The Best Way to Become an Extra in a Movie or on Television

Have you ever thought or dreamed of being an extra for most popular movies or reality TV shows that come out in the big screen? Well, for those who are interesting on becoming an actress or actor as a career, they will need to start on the right foot at the right time. They need to to get experience in front of camera and love what they do. But how can you start? You can start as an extra or what is normally called background performer or background artiste. It will be more convenient for you to live in cities where extra positions are needed all the time. These following cities are the most demanded when it comes to extra background artists or future actors: LA, California, NY, New York, Chicago, IL, Atl, Georgia, Austin, TX.

The easiest way to find the extra positions from where you are now is to visit these popular pages: www.nowcasting.com, www.talenthunter.com, and www.craigslist.com. You should also contact a Casting Director from your area. Sometimes they'll have a myspace account where they also post their extra positions online for those who are subscribed to their webpage. In this career, networking is a strong requirement or requisites to be able to move forward in the entertainment industry. Most casting companies do not charge a fee for submitting your headshot and required paperwork. Beware of those agencies or companies that want to charge you a minimal fee for their services. In the end, you should not be paying for a job search in this industrial world. It is supposed to be the other way around. They are supposed to pay you for your hard work, while you and the company get credits for the success of movie, TV show or any show you are being an extra for.

It is suspicious if someone or a company asks you for money at the beginning of the job. Most casting companies will require you to submit professional headshot, but you do not really need to submit one if you are applying for the extra position. Then, once you get a hold of the casting director or casting agency and they approve you as one of their extras. They will confirm your work as an extra the day before for certain date and time. Once you get a call time, you make sure you google or mapquest the directions on how to get to the location. You might be going to a non-familiar location and it's not good to be late. Do not forget to bring some reading materials as you wait on the holding area or waiting room for extras artists.

You will gain some extra points if you arrive early, make sure to keep the right attitude all the time. Because of the way you act, the casting company will decide whether they will sign you up for upcoming projects or not. Now, before you head to the shooting scene, make sure you call their job hotline to verify what time you will need to show up in person before they start calling everyone for the shooting scene start. Also, the casting director or director's assistant will let you know what to bring for wardrobe and what area is designated for extras to park their car. They usually have a reserved area for extras and filming crew only. If you get lost or anything similar, make sure you contact security and they will direct you to the right spot. You better do the right thing if you do not want your automobile be towed away while you are shooting a scene.

Make sure you arrive early, so that you can fill out an I-9 form for employment with the casting company. Make sure you will bring your driver license along with social security card and your US passport or Green Card depending on your working status in this country.

What to expect

As an extra artist, you will be doing repeating movements and scenes where you will have to sit, stand, and do the same motion for long hours. An extra needs to be ready for long hours and a normal day of work lasts for up to 12 hours or 15 hours depending on the type of extra works you do. You will have to go to the extra holding area while you wait for instructions of the casting director or assistant director. Before you check in, make sure you ask around where the extra check in table is located at. There is usually someone sitting in front of a table with a walkie talkie , clip board with tons of papers handy. If you are not too sure who is the assistant director, then you need to look around and ask around, so you don't look like you are lost. Usually the people who wearing a headset are assistant directors or part of the crew, they usually don't like to be bothered when they are listening to directions through their headset.

Then, you will need to fill out your paperwork called voucher and then that voucher tells you how much you will get paid for your assignment. They will tell you to fill out everything and then you can get something to eat from the table. Make sure you don't get your clothes dirty. Oh, extras will repeat their scenes constantly and they will be placed in scene and work their shifts. Don't forget to read your book or magazine if you get bored or are not needed during a shooting scene. In the end, you will have to turn in your voucher and you will keep one copy of the form and the assistant director will keep one as well. The assistant director will sign you out and expect your check in the mail within a couple of weeks.