by Doug Wolinsky

Created on: September 19, 2008

The work as an extra can be exciting and rewarding, but you may find that it isn't as glamorous as it might appear on the surface. My movie extra experience in some ways may be atypical since it happened in Thailand. However, I'm sure in most ways it was typical as it shared many similarities to the TV extra work I did for a short lived program called "Savanah" in the late 90's.

If you are interested in extra work scout out the classified ads and check out the bulletin boards at community play houses or wherever acting is likely to take place. In my case I came across a flyer, wrote down the number and gave it a call. Neither acting skills nor experience are required. If you have a body and a taxpayer I.D. you are eligible!

For me the day started early by catching one of the many buses taking the extras to the shoot. Getting bussed from your hotel to the location is not typical, but since we were all foreigners without cars it was necessary. The two hour ride was passed by getting to know some of my fellow "Stars in the Making" while taking in the lush green Thai landscapes. Days such as these are great opportunities to forge friendships and I still correspond occasionally to one of the people I met that day.

On arrival the two hundred or so extras were all herded together and the director, Werner Herzog, said a few words. He introduced himself and thanked us for coming. I thought it was a nice touch of class to do that, but I was blown away when he actually took the time to shake each one of our hands! Well, not each one of our hands, just our right hand. Shaking both our hands would have just been weird! I'm quite sure that this is not the norm and I wouldn't expect such nice treatment from other directors. I don't mean this as a criticism of other directors, but in general they are very busy and just can't or won't take the time to be that personable.

After the introduction was over we were sized up and the wardrobe department gave us our costumes for the day. My green jump suit signaled I was to be a fighter pilot for the day. The funny thing is I always wanted to be a fighter pilot. Unfortunately, we were all grounded for the day and there would be no flying. Instead there was a lot of waiting around. For every minute of filming you will be waiting around for hours. Much of your time is spent talking with fellow extras while the director, actors and crew get the scene set up just right. It can be a long day and it won't always be appropriate to strike up a

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