“Go sit next to the guy in the second row”.. so begins my experience of being an extra, or background actress. I’ll have to come clean right now and say this isn’t exactly a brand new experience for me but it has been over 15 years since I had signed up at Central Casting and was an extra for the Ally McBeal TV show. It’s been so long that it seems like a new experience all over again! And that’s perfectly fine – if you had an interest in something but never kept up with it, it’s ok to go back and test it out again. Experiences also change with the times and as you age and think differently about things. The above photo is of the office in Burbank, California – Central Casting is 90 years old and still going strong with offices now in New York, Louisiana and Georgia. It is one of the biggest companies in the industry that handles all things “Extra” for tv/films. Couldn’t take photos inside, but you’re not missing much, just basically 75 chairs in 4 or 5 rows for people to sit and fill out paperwork, listen to the casting directors talk about how to be an extra and wait to get your mugshot - I mean headshot - taken. Since I was previously registered, I didn’t have to re-take the full 3 to 4-hour orientation class. I remember it being not too terribly exciting… a lot of talking about what you can and can’t do on set, filling out paperwork, to be responsible, be on time and bring something to read because a lot of it is ‘hurry up and wait’ on the set (especially for extras). So, thankfully, I just had to re-register to update my information and take a current photo… a painless but very amusing one hour in my day. What amuses me the most is that there are the people who take being an extra really seriously and then there are those (like me) who just to do it for fun (definitely not for the money since it’s basically minimum wage). While waiting for my photo to be taken, I had two guys in front of me…the first one started slapping his face and doing breathing exercises right before standing in front of a blank wall and quickly getting his photo taken by the office assistant. It seemed he was worried that the photo he just took was going to decimate his destiny as an actor, so he asked if he can submit other ‘real/professional’ headshots of himself. As it turns out, you can give them many photos of yourself in various looks – they suggest business attire, formal attire, bathing suit and casual. I suppose if you wanted to be typecast, you can submit specific photos dressed up as a cop, a nurse, a priest, a bellydancer, etc. The next guy in front of me told me he always gets cast as a cop since he is a pretty big guy. He took his obligatory photo and then asked if he can do one without his shirt to show off his massively huge and muscle-y (is that a word?) chest and arms. Pretty impressive to me - I'd hire him as my bodyguard. I had forgotten how amusing it is to be around extras and it reminded me how I had an idea 15 years ago for a quirky comedy TV show based on this job title and subculture of people. Apparently Ricky Gervais must have found it funny as well since he actually did create a TV show called “Extras”. Looking around, I was amazed at the hodgepodge of people there… an older Armenian man, a 20-something girl with blue hair, chiseled face actors, older lady with her husband who was dressed up as a priest (with a bible prop and all)…all various races and ethnicities. And there I was, just little ole plain me who wore regular everyday/casual clothes and did my own hair and makeup earlier that day hoping not to be laughed at by my attempt of being somewhat 'glamourized'. The next step after registering is to call their telephone hotline for what kind of people they’re casting and days available. I submitted my info to a casting call for TV show called "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" who needed women with a car that was not black, red or white… I was in luck – I have a silver car! I also submitted my info for a new Amazon TV show needing smaller-sized women willing to be cast in 1930’s look. I got a call back within an hour of submitting and got the 1930’s gig! That was really quick - I get to work tomorrow for an hour to get fitted for 1930’s period clothes and then the actual film shoot is one day next week. The fun is just starting with this new adventure! This experience taught me that no matter what you look like or where you come from - you are always needed and can be part of something bigger in life. No matter if you think you’re too different or too plain, too fat, too old, too whatever… you’ll always be needed and can find your place in the world to belong, to be part of, to thrive. As the last line in the movie ‘Pretty Woman’ (my most favorite movie to quote) says: “Welcome to Hollywood! What’s your dream? Everybody comes here; this is Hollywood, land of dreams. Some dreams come true, some don’t; but keep on dreaming’ – this is Hollywood. Always time to dream so keep on dreamin.” What is your dream that you’ve always wanted to do or try? Did you try and give up too quickly? Are you too overwhelmed to try something new? You don’t have to go for the whole thing at once – maybe there is a way to just explore or dip your toe in first? Just like being an extra is a small way for an aspiring actor to learn about their new dream. Heck Brad Pitt was an extra in the 1987 movie ‘No Way Out’ before he became famous. Get out there and try little baby steps…you never know what will come of it and all of a sudden you may notice you’re living your dream! Here’s Brad Pitt’s work as an extra/background actor: And by the way here is a screen shot of the scene I was an extra in 15 years ago for Ally McBeal. What? You don’t see me in the dark crowd cheering on James Marsden and Josh Hopkins? It was the best acting I’ve ever done...
