If you're a union member doing background work on a film or TV project and the star gives you a line to say and you say that line, you get upgraded to principal, right? Wrong. Why? Because the director has to be the one who asks. However, if the star asks you to say the line and the director orders more takes with your line still in the scene, then the director is endorsing the star's idea, and the Screen Actors Guild will go to bat for you and get you upgraded. What's more, because SAG's background jurisdiction doesn't extend throughout the country, a nonunion background performer can also be upgraded by SAG. Of course, you'll have to become a SAG member. So says Terri Becherer, SAG's director of background actors.
The issue of scripted and unscripted lines is covered in SAG's Codified Basic Agreement of 2005, Page 206, Schedule A, Paragraph 26, "Script Lines." Becherer explains that the union's intent is that scripted lines be given to actors who've auditioned and not to background actors: "That's not to say [directors] can't interview people who only have background experience. It's just that they have to go through that casting process…to be sure that the professional performers are given the opportunity to audition for anticipated parts." But aren't background actors professional? "Of course they are," she replies, "but in the context of the contract, performers are separated into the categories of actors and background actors."
Still, doesn't every background actor hope he or she will get a line and be upgraded? Such a situation is covered under Paragraph 26B, which has to do with unscripted lines. If the director realizes on the set that a scene is not going to look right unless a background actor says something, then, says Becherer, "that is a situation that background actors can get upgraded for. They should never expect to be on set and be perfect for a part that is already in the movie, because they need to go through the casting process" to get such a part.
She mentions that actors sometimes ask her about the danger of being typed as a background performer. What does she tell them? "If they're only applying for background jobs, chances are they will only get background jobs, thereby pigeonholing themselves. The casting processes are separate." She makes an analogy: "If you want to be an attorney, you're not going to apply for a legal secretary and hope someone notices how brilliant you are. Go apply for a job as a lawyer."
What should background actors do if the director asks them to say a line but then the producer doesn't offer a contract upgrade? "They shouldn't worry whether the line is scripted or not," Becherer says. "They just need to do what the director tells them to do, and if it qualifies as principal work and they aren't given a contract, they need to notify the union."
But a background actor who throws in a line in the hope of being upgraded will be disappointed, she says: "If a background actor improvises a line, he's giving it away, whether or not they use it. Otherwise we'd have background actors upgrading themselves all the time."
Remember to act promptly if you qualify for an upgrade, Becherer warns: "There have been people in this very situation who didn't call the union and who [weren't] upgraded, because they waited for a really long time—in some cases for years—and we were unable to pursue that for them. They've given up residuals and all sorts of things they're entitled to. It's really important that they call us as soon as it happens." The payment is due as soon as the scene is shot, she adds, and it doesn't matter whether the footage ends up on the cutting-room floor.
So when in doubt, as usual, call the union.
