Hello, my name is Andrew Sherman, and I am an extra. I am using up my 15 minutes of fame five seconds at a time. When I was asked to write about my experience as an extra, I was at first thrilled. After all, what great publicity! What actor could pass up that? Then the paranoia crept in. Wait a minute, doesn't writing this article pigeonhole me even more in the industry as an extra?
In fairness to myself, I am also a semiworking commercial actor and a stand-in, and I front my own band, Andrew Sherman Vehicle (pun definitely intended).
There are very different opinions of doing background work. Most agents, managers, and even actors will tell you flat-out that it should be avoided at all costs. You will become known as an extra forever—or worse, you will be an extra forever. That was the opinion I carried around for my first few years in Los Angeles.
There are other concerns with being an extra. Since I started in 1993, it's become almost as hard to work background as it is to pursue principal acting work. I think it's because there are so many actors in Hollywood and so few speaking parts. Background work is also thought of as the easiest way to get your SAG card: Three union vouchers and you can join the Screen Actors Guild and make the big bucks. If you are nonunion, you make very little money. If you're in SAG or the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, you can make a decent living, but you have to do a lot of background work, often at the expense of auditions, a social life away from the set, and—in extreme cases—your dignity and/or sanity.
I personally don't care if I'm referred to as an extra, background performer, atmosphere, or human furniture. I'm just glad to be working, and always happier on the set than at home watching a set. The best reason to do extra work is the most obvious: Your first job as an actor is to support yourself with honest work. There are other ways to make a buck, but extra work is like being an apprentice: If you pay attention, you're going to learn something, even if most of those lessons cover what not to do.
I have learned a lot from just being on a set. Above all, I've learned how to be comfortable. When I was offered my first one-liner, on ABC's Less Than Perfect, I had to audition for it on the set during a network run-through. It would have made a lot of people nervous. Hell, I was freaking out in a small way. But I was also confident because I had had the experience of walking through almost every aspect of a network sitcom. I knew how to hit a mark, I knew where the cameras were, and I was familiar with the process—only this time, I got my own dressing room. Okay, it was the same one a lot of the extras used normally, but this time it had my name in tape on it. It was very exciting.
Since then, I've worked on countless movies and commercials, and was a regular member of the background on Just Shoot Me!, The Naked Truth, Herman's Head, Blossom (I was at Blossom's prom), and most recently Less Than Perfect and CSI: Miami.
All in all, I have had good luck as an extra. Most important, I gained invaluable time on sets. I would recommend that any actor new to the industry do at least a few days of extra work. See what it's like to be on a real set instead of just in a classroom. It's a bit of a humbling experience at times, but it's healthy to learn a little humility.
If you create the scene, I'll provide the atmosphere.
For more information about Andrew Sherman Vehicle, visit www.myspace.com/astroamericans. Look for Sherman as the dentist in the ESPN Monday Night Football commercial "Monday on My Mind."