An Actor's Journal - Back(then)ground Work

A look into background work during the early to mid 2010’s

When you first get to Hollywood if you planned properly like everyone told you, then you have about a year’s worth of rent saved up. If your transmission dies on you within the first 24 hours of arriving from a cross country trip then you can reduce that savings down to about 8 months of rent. Take out first and last and that’s about then you’re at 6 months. At some point during those 6 months you hear someone mention background work. A setting where a budding actor can not only get set experience but also make enough money to pay the rent at least. Someone told me to go on over to Central Casting and I would be well on my way to having not one but two spare cups of noodles.

Casting & booking Services

What’s Central Casting you ask? Well it’s the premiere background casting service. You go in for an orientation, fill out tax info, take some photo’s for your file and get put into a database at no cost to you. If you’re lucky you will have a very specific look that they want and the casting agency will call you. How it works is you call into the service, listen for the shows you’re a fit for and if you’re lucky you can get through and submit. Give them the last 5 of your ID and it’s a quick yes or no. If you’re really lucky you will get a call from one of the casting directors which was a done deal. Now, the first situation isn’t the best and you might get a little discouraged but background work is a numbers and right time game. That is were background booking services come in.

Booking services do all the heavy lifting for you so all you have to do is set your availability. They will submit you using their own connections with places like Central Casting and other’s. Now, while there is a few with the booking services you typically make it back and then some after your first day of work. Conveniently there was one right across the street from Central Casting which got me tons of work, and that was Extra’s management.

With the booking part out of the way you get a text or a call with the location information, what to bring (looks) and how many days you will be needed. Sometimes this changes depending on the production but it was typically a day’s work. The work itself consisted of a lot of sitting around where you would meet like minded individuals in a place called holding. Get real acquainted with folding chairs. The drive to get to the location is usually marked by these yellow signs with the production name on it. The booking agency would give you the details when they were available but the names would be abbreviations of the show which weren’t too hard to find. After parking you haul all the clothes requested to check in where wardrobe would be waiting to see what they wanted to use. After they picked out your wardrobe you had to go to hair and makeup which for hair is hilarious if you are of the color. I once had a nice lady try to shape my afro with her hands for about a minute before she saw the pick in my pocket and asked me to just pick it out. Anyway, after hair and make up is done then you go to holding where you will be sitting for the majority of the day. This is where you would meet like minded people with the same dreams and aspirations. There was always the newbies, the regulars, the pro’s, the bored retiree’s, the networkers, and the haters.

The Newbies

Typical fresh face person of any size shape color and creed. Same distinct look with a mix of wonder and confusion. Getting whispered yelled at by the Production Assistant (PA) for missing a cross or being somewhere they aren’t supposed to be. You might watch a TV show and see a background actor end up on both sides of two characters. Sometimes it’s just a continuity error but sometimes…..yeah newbie. We all start out as newbies and we may or may have not been yelled at by a couple star name actors and someone whose name sounds like a specific duck insurance mascot.

The Regulars

The regulars you meet on shows where they seem to know the entire cast, the crew, and the PA’s call them by name. They usually help keep the newbies from flying into the sun and know exactly when it’s time to eat, when things will be wrapping up and when things will be going longer. They are for the most part Union workers but they are the most chill of the group next to the retiree’s.

The Pro’s

The professional’s also come in all varieties but you will never see them without their phone or laptop. They are constantly calling Central Casting or checking in with a booking services. They are always at the front of the lines somehow and have all these recommendations on different shows working around town. You will see the pro’s on just about every shoot you go on, when you go in physically to booking agencies but never outside of that…because they are always working. They are also know all the rules for just about everything

The Retiree’s

These are probably the coolest people you will meet on set. These fine people have paid their debt to 9-5 society and are just working to make some extra cash and hang out on set. They have tons of knowledge about things other than background and always tell you to follow your dreams. They also always have snacks. The pro’s have snacks too but you don’t want those most times.

