How to Be an Extra

Hi Background friends! I have had some people ask me how to be an extra. Really, it’s not that difficult because they need to have normal looking people to fill in the background.

How to Be an Extra (or a background actor as we like to call it).

Back when I was beginning this blog, I wrote this post on how I began and this post on how to find more work. Now that I have a whole year under my belt, I have an even better understanding of the business, although I still need to know more. First of all, take a look at this backstage article on why being a background actor is a good thing.

So Where Do I Start?

You’re going to need Facebook if you want to work in the background because that is how I find most of my jobs. Not all, but most. You will follow the casting agencies and submit when they post a casting call.

How to be an extra me on Med — Don’t take pictures on set! That’s an important rule. But someone was sneaky and caught me on camera. So here I am at my nurse’s station on Chicago Med for the 2019 season opener.

My favorite is 4 Star Casting. Click here for their website. You can click on “extras registration” or access them through their Facebook account. With 4 Star, you set up an entire profile. You also have a calendar that you can mark when you’re available and when you’re not. If they have something and you fit the look and demographic, they will send you an availability check through your email. You need to respond ASAP because you want to say yes before everyone else. Once you respond positively, you wait and see if you receive a booking email. You may be booked or you may receive a notice that says “You have been released for…” which always makes me just a little sad.

Sometimes 4 Star will post casting calls on Facebook and be sure to follow the exact directions on how to submit for that role. Joan Philo is the casting agent for Chicago Med background and Chicago Fire background. Follow Chicago Fire Extras or Chicago Med Extras on Facebook. You will also want to follow Chicago PD Extras Casting and Extraordinary Casting. For these four, there are no availability checks. If you see a role, submit right away because they go fast, really fast. And make sure to follow the exact directions for them too. You don’t want to not be chosen just because you didn’t put down the right information. Chicago Fire and Med will call you if they want you and Chicago PD and Extraordinary Casting will send you an email.

On this post I briefly discuss how you can see their Facebook posts first and this is

how to be an extra late night in holding — Do we look tired? That’s because it was 2:00 in the morning! We’re in holding for Chicago PD’s 2019 season opener. I played a pedestrian onlooker.

important. These jobs go very quickly and if you see one, you need to submit right away. I also use backstage.com to find some work. You have to pay to use this service but it is reasonable. It is about $100 for the first year. I haven’t found a ton of work but I have found some, at least more than I paid for the service. Also, I do like the work because it is always something different than your regular Chicago shows. For example, if you remember my American Greed post, that is a job I found through backstage.

I hope this post on how to be an extra helps you begin. I will warn you, however, it can be addicting. Once you start, you want to keep going. And I’m not sure why because it isn’t always fun and games. But you’ll be hooked just like me which is why I now write about my life in the background.

Summertime as an Extra

Hey there everyone! I have been so busy with my new freelance writing career that I haven’t had a ton of time to write about my life in the background. So I am taking a few minutes to tell you about a couple of recent experiences this summertime as an extra. If you happen to know anyone looking for a content and copy writer, check out my profile on Upwork. If you want to work as an extra, you are going to need an additional source of income and this is mine.

Summertime as an Extra

To be honest, things are kind of slow right now. Many shows are on summer hiatus. This means there are a lot of extras competing for a limited number of jobs. Luckily, I have worked a couple of times in the past two weeks and have had some great experiences.

The first one was working on an overnight shoot for Utopia, the upcoming Amazon series I talked about before in this post. I was wary about working all night for sure. But you know what? It ended up being a really good experience. The director and assistant

Summertime as an extra coworker Kizzy — With my new friend Kizzy on the overnight set of Utiopia

director were awesome to work with. They consistently told us not only what to do, but why we were doing it. For example, they were very clear on what our motivation was supposed to be during the scene. Not only that, but they were super complimentary and kept telling us how important we were for the scene. It’s great receiving that recognition because it doesn’t always happen. Thanks 4 Star Casting for scheduling me for this valuable experience. I am a night owl and hence, am never up to see the sun rise. But as I was driving home watching the beautiful colors of the sun coming up, I had a smile on my face as I thought about my excellent night.

In The Movies

Summertime as an Extra bus ride — Our home for the night!

I was lucky that Extraordinary Casting cast me for a movie scene. There were only nine extras this evening and I love it when the background group is so small. It was a fun night talking with some friends I had previously worked with. The night itself was super easy. All I did was sit on a bus the whole time from 4:00 pm until 10:00 pm. Even our holding was on this nice comfy coach bus since there were only nine of us. We had plenty of room to spread out. The scene with a famous actor, don’t think I can say yet who, was also on the bus. All we did was ride around while they were filming. It was pretty easy money, that’s for sure. Finished a lot of my current novel too as we could read while filming.

Summertime as an Extra friends — With Larry H., playing a bus passenger, and Justin K., playing a man who is homeless. I was also a bus passenger.

So that’s about it lately. Hopefully, I’ll become a bit busier in the summertime as an extra. Shows will begin filming again next month and there are some new projects coming to Chicago so stay tuned. Hope to see you soon in the background!

Major Screen Time

Hey there background friends. I have good news and bad news. First let’s go with the good news. I received some major screen time on episode 7 of Proven Innocent. Click here for a link to check out this video! It was pretty awesome seeing more than a fleeting image of myself on TV. The only sad part is that I also worked with my mom that day but I couldn’t find her in the episode. How about you Mom? Did you see yourself? I truly looked but maybe my fascination with seeing myself caused me to miss it. Anyway, it was such a fun thing when I saw how much time I was on screen. If you haven’t checked out Proven Innocent on Fox, please do. You won’t see me again until episode 13 when I am on the jury.

