A little "extra" work

My 2013/14 season has wrapped and it has been filled with wonderful music making, fantastic locations and some great people. So for the next few weeks I am in refresh-renew mode as well as preparing for one of the biggest productions of my life; my wedding. But it doesn’t mean that I am lying about doing nothing; there is plenty of translation, memorization and technique/drama work to do for the upcoming season and I am already getting emails from my new agency for several upcoming auditions. However, my "job" a couple of days ago was not devoted to opera, but to a new performing experience: being an extra for a television show.

When I first moved to the city and was looking for work, I signed up with Sylvia Fay Casting. They specialize in hiring extras for television and film and have a 30-year history including the films Wall Street, Tootsie, and Goodfellas and more recent fare like Captain America, Doubt, and The Hours. Over the past two years I was called twice, but was unable to participate. However, the stars aligned and I got the call to be an extra on the set of “Alpha House,” an Amazon.com TV show. (Basically, that means that if you don’t have Amazon Prime, you won’t be able to see the show unless you purchase it online from Amazon.) The good news is that I was on set with about 200 other extras and got to be part of a crowd dance scene (I walked by) and was a bartender in the background for a scene in a comedy club.

Not only did I learn quite a bit about the TV filming process (how lighting is created, how soft the actors speak as there is a microphone directly above their heads, and that it takes forever to film a scene as there are thousands of details to check), but I also learned several things about the people who are in the background, known as “extras.”

The first thing I learned is that we are often referred to as “Background” or “Background Talent.” It sounds better than “extra” and makes all the difference when one thinks of oneself as “talent,” especially when called to be onset at 6 am.

Another thing I learned is that many of the background actors are not just actors. Like myself, who is an opera singer, there are writers, dancers, freelancers, and those who are simply looking for extra income. The other thing is that there seems to be an overabundance of stand-up comic wannabe’s. And for whatever reason, they all tended to gravitate towards me in hopes that I would laugh at their jokes. Some were fine, but some weren’t. But this isn’t America’s Least Funniest Extra, it’s "Alpha House," so I left my judgmental comments to myself.

Many of the extras I encountered fell into two categories (the Pros who tended to be bitchy and complained about everything from the call time to the free food and the Newbies like me who, while not thrilled about every aspect of the process, were just happy to be there and getting paid to do it.) The Pros arrived slightly earlier than the call time to scope out the best seats, ate as much food as possible and talked a lot about this job or that actor. They also seemed to be the first ones in line for the bathroom and for lunch. The Newbies ranged from the wide-eyed actor hoping to be discovered to the old man who barely spoke any English, but who liked to loudly ask questions just as the Production Assistants were doling out vital information.

Something ALL of us had in common is that we had to figure out how to deal with the long periods of waiting. Sometimes you are waiting in “Holding” which is exactly like it sounds. It’s where the extras are held upon arrival, during lunch and after filming done, but we had not yet been released for the day. Then there is the waiting to go on set. Sometimes you are chosen immediately and other times you wait until they need you. This could take several minutes or even several hours. (After a 6 am call time, an hour to check in, the process of everyone going through hair and make-up-I needed little done to my hair-we were taken to the set at 9 am. From there we waited. I didn’t make it into a scene until 12:30 pm. However, there were extras with later call times who were in holding until 2;00 pm and finally made it on set about 3.) Then there is the waiting while the scene is prepped with camera angles, lighting, rehearsal and last-looks before anything is shot. It doesn't stop there, the waiting in between takes and the waiting before the word is given to be placed in the next shot can take about ten to fifteen minutes each time. The process is then repeated and before you know it, it’s been nearly 12 hours.

Most people don’t know this, but Extras are tough. While many professions require employees to stand for long periods of time (there are no chairs with our names on them to rest in between takes or trailers to return to before filming the next scene), extras also have to endure extreme conditions and just “grin and bear it.” We were filming a scene inside a lovely restaurant converted into a comedy club. The day was fairly warm and like most places, air-conditioning was being used. However, the noise of the air-conditioning was too loud so it had to be shut off for the length of shooting the scene (about an hour or so.) It was hot, but we just had to suck it up. I also heard some of the Pros talking about exterior shoots in the dead of winter where the temperature hovered around the 10 degree mark in which they had to stand around for hours. (I don’t plan to do any of those!) Like a postal worker, extras have to work rain or shine, sleet or snow all the while hitting their marks and not trying to upstage the principal actors.

Something else I noticed is that many extras look like other celebrities or public figures. Sometimes that’s a good and other times…an example: one guy reminded me of Jerry Sandusky (the Penn State Coach who was accused of molesting students), even done up in a suit and tie, I got the “creepy-crawly” vibe from him the whole day and I was glad I was never placed by him onset. At least four of the women looked like a knock-off of a Victoria Secret Models while I was convinced one guy was the long-lost love child of Walter Cronkite and comic-book’s Stan Lee. I wasn’t sure if he was going to break into the news or ask me about my secret identity.


The last thing I can share is that many of the extras are extra good at smoking! Whenever a break is called, extras, crew, actors and anybody who wants to seem cool and talk shop lights up a cig. For those of us who want to avoid any “hand” of smoke, it can be like wadding through an obstacle course of fumes and nicotine as one tries to grab an orange before it begins to taste like a citrusy Virginia Slim.

With all these quirky personalities, the length of a single shoot (the norm is 12 to 15 hours) and the sometimes rough settings, it’s a wonder anyone would want to do it. The pay is OK, but I am here to say, that there is nothing cooler than watching an actress/comedienne like Wanda Sykes do her thing over and over and bring her natural energy, humor and talent to the table. It was worth the waiting, the early morning and the long hours. Sign me for a little “extra” experience.

Peace,

Eric