entire life, and I’m mostly having a blast. I say mostly because, on set, extras sit near the bottom of the social totem pole. This even though some of them are pros who have actually done legit acting stuff and are just filling their schedule with any kind of acting work.

Part of why it’s fun for me is that it’s a lot like traveling. Key differences include the following list:

1. THEY pay YOU for it.

2. They provide sometimes swanky meals and snacks (“crafty” in biz lingo).

3. You get to sleep in your own bed at night. I like that part.

But let’s not focus on the differences. Let’s talk about the similarities.

Similarity #1

The first way it reminds me of travel is that you cannot predict all the situations you’ll be in. On set, you get asked to do things—often with very little notice and instruction—and may not feel qualified to do. You feel a wave of fear but do your best, and find that you do actually have an idea of what to do or can figure it out.

The background “handler”—I still don’t know the official title of the person who bosses around us extras—pulls a couple to several extras into a scene, and tells us where to stand or sit and where to move and on what cue. But sometimes the directions are confusing or quiet or something that goes wrong or equipment ends up in your way and you have to adjust on the fly. You have never in your life pushed someone in a wheelchair and suddenly you’re in scrubs pushing a “discharged patient” out of the front doors of the “hospital” accompanied by her “husband.” Directly at the camera. Over and over.

Or you show up on a set expecting to be just an average background police officer and instead, they do your hair and make-up. You begin to wonder if you’re actually a featured background extra. Getting called onto set, you realize you are in fact a very visible side-kick to a speaking actor, will definitely be seen on camera, and need to act like a real cop. So you pretend like you have an idea what will look natural. In this case, the director even asked me to move and stand more prominently in the scene so I think I pulled it off.

Similarity #2

The other way in which it’s like traveling (especially solo), is that you never know who you’re going to meet along the way. You can’t imagine who you’ll bump into in airports or on day trips or tours or what you’ll talk about or what the overall vibe will be like. You run into some interesting ducks and real characters. But by the end of the day, you’ve totally bonded with some of them. You’ve shared very personal things with each other and feel like fast friends.

People are candid about the multiple businesses or jobs they’re patch-working together to pay the bills and keep them in the creative game. They’ve got big dreams, and nearly every person there is doing something about them. You exchange phone numbers or Instagrams with a lot of them and find that the messages you exchange are some of your favorites, because these people know a side of you not everyone does.

While on set, you’ve got each others’ back, help each other remember cues, and fake talk with each other about who knows what. Looking back on my first days on sets, it was indescribably awkward to interact without being able to say words. Now it’s second nature to fake talk about whatever the heck I think is pertinent to the scene. I get into my piddly little character role, silently carrying on my side of the fake conversation with some gusto.

Whoever I’m interacting with responds with their own side of the conversation and we’re most definitely talking about different things. While I think we’re having a logistical conversation about case files, I’m getting the idea that Helga thinks we’re talking about some sad news. What really matters is that we provide movement, don’t actually make any sound, and that we don’t trip over the lights. I came awfully close on one take.

Caption: Just another day on the job. My cousin (a full-time actor—the fun one in the middle) descended from his lofty position to be a peon extra with me for the day. We had a blast.

Even if I never do more than background work, you’d better believe I’ll remember my days on set. I have way more interesting conversations about this pays-peanuts gig than I ever had with people about my fancy tech job: “Oh, you sit at a DESK all day and run the website for a SOFTWARE company?” Fascinating! I have so many questions!” That’s how those conversations never went.

Not that the job was remotely bad or that desk jobs are bad. You never know, I may end up back in one while I keep growing my writing (books and intentional living coaching/implementation at emilyburnett.me, and oh-so human stories here). But no matter what, my time on sets has sure been a memorable contribution to some life off the beaten path. And I’m so glad for the people which have made it so.

Isn’t life cool, and aren’t people interesting? See you in the next one…

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