And Now Major Bad News

I guess I won’t be taking a break from background work for the next two months as that job I told you about last time fell through. Yep, it’s true. I had a great interview with the principal and the job was mine as soon as he checked my references. Knowing my references were great, I thought it was a sure thing. But nothing in this life is a sure thing, my friends. I guess the superintendent of the school district did not feel comfortable with hiring me due to the false accusation I told you about before. This situation is going to haunt me forever it seems. If you click here, you can read a letter I wrote to this superintendent. I know it won’t get me the job but maybe she will realize the impact her decision has had on me. I even asked her for advice. I am pretty sure I will never receive a response but if I do, you will be the first to know.

Major Screen Time Key West View — My awesome view of the Atlantic Ocean

I’m sad. I am very sad about this whole thing. I’m still hanging in there and having faith that God will show me the way. Maybe it is time for my teaching career to be over. Maybe my talents are needed somewhere else. Who knows? But, in all honesty, my faith is wavering today and I ask for your prayers in helping me recover from this recent set back. Looking on the bright side, if I have to be sad, it might as well be as fun of a place as is Key West. With this view from my balcony, it’s hard to not notice God’s wondrous world.

A Lot Happening in the Background

There has been a lot happening in the background, the foreground, and everywhere around. Last Friday, I was supposed to work on Mixtape. But around 9:30 pm, I still hadn’t received my call time or wardrobe requirements. I was going to wait until 10 pm to send an email but shortly after I received an email from 4 Star Casting that supposedly some of us were sent an email a few days before cancelling our booking but for some reason we did not receive it. I have to admit, I was a little ticked off as I had passed on submitting for a couple of other shows. I don’t know if I would have been chosen for those shows but at least I could have tried.

A Lot Happening in the Background head shot 3 — My new head shot #3

And to top it off, I had even been to the thrift store the day before to buy some dresses for this booking. It was supposed to be for a Hollywood Hills party and be on the fancier side. I have found thrift stores to be great to add to my extra wardrobe. I wouldn’t want to spend full price on something when I make as little as I do. But wardrobe is important if you want to be booked to work, so make sure to have a diverse collection of choices.

So, I was not happy but said, oh well, and let it go. And guess what? Another sign that the Good Lord is taking care of me. I received a phone call from a principal on Friday asking if I could teach 8th grade Language Arts for the rest of the school year. Now, you know what I’ve been through with my teaching career so this is kind of a big deal. It is going to be difficult to find a position again after everything that happened and my age does not help as well. School districts don’t want to hire someone with my experience because they would have to pay me more. So this call was pretty important and had I been working on Mixtape, I would not have been able to take it. Since the following Monday was that school’s Spring Break, I had to go in an interview that day!

Big News

A Lot Happening in the Background head shot #1 — My new head shot #1

Yes, I will miss being in the background for two months, but really, it’s only two months and I need the money big time. After that, who knows?! And that brings me to my next bit of news. The previous Saturday I went to an open casting call for Gill Talent. It’s kind of funny because I really didn’t even know I was going to an open call. One of my background friends mentioned that she had recently signed with them so I had emailed them and they said to come in the next day. So I did. Everybody was there with their professional head shots and I didn’t even have any. Instead of a true resume, I gave them a resume that explained how my teaching skills would translate well to acting as well as a couple of pictures of me at the bottom. I had to do a cold read with another girl and we had five minutes to practice before we went in the audition room.

When it was our turn, we walked into the room to find three talent agents sitting at the table. They asked for our resumes and head shots and here’s me saying, “I don’t have a head shot yet.” I really thought they would think “Who is this crazy lady coming in here with nothing?” They said they would let us know if they were taking us on as clients in four to five days. In all honesty, I really didn’t think anything would come of it and had kind of let it go from my thoughts.

Then the following Wednesday I received an email that said they wanted to represent me! Seriously! I now have an agent. I am really hoping for a commercial or an industrial. Industrials are videos for corporations for training or other purposes. I think my skills as a teacher, and a great one despite everything, would be wonderful for this. But the work is still up to me. They might send me on an audition, but I have to do the work that will land me the role. This means be prepared. Yesterday, I was again working on Mixtape and asked those in the know what they thought about my new agency and was happy to hear that they are very good and reputable.

A Lot Happening in the Background head shot no glasses — Head shot without glasses

SO NOW I HAVE AN AGENT! We’ll have to see what becomes of this and I’ll be busy teaching for the next couple of months so it may be nothing until summer. Or maybe nothing at all, who knows? Life is crazy, isn’t it?

A Break from the Background

I’m about 95% sure I have this temporary teaching job. The principal is on vacation and is planning to speak with my references when he returns. As long as everything checks out with that, the job is mine. And I know my references will say only good things about me so, barring some unforeseen thing, I will be taking a little break from the background. Sad, I know. I love being an extra, most of the time. But returning to the classroom will be a wonderful opportunity for me. I can reaffirm that I am an excellent educator and will hopefully leave this with a great reference that will help me obtain a full time position the following school year.

I’m planning on keeping this blog going, even during these two months so I’m not disappearing, just taking a little break from the background. I do have one more post about another Mixtape booking so be on the lookout for that and hopefully it’s not too long before I see you in the background.