Lights, Camera, Action

I did something interesting lately; I was an extra on a television show being filmed in Atlanta. An extra is someone in the background of a film or TV show who is paid to stand around, or walk by, or sit attentively, making everything look more natural in a scene that is being filmed. Extras are seldom given lines to say, but sometimes, if you’re lucky, you get a line or two. The role I played recently was as “opposing team coach” in a lacrosse scene. I stood on the sidelines clapping my hands and shouting “coachy” things to my players on the field. I paced, I fretted, I looked totally involved in the game; I got into my role! Forget the fact that I know nothing about lacrosse and that there really were no players on the field; in fact it wasn’t really even a lacrosse field. That’s not what being an extra is about; you just have to look like you’re doing what you are supposed to be doing. In other words, you have to be natural and you have to be convincing.

A lot of the work of being an extra involves sitting around waiting for your scene to be shot, or once your scene is being filmed, you wait while the scene is shot and reshot and the director finally yells, “That’s a wrap!” There are so many things I could write about being an extra: The great people you meet, seeing “stars” up close, the amazing technical and logistical issues of filming, the elaborate wardrobes, the long hours, the pecking order on the set, the vision of the director and they go about communicating it, and so forth.

One thing I’ve learned for sure is how important extras are. Now when I look at a television show or a movie, I’m consciously watching the extras to see how they act. Have you ever noticed them? Without extras, scenes would be terribly unnatural. Being an extra has also given me a sense of how important everyone around us is. I’m afraid that often times we go through life viewing others around us as “extras.” We are all extras in other people’s lives, and we see them as extras in ours: the clerk behind the counter, the waitress at the restaurant, the mailman, the woman walking her dog, etc… In truth, each and every one of the people in the background of our lives has a story; they have dreams and aspirations, they have spouses, and kids, and parents. In other words, everybody is a somebody in someone’s life; nobody is truly an “extra.” I'm sure that's how God sees us, and how he'd like us to see one another.

That’s at least one takeaway from my fledgling acting career, and a great reminder to us all. See you on the big screen!