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>>People Human prop >> Film extra in it for the pay, not the glamour by CHRIS BARRY
Age: 32 Occupation: Professional film and TV extra, actor. Income from film extra work: Between $8,000 and $12,000 a year. Bio: This former manager of the late great Terminal R&R Showbar, warehouse schlepper, spiritually unfulfilled telemarketer and obscenely handsome Mile-End resident has been making the easy money as a film/TV extra for almost five years now. Introduced to the biz by an actor friend, Michael soon discovered life in the land of make believe to be a lot more fun than telemarketing, and shortly thereafter made the decision to go about developing his skills as a thespian. Now a dedicated actor as well as gifted extra, Michael has just landed the role of a space monster in a Disney children’s show called Galidor and is currently working on a play with the Alternate Theatre called Language of Angels, which is set to open in the fall. How much film extras earn: Generally between $10 and $20 an hour, depending on their union status. Did he initially get into this line of work for the money or for the thrill of gawking at all the glamourous Hollywood vedettes? For the money. A few exciting vedettes he has rubbed shoulders with nevertheless: Angela Bassett, Sly Stallone, Robert DeNiro, Ed Norton, James Caan. "But I don’t care very much about this sort of thing." Do
the big Hollywood vedettes ever come by the extras tent to see if anybody
feels like going for a drink after work? No. "They usually
don’t pay much attention to us." Does Alan Thicke hang out with the extras because they are the only people on the set who treat him with any respect whatsoever? "No, no, he’s just really down to earth." Who holds the lowest rank in the well-defined hierarchy of film production: the production assistant, Alan Thicke or the extra? The extra, absolutely. Is becoming a professional extra a good way to get discovered and maybe become the next Don Adams? Not really. Do extras generally get to eat the same meals as the rest of the cast and crew? No. "If there are a lot of us on a set then they usually put us in a room and typically serve up bread pizza, donuts, coffee and juice." The best kind of extra gig to get: "One that finishes after only a couple of hours, because you still get paid for a full eight-hour day." A couple of things he likes to do for fun: Work out in the gym and go bowling with his woman. Last book read: Tortilla Flat, by John Steinbeck. A recent film he liked: The Royal Tenenbaums. Two of his all-time favourite films: Paris, Texas and The Young Lions. Musical preferences: Rap, Kelly Joe Phelps. Television preferences: Law and Order. Words of wisdom: "Relax. Take things easy, don’t stress about crap and be nice to people." : Comments? dimwit@openface.ca |
Name:
Michael Cound