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After I left ships, we lived in Vancouver for a few years and I worked in local theatre and movie sets occasionally doing wardrobe. To make ends meet between jobs, my husband (PixelJockey) and I were also occasionally extras. Here are a few stories
You Don’t Get to Choose
I was dressing some extras on a made-for-tv movie. The clothing was all picked out ahead of time. The director wanted to make a cameo in the movie and wanted a hot younger girl on his arm (director was about 65 – cute extra around 30). We had “Trophy Wife’s” measurements from the casting company and her outfit was picked out and ready to go when she got there. Cute tight jeans, knee high leather boots, halter top with built in boobs, and some really nice jewelry.
I’m pretty sure the extra that came in actually was a bored trophy wife – she came in wearing pretty much the same thing and had the right attitude. I gave her the outfit and showed her where the hair and makeup trailer was (normally extras don’t get hair and makeup unless it’s a zombie movie or something like that, but the director wanted her “smoking!”). She looked at the outfit and looked at me, puzzled.
SE: Sucky Extra
ME: Not getting paid enough to deal with this attitude
SE: Where are my other outfits?
ME: I’m not sure what your agency told you, but you are only in one scene for half a minute. There are no costume changes.
SE: Yes, but I need to have more than one outfit to choose from. What if I don’t like how this looks?
ME: That will up to the director to decide. He and the designer have picked this out for you and this is what you’ll be wearing. Once we get on set and under the lighting, there is a possibility he may change his mind and we have some options available if that happens.
SE: Can’t I just see those now and pick what I want?
ME: Sorry, that is not how this works.
SE: But what if it’s not flattering to by body type???
At this point I rolled my eyes and walked back into the wardrobe trailer. You’re an extra! You’re being paid $10/hour for 14 hours and you are only working for 1 of them.
Afterwards she asked if she could keep them.
Those People
This one ticked me off.
Was an extras costumer on a large blockbuster. A downtown Vancouver alley had been turned into Shanghai and 95% of the extras were Asian (almost all of them Canadian born, and ALL of them spoke and understood English). There were a few Caucasian extras who were dressed as tourists. It was December and snowing/raining – it was not winter in the movie. My main job (along with 7 others) was to run out between takes and give large groups umbrellas to huddle under while we wiped their jackets dry and brushed snow out of their hair. Yes….I used to get paid to do that for 18 hours a day.
We start filming. First “cut” is called and we run out. A large gazebo had been built, so many extras just huddled underneath it. We handed out the umbrellas and get to work drying everyone as best we can. A co-worker notices one blonde lady standing a few feet away from the gazebo, letting herself get soaked. We were under strict instructions to give umbrellas to groups as there weren’t that many to go around. Co-worker asks her to either get into the gazebo (lots of room), or jump under an umbrella with another group. Her response:
“I’m not getting within a foot of those people”. (said in a tone as if she were talking about cockroaches).
I think all of our jaws dropped. What were you expecting when the call came to be “a tourist in modern day China”? Also, you live in Vancouver. Get over it.
I’ve never seen someone kicked off a set so fast. Luckily we had only done one take and didn’t have to keep her around for continuality. She even made an 80 year old lady cry.
Don’t Look At Me!
Worked on a really crappy direct to DVD movie that starred an actress who hasn’t done much of anything since the mid 90’s. She used to be hot stuff and even won an Oscar, but her career is in the toilet now and I can’t name anything she’s been in over the last 10 years except this film (and that’s only because I was an extra in it).
The extras get gathered together before we move to set and a Production Assistant announces that “You will not look at Ms. Star. You will not talk to Ms. Star. You will not go anywhere near Ms. Star. You will not ask Ms. Star for an autograph or picture!” - funny enough, we were doing a large crowded Christmas mall scene where a lot of people had to bump past her.
Most people who do extra work in this town have worked on MUCH bigger pictures than this…..with much better actresses. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many people roll their eyes at once.
