http://filmindustrybloggers.com/thebackgroundactor http://filmindustrybloggers.com/thebackgroundactor.jpg As a background actor (extra) on movies and television shows, I'll tell you what it is really like. Sun, 02 May 2010 19:01:48 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en My background acting career began on the East Coast and 95% of my jobs back there were major studio feature films. From the James Bond film, Licence to Kill, to the extraordinarily bad Burt Reynolds movie Cop and A Half, I've spent lots of time as ... http://filmindustrybloggers.com/thebackgroundactor/2010/05/02/often-the-quirky-little-ones-are-the-most-satisfying/ It is an extraordinary experience to work with an experienced crew, the best gear and a sensitive and talented director. I had that experience very late on a Sunday night in December 2009 while working on a short scene for the independent drama, We're Closed, in a Magnolia Boulevard convenience store ... http://filmindustrybloggers.com/thebackgroundactor/2010/04/25/were-closed-and-im-open/ Working on NBC's HEROES in June 2009 was the kind of experience I love. First of all, it was a big shoot. I mean a BIG SHOOT. About 250 extras on the UCLA campus and 240 of them were portraying students. Along with nine others my age or older, I ... http://filmindustrybloggers.com/thebackgroundactor/2010/04/18/heroes-and-hayden/ Play a character; don't be merely a piece of scenery. I've played a specific character in nearly all my 40+ background acting assignments. Am I crazy? Perhaps. Am I a professional dedicated to improving the final product; you bet your boots! Many extras think of themselves as a piece of scenery or ... http://filmindustrybloggers.com/thebackgroundactor/2010/04/11/what-a-character/ Background actors need to use a delicate blend of preparation and spontaneity, just like actors. One of the skills I used while making a short film by a talented Chapman University student (Breanna Wing) called The Visitor last year in Santa Ana was making lines that we had rehearsed, shot several ... http://filmindustrybloggers.com/thebackgroundactor/2010/04/04/do-it-the-first-time-again/ I have been in love with motion pictures for so long my life is a mix of my own memories and movie memories. The other day, I remembered wandering around a college campus wistfully thinking of a lost love named Bliss Arneberg with Simon and Garfunkel's Scarborough Faire playing in ... http://filmindustrybloggers.com/thebackgroundactor/2010/03/28/the-graduate-why-i-got-into-movies/ HEALTH: Have you ever seen a tomato try to swim? Only on those rare occasions that HEALTH is on late night TV. It was a strange film and it was a life-changing experience for me but I don't regret a minute of it because I got to work with him.  ... http://filmindustrybloggers.com/thebackgroundactor/2010/03/21/health-the-altman-film-that-nearly-killed-me/ Calling services are in business to find background work for you. Granted, they charge a fee to register and a monthly charge, but casting services are generally not scams because they're usually staffed with people who worked in big casting companies in LA, people with industry networking connections, and they're there ... http://filmindustrybloggers.com/thebackgroundactor/2010/03/14/calling-services-are-on-your-side/ Times are tough for background actors right now. Production is down all around. More regular shows than usual have shut down production early and pilots didn’t kick in the last week of February as we'd hoped. But nearly into what looks to be the first real pilot season in three ... http://filmindustrybloggers.com/thebackgroundactor/2010/03/07/campus-networking-for-an-old-guy/ A really odd thing happened to me this most recent Thursday and Friday.  Actually, it happened four times in 48 hours. That's what made it so odd.  I auditioned for four different productions in four different locations in two days in a row. Those who read my posts regularly (2 people, ... http://filmindustrybloggers.com/thebackgroundactor/2010/02/28/auditioning-the-next-step-for-extras/