10 Things They Never Tell You About Being A Hollywood Movie Extra
7. You Get Talked About Like You're Not Standing Right There
Ordinarily, when you receive your
phone call from the second assistant-director or whomever they have asked to
make the call on their behalf, you’ll be told what to wear. When extra Richard
Johnson was invited onto the set of Hideo Nakata’s 2011 thriller Chatroom, he was told to arrive looking smart-casual for a scene taking place in an elegant
town house that was hosting a launch party for “someone a bit like JK Rowling.”
Vague descriptions like this are common, which is why many supporting artists turn up on set with suitcases full of clothes that allow them to make a quick change if wardrobe don’t like the look of them. If they don’t, they’ll make no secret of the fact, regardless if you’re within ear shot or not. Chloe Franks, another extra working on Chatroom, admitted to going through such an experience:
“Quite often you get talked about as if you’re merely an inanimate prop. I remember some costume ladies bustling around me as I was standing timorously in corset and knickers, saying, “Well, she is very small isn’t she? With incredibly big feet!””
Extra work is for the thick skinned, and those unwilling to fall in line and be treat like human furniture there to be dressed up and down as required need not apply.