My dad is a production manager, so he can get people to be extras. That's what he did with his friend's daughter who is an aspiring actress (and is now my bother's girlfriend...
) So it definitely helps if you have connections. It also helps a lot if you are in SAG (Screen Actors Guild). I just asked my dad and he said that if it's a small group of extras then it is much harder to get in than if it's a whole lot of extras needed. He said that there are extra casting companies (about three major ones) that you have to contact and then I guess they tell you where to be an extra. Maybe you can find out about them through Google. Oh, and my dad said that Craigslist
is a good place to find extra jobs. There's a bunch of paperwork and stuff to do for it as well.
My dad worked in Wedding Crashers and I got to be an extra in a church scene in the movie. But only for, like, 15 minutes! Because the whole day they forced my friend and I to go to this school thing where we didn't do anything, and at the end when we finally got to go film it was already the end
. They put us in the front row though! The same bench as Jane Seymour and Christopher Walken. And Rachel McAdams, Owen WIlson, and Vince Vaughn were right in front of us. That was really cool... plus I touched Owen!!
I was standing on the side with my friend waiting to be seated, and all of a sudden someone bumped into me from behind. I looked and it was him! He didn't apologize or anything-just walked by really fast. Still, he brushed against my arm!
. He looked really shy- and Vince kept teasing him and entertaining the extras, he is soo funny. My friend and I also stood right next to Jane and Rachel when my dad's assistant brought us to the actor food trailor. We went in and got stuff to eat, and we there were two women standing there. the all of a sudden I recognized one of them to be Rachel McAdams! But that was the first time I saw her as a brunette, so I didn't recognize right away. So while I was gaping at her, my friend was gaping at Jane Seymour, who I didn't even know. Then when they left I was like "that was "Regina"!! And she was like, that was "Medicine Woman"!! (I still have no idea what that is
). But that was very cool
There are some bad things though... it's really not glamorous at all! You can't socialize in any way with the actors, and you have to watch the same scenes being acted over and over again the whole day. And the crew is kind of rude a lot of times to the extras. But you do get to meet some cool people, see the stars, you get free food, you get your hair and makeup done... and it's just a cool experience. Plus you get a nice amount of money ($100 for my one day!) for not really doing much. My scene was in a church and we just sat, but you might get a really cool one- like a party or something. So if you really want to do it, go for it!