(as a side note – My husband and I were both on set this night and while the mall was closed, stores were open so it could look like people were shopping. I pointed out a sweater I LOVED to hubby. Ms. Star was about 3 feet away. I talked to the sales lady since there was only one left, but she said they couldn’t do anything about it tonight, but she would hold it for me and I could come in and buy it tomorrow. Went back the next day and no shirt. Apparently Ms. Star went into the store after I did and wanted the shirt, so the sales lady sold it to her. Arrrgggg!)
Screeching Banshee Extra
This was my first ‘professional’ job (ie. a Union job that paid well) We were filming a Christmas movie in July, which makes everyone bitch because they need to look like their bundled up when it’s 35 degrees outside. The night was automatically off to a bad start. Sitting in a tent with around 200 extras and in walks an Extra’s Wrangler who has been told by the director to find 20 extra’s who know the lyrics to Oh Holy Night so they can lip sync it behind one of the main actresses. This wrangler must have been new because instead of just quietly asking around and grabbing the first few that said yes, he announce it loudly. Quite a few extra’s are wannabe stars just looking for their big break, so immediately 80 people break out into song. Wrangler looks terrified and grabs the first 20 people he can and books it out of there.
The filming starts and those who are singing are allowed to sing along with the actress to the playback, since none of the live singing will be used. This one girl starts singing at the top of her lungs….obviously trying to impress the actress who is also a well know Broadway star. Take after take this girl just screeches away and tries to inch her way from the side to dead center. During a break, she is escorted off the set. Her name is taken down and was then probably passed around to other production companies – you can’t pull crap like that. Doubt she’ll ever be an extra again, let alone a ‘star’.
It was a great night after that. One of the lead actors played Simon Says with all the extras and crew between takes to help keep us entertained at 3 in the morning. He was awesome and one of the best actors I ever had the chance to meet. His co-star was a bit of a childhood crush of mine and turned out to be the world’s biggest douche bag.
I ended up coughing the fake snow out of my lungs for the next 2 weeks though – that can’t be healthy.
You Don’t Get to Choose
I was dressing some extras on a made-for-tv movie. The clothing was all picked out ahead of time. The director wanted to make a cameo in the movie and wanted a hot younger girl on his arm (director was about 65 – cute extra around 30). We had “Trophy Wife’s” measurements from the casting company and her outfit was picked out and ready to go when she got there. Cute tight jeans, knee high leather boots, halter top with built in boobs, and some really nice jewelry.
I’m pretty sure the extra that came in actually was a bored trophy wife – she came in wearing pretty much the same thing and had the right attitude. I gave her the outfit and showed her where the hair and makeup trailer was (normally extras don’t get hair and makeup unless it’s a zombie movie or something like that, but the director wanted her “smoking!”). She looked at the outfit and looked at me, puzzled.
SE: Sucky Extra
ME: Not getting paid enough to deal with this attitude
SE: Where are my other outfits?
ME: I’m not sure what your agency told you, but you are only in one scene for half a minute. There are no costume changes.
SE: Yes, but I need to have more than one outfit to choose from. What if I don’t like how this looks?
ME: That will up to the director to decide. He and the designer have picked this out for you and this is what you’ll be wearing. Once we get on set and under the lighting, there is a possibility he may change his mind and we have some options available if that happens.
SE: Can’t I just see those now and pick what I want?
ME: Sorry, that is not how this works.
SE: But what if it’s not flattering to by body type???
At this point I rolled my eyes and walked back into the wardrobe trailer. You’re an extra! You’re being paid $10/hour for 14 hours and you are only working for 1 of them.
Afterwards she asked if she could keep them.
Those People
This one ticked me off.
Was an extras costumer on a large blockbuster. A downtown Vancouver alley had been turned into Shanghai and 95% of the extras were Asian (almost all of them Canadian born, and ALL of them spoke and understood English). There were a few Caucasian extras who were dressed as tourists. It was December and snowing/raining – it was not winter in the movie. My main job (along with 7 others) was to run out between takes and give large groups umbrellas to huddle under while we wiped their jackets dry and brushed snow out of their hair. Yes….I used to get paid to do that for 18 hours a day.
