A Little Extra Work

I began a new job yesterday, my first job in Canada after years of absence. It isn’t full-time, and it’s only by contract, but it’s the coolest work I’ve ever done. I had my first experience as a Hollywood extra.

I’ve been searching for jobs online. One of my searches led me to an arts-and-culture Web portal, which in turn led me to the idea of submitting myself as an extra (also called background) for TV and movie shoots. Vancouver is considered “Hollywood North”; on any given day you can find some production being shot around the area. I thought this might be a fun way to earn a few extra bucks (they pay a little above minimum wage, unless you’re in the extras union) while searching for something permanent. So two days ago I walked into Vancouver’s biggest extras agency, handed them my application, and got immediately offered a job for the following day.

We shot three scenes of a new television series debuting in the fall called Reunion. As much as I loathe TV, this series actually sounds interesting. You can read a little about it on FOX’s fall lineup schedule (see Thursday). We saw three of the six stars in action yesterday, none of whom I had ever heard of.

Most of my day consisted of waiting around. Out of the eight hours I committed, probably only three were spent in filming. The rest was spent either in “holding” (the industry term for sit down and wait patiently until the important people are ready for you), wardrobe (we were privileged to wear some horrid 1980s clothing for a couple flashback shots), makeup (just for the ladies—this ain’t no Rocky Horror Picture Show), or transferring between shooting locations (all downtown Vancouver; we traveled on foot, as tourists took note of the seeming trend among locals to dress like The Breakfast Club).

Come fall, if you watch closely then you just might see my face in a couple scenes of Reunion’s second episode. And by the way, will someone please tape it for me? I don’t have cable.