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How does it feel to be like Jack Sparrow, Zorro, Captain Hook and Inigo Montoya? I had been wondering that for years but never got the courage up to take a lesson for one reason or another. Well, my addiction to new experiences finally lead me to the door of Swordplay - a place that has been around since 1992 and has taught many fencing participants in the competition circuit for USFA and taught many famous actors in film/stage choreographed combat. With butterflies in my stomach, I walked up to the front desk all timid-like, not knowing what I was getting myself into and if they'd make fun of me or just make a general fool of myself. I haven't worked out in almost a year (yeah - been in that lazy, stuck in a rut situation for a while) and was worried if I'd be able to hold a sword for a long time, much less wield it around on cue. The class I chose was a drop in/walk in class called "Film & Stage Combat"…which meant it was geared towards actors - which I'm not - so it made me even more nervous. They were very nice though and welcomed me in to a huge wood paneled room with benches on one side and various types of weapons on the other. I barely introduced myself and was already being lead over to the various types of cutlass swords and was told to pick one I liked. I ended up choosing the sword what seemed lighter and smaller to me which they told me was the Jack Sparrow cutlass sword - the other one was the Hook cutlass sword with a bigger hand grip cover. There were two other students there who were regulars, practicing sword/combat for potential upcoming acting roles. The teacher, Adam, had them choose and use two weapons, a rapier and a dagger just to change things up for them. Luckily I paired off with another teacher, Diana, to learn with her in order to get me introduced to this fun yet potentially dangerous endeavor. She taught me fairly quickly on the leg stance - feet shoulder width, knees bent, with same sword hand and leg facing forward - and how to move up and back. Also, she quickly went through the various "parry" and "thrust" movements. There are specific names and numbers for each of these actions (ie Parry 7, Parry 1, etc..) but I can’t remember what they all are right now… below is a screen caption of Wikipedia page describing them if it helps any. No time to really take it all in though, because then it was time to learn some choreographed steps! Taking it slow, she told me to aim at her left shoulder and step forward, aim at her right leg and step forward, block her sword to my shoulder and step back, block her sword to my head and step back, attack her head and step forward, block her sword to my right arm and step back and then we do a 'bind' where our swords guide each other and fling to the side where then I then step forward and do a 'cool cut' to her stomach and I 'win'! In the video below, we were still going pretty slow, so hopefully you can follow along to what I explained above. That’s me on the right in the blue shirt by the way! I love that this company videotapes your fight at the end of the class so you can actually see how you're doing! I came away with a lot of information because of that. In the video, my face is full of abject concentration…you can see in my head thinking “ok sword to left, to right, up, down, step forward, step back, don't flare out my elbow at the last parry, keep feet grounded…oh and don't stab the teacher at the end!"
While doing it, the movements seemed to me to be much more dynamic and faster, and I felt a lot closer to my opponent than how it looked on video. Crazy how different it was in my mind than from reality. I'm so glad to see the video - it was a reflection of my timid but encouraged self, going out and doing something new...and with a big cheer at the end! Pretty good for my first try! The exuberance I felt after this experience propelled me to get new workout clothes, join a gym and start this blog. It has also helped me remember my childhood love of choreographed physical movement - it made my heart sing! I'm going to stick with this class and work towards being a background actor in sword/combat and/or dance scenes...maybe in a couple years you'll see me fighting in the background with Jack Sparrow or on Game of Thrones! What have you been wanting to do, but have been putting off? You never know if your heart will sing when doing something unless you try it! |
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