The Networkers

These are the people you want to meet. They are working on short films, student films, indies you name it. They want to collab and they want to work but not necessarily in background. They are always checking out how things are being shot and taking notes. They have their laptops open working on scripts and always ask for your socials whether you spoke 3 words to them or not. The networkers are cool because they always put you on the new things and you never know when you will get a random message 5 years down to road from a director/producer/writer who you met on the set of Bones.

The Haters

The haters are actually not as bad as the name sounds. These are the funniest people you will meet on set. They will say what everyone is thinking about the booking agencies, the shoot, the conditions of holding, the temperature, the food, and the time. It sounds like it’s them hating but most of them could have evolved from any of the above categories. If you do it long enough maybe you will become a hater too?

The work

Now as far as the background work itself that was an entirely new journey all together. A lot of people call it hurry up and wait because for the most part you will be waiting. In fact there could be times where you don’t actually do any background acting until hours after you’ve arrived. I’ve also been on shoots where the call time was 5:00 AM and we didn’t leave until around 2:00 AM. The work itself is not just about following directions…well actually it’s all about following directions but it’s still acting. Sometimes you have to mime things and have silent conversations. Stepping softly so that your fancy dress shoes don’t make too much noise. Not laugh at a comedian who seems like they are just on set to make you laugh. Reacting to the same pre-recorded song for a few hours. The list goes on and there are a few courses on background acting because it is still acting no matter what you might here. There are two types of work. Union and Non Union. When you first get into background you will be doing tons and tons of non union work and once you’re ready, union work awaits…somewhat.

Union

You get the red carpet treatment as soon as you get to set. The jobs are a lot fewer in number but they are way easier and pay double the rate making it kind of even out. If you can become a union regular on a show you’ve got it made with a steady income for weeks, sometimes months. I worked background on a popular medical show where I started as a normal background person, then I became a delivery driver for a couple episodes until I became an ordelee. Thought I had it made but it was the last season lol. The wardrobe is provided for you and if you bring your own, you get a bump (paid extra). You get to eat early and if things happen to go south you can call the union rep who will get things sorted out quick fast and in a hurry. The only problem with the union work is as I said earlier there are a lot fewer jobs out there. The pool gets smaller but the number of people increase because face it, after doing 50 non union jobs the 51st might just be the one you become the hater.

Non Union

If union work was say a personal shuttle, then non union work would be a public bus. Things can get a little wild with the non union stuff, especially when it’s an on location shoot. There have been a few times where we up in the hills freezing while hearing coyote howls in the distance. There would be one space heater over the holding tent where everyone would be huddled up until they needed us for like 10 minutes and then back to holding. You also have to bring your own wardrobe and if they don’t let you back to your car you’re lugging around two steve harvey suits. You’re pretty much the last person to eat. If it’s a cattle call you might as well just stick with the heard. Speaking of food.

Crafty

Crafty is where you want to be most of the time. It’s where you go to eat whatever they have on the menu for the day. On the big shoots or studio lot shoots then there are catering services. Even on the small shoots you get at least a burger and fries but it was free and not too many things could beat free food, union or non union.

Closing Remarks

I’m not sure if it’s the same now-a-days but if you’re getting into background acting you should probably do as much non union as possible. Sometimes you can get bumped up and get a featured role just because you had a specific look. You might end up next to one of the main cast as one of their friends or be the person who almost bumps into main character. More bumps than a proactive solution commercial.

Some people go on from background work and do great things. There are all these a-list actors who people have pointed out in older movies which makes for some hilarious material on talk shows. They get to tell the stories of when they were the newbie, maybe even the regular or the pro. Sometimes you do background and you don’t think people will point you out, unless you have a very recognizable shaped head according to my little brother. Anyway background work is great for those just starting out in the acting business, wherever you may be. If you’re lucky and make it through all of that, maybe you can go on a talk show and point out your blurred face in a random cross or ask you how you ended up on both sides of two different actors in the same scene.

RS