We start filming. First “cut” is called and we run out. A large gazebo had been built, so many extras just huddled underneath it. We handed out the umbrellas and get to work drying everyone as best we can. A co-worker notices one blonde lady standing a few feet away from the gazebo, letting herself get soaked. We were under strict instructions to give umbrellas to groups as there weren’t that many to go around. Co-worker asks her to either get into the gazebo (lots of room), or jump under an umbrella with another group. Her response:
“I’m not getting within a foot of those people”. (said in a tone as if she were talking about cockroaches).
I think all of our jaws dropped. What were you expecting when the call came to be “a tourist in modern day China”? Also, you live in Vancouver. Get over it.
I’ve never seen someone kicked off a set so fast. Luckily we had only done one take and didn’t have to keep her around for continuality. She even made an 80 year old lady cry.
Don’t Look At Me!
Worked on a really crappy direct to DVD movie that starred an actress who hasn’t done much of anything since the mid 90’s. She used to be hot stuff and even won an Oscar, but her career is in the toilet now and I can’t name anything she’s been in over the last 10 years except this film (and that’s only because I was an extra in it).
The extras get gathered together before we move to set and a Production Assistant announces that “You will not look at Ms. Star. You will not talk to Ms. Star. You will not go anywhere near Ms. Star. You will not ask Ms. Star for an autograph or picture!” - funny enough, we were doing a large crowded Christmas mall scene where a lot of people had to bump past her.
Most people who do extra work in this town have worked on MUCH bigger pictures than this…..with much better actresses. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many people roll their eyes at once.
(as a side note – My husband and I were both on set this night and while the mall was closed, stores were open so it could look like people were shopping. I pointed out a sweater I LOVED to hubby. Ms. Star was about 3 feet away. I talked to the sales lady since there was only one left, but she said they couldn’t do anything about it tonight, but she would hold it for me and I could come in and buy it tomorrow. Went back the next day and no shirt. Apparently Ms. Star went into the store after I did and wanted the shirt, so the sales lady sold it to her. Arrrgggg!)
Screeching Banshee Extra
This was my first ‘professional’ job (ie. a Union job that paid well) We were filming a Christmas movie in July, which makes everyone bitch because they need to look like their bundled up when it’s 35 degrees outside. The night was automatically off to a bad start. Sitting in a tent with around 200 extras and in walks an Extra’s Wrangler who has been told by the director to find 20 extra’s who know the lyrics to Oh Holy Night so they can lip sync it behind one of the main actresses. This wrangler must have been new because instead of just quietly asking around and grabbing the first few that said yes, he announce it loudly. Quite a few extra’s are wannabe stars just looking for their big break, so immediately 80 people break out into song. Wrangler looks terrified and grabs the first 20 people he can and books it out of there.
The filming starts and those who are singing are allowed to sing along with the actress to the playback, since none of the live singing will be used. This one girl starts singing at the top of her lungs….obviously trying to impress the actress who is also a well know Broadway star. Take after take this girl just screeches away and tries to inch her way from the side to dead center. During a break, she is escorted off the set. Her name is taken down and was then probably passed around to other production companies – you can’t pull crap like that. Doubt she’ll ever be an extra again, let alone a ‘star’.
It was a great night after that. One of the lead actors played Simon Says with all the extras and crew between takes to help keep us entertained at 3 in the morning. He was awesome and one of the best actors I ever had the chance to meet. His co-star was a bit of a childhood crush of mine and turned out to be the world’s biggest douche bag.
I ended up coughing the fake snow out of my lungs for the next 2 weeks though – that can’t be healthy.
), except for one.
Maybe I'm just weird, but I thought that was a bit rude of him.
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