Literally intended to be those in the background that don’t get in the way of the bigger stars, movie extras, or a background actor, is any performer for something like a film, tv show or commercial that appears for a non-speaking role and is generally used to bring life to an environment or to extenuate a dramatic scene through a large crowd watching over something, acting as a tool to increase the audiences emotions for a given scene. Freelance production manager Rachael Dore has experienced working with extras throughout her career for tv, film and commercials and as such, knows how they should be directed, what their purpose is, and how crucial they are to a project.

There is an untruthful statement that extras don’t require proper acting for them to fit within a movie, but these performers must still follow similar rules and practices in portraying their roles (however minor it may be). They have to be convincing as a figure in the background. When it comes to casting for an extra, a major point in hiring someone will be how they fit into the mold in which the director or writer is looking for in said background role, like ‘high school student’ or ‘senior citizen’. An extra’s personal skills or qualifications can also factor into being cast, as talents involving performing arts like playing an instrument, dancing, or riding a sports equipment could be an element that could bleed into the production without stealing the audience away from the main focus. With this said, the purpose of an extra isn’t to stand out or leave a strong impression, but rather add credibility and believability to the film’s environment. It gets to a point where it becomes an issue if an extra gets a close-up on their face because it gives them too much attention and might make people not wish to hire them again, as extras don’t exist to have character or much screen-presence. Rachael Dore  describes them as being the ‘’color and movement in the background’’, acting like living mannequins for a production, and she states that even though they are incredibly important and valuable to the whole experience, they don’t have the same credibility as the main actors.

‘’I don’t know any extras that have become famous, well I just might not know, there might be. A lot of the Home and Away actors, they go onto bigger and better things, but they’re acting in main roles and that’s how they get discovered. It wouldn’t be like my son Brock, like yesterday he was at the Caravan Park, and he had to walk past with a towel around his head, someone’s not going to be like ‘’oh, let’s make him an actor’’, do you know what I mean? You have to be trained or know someone.

She also explains how extras are more constructed and personally directed by the production’s first, second or even third AD (assistant directors) depending on the size of the production, and that most extras don’t get contact with the main director. However, they do work with the costume designers if they require a specific attire that they can’t provide for themselves. The length in which an extra is required for a film depends on the magnitude of the picture or the need of which a director requires their work. This can range from a few days to shoot basics scene, or as an example when James Cameron hired 150 ‘’core background actors’’ to play the ship’s passengers on his film version of Titanic. The number of extras that a movie requires can often depend on the style and tone of film that the creator of the film is going for. War films or film epics, for example, can employ hundreds upon thousands of extras to blend into the background as a means of amping up the scale and presence to a new heightened margin, whereas films that wish to be smaller and more down-to-earth might not require a large list of background roles, maybe only a handful to exist as passers-by on a street or something along those lines.

Even what constitutes as an extra can be sectioned off into several different roles that movies also fill. Background dancers, for example, could be seen as something akin to an extra as they are more so used to improve the visual aesthetics of the lead performer as well as provide a symmetry and rhythm to a film or music video like Beyoncé’s music video for Single Ladies. There are multiple different types of extras in a production and the range of their payment ranges from the amount of screen-time or participation they factor into a scene, especially if they have a speaking line with a lead character. People that act as dead bodies are considered extras and they can have a varying payment depending on how long their ‘body’ is shown in the film. Body doubles, where someone who looks incredibly similar to a credited actor or actresses is brought in to replace them in specific shots, obscuring their faces or superimposing them in post-production work to maintain the illusion that they are the same character, and this is usually done in scenes where the credited actor needs to do something specifically skilled that the original actor can’t do, as opposed to what is called a stand-in, where the same principle is applied, but it’s when the actor isn’t required to take part in, like lighting adjustment and scene arrangement. Doubles need to be able to match the movement and even line-reads of the original actors, they can often be used in scenes they may find uncomfortable like scenes involving nudity, or sometimes just replace a specific part of the body like a ‘’hand double’’ or even a ‘’butt double’’. Other aspects of film-making require a double for certain scenes, mainly a stunt double, who usually performs skilled or even dangerous stunts for a scene that the chosen actor or actress may not be capable of doing themselves. Despite being a role that can go under-the-radar, a double is part of every risky stunt pulled off in a movie and has more screen time than a basic extra. A stunt double can often have a long-lasting relationship with the star actor and can be contractually positioned as part of their support group, with famous names like Eddie Murphy (Alan Oliney), John Wayne (Riley R. Waters) , Harrison Ford (Vic Armstrong) , Steve Martin (Robert Jauregui), Salman Khan (Parvez Kazi), and Michael Landon (Hal Burton) being examples of this. They also exist for an economic reason, wanting to keep the chosen actor in good health while completing the film.

Much like how there are talent agencies that work to hire actors for a big role, there can be agencies that specify in looking for extras as well. An agency that focuses on these background roles can confirm with the film creators what specific type of person they require for a role and supply the amount in quick fashion. Central Casting, an American casting company which specializes in casting extras, body-doubles, and stand-ins, had a much stronger hand in changing the method in which extras got treated and paid in Hollywood. During the early 1920s (in the eve of the industry boom), thousands flocked to Hollywood to get work and become big stars. These people became known as ‘’extras’’ and because there was little regulation for hiring film extras, these people were exploited. The treatment of extras during this period of cinema was much harsher than standards nowadays, with lesser pay regardless of time spent on film, facing a taboo of never associating with any of the higher up actors, and this led to extras, as pointed out by Anthony Slide, sometimes ignoring their roles, and intentionally hiding away on camera, as they felt they wouldn’t be missed regardless. (Hollywood Unknowns: A History of Extras, Bit Players, and Stand Ins, Anthony Slide, 2012, pg.7). Things changed when Republican politician Will H. Hays created the Central Casting Corporation in 1925 as a way to regulate the hiring of extras in Hollywood. It did away with the high fees’ extras were forced to pay, ensured they were paid legally, and provided stable work for qualified extras and discourage the influx of people going to Hollywood to find work haphazardly. It’s a long-standing business that exists to this day and even started the careers of several acting giants like Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, and Gary Cooper. Agencies like ISPRY and PG’s can help tally up talent, send-off emails to productions and they can help distribute and provide the talent. Tegan McCallie has been an extra in shows and films, and her work with ISPRY has gotten her said roles. She explained how thanks to work with this talent agency, it helps her apply and try to get more roles in other films, despite the process being the same. ‘’I think it would be like any other person trying to become an actor, because with the extra, yeah, you’ve got the agency who gets you into them. But you’d still have to go to all the auditions and try and do that. So as long as you get an agency, it’s pretty easy to then look for the auditions and stuff like that.’’

Extras may not be a profession that brings the same level of benefits as a traditional actor, and they may go overlooked by casual movie-watchers, but they do still play a vital role in completing a film. It’s an avenue that hasn’t changed in terms of execution over the years, but has in terms of how they are treated, and it’s a business that requires people to put effort in to help complete a movie as a whole.