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Weekend Awards Wrap-Up: Opening Pandora's Box
17 hours ago
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Speaking of Nicolas Cage
A (Chareth?) cute story about being an extra on the set of National Treasure: Book of Secrets. Packaged with the story are profiles and clips of background actors and an amusing diary of the reporter's two days of thankless work.
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6 comments:
What a cool bunch of articles. I wanna be an extra now.
Mallory, I definitely had the opposite reaction. I'd rather clean toilets.
having never done it (save for one time with cloris leachman and shirley jones), but knowing lots of friends who have, i'd be equally as willing for the dentist to be drilling. what could possibly be grand about spending upwards of 15 hours waiting. most of the time, it's in the cold, the costume dept is angry because you've worn a coat that's "too loud" and distracts the viewer from the main character, craft services only gives the backgrounds stale donuts, and ... yada yada yada... i'd rather be on broadway.
wouldn't we all?
however, if you love the moviemaking process, it's a grand time. you get to meet fascinating people, have some time to read or do work. and if you're an extra on a big-budget set, the food is TREMENDOUS. sushi bar, beef tenderloin, lavish desserts, etcetera.
and if you pay attention to your casting director, you would know not to wear a shirt that's too "loud."
poo-poo it if you like, but it's a great experience. (but not something i'd do for a living.)
How much does a gig like this pay?
Varies depending on the size/budget of the production and the location. For the D.C. market, a studio film will pay extras at least minimum wage, plus overtime. For a TV series like The West Wing, you might get a flat fee, like $100 a day. If you're in the union, you get $126 for 8 hours, plus some serious overtime coverage.
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