Being a Movie "Extra"

Denise Weber shares her experience in being a movie "extra"!

I had the fun task of being an extra in the movie "Betty Anne Waters" on Monday, Feb. 23rd, as it filmed on the campus of the University of Michigan, where I am pursuing my masters degree.

For those who have never been an extra or on a set of a movie before, if you get the chance, you should absolutely do it. And if you do it, you should be prepared to sit around and wait...alot! Our group waited for about six hours, during which we filmed one scene, or rather a small portion of one scene, for which they did about four takes and took maybe ten to fifteen minutes, total. I think I really like doing theatre better. You actually do the entire show from start to finish and you have the immediate gratification of applause and bows at the end of the show.

Oh,by the way, did I mention that Hilary Swank is starring in the movie and was about five feet away from me during the scene? That was actually pretty cool. We were told ahead of time that we could not speak with the stars, ask for autographs or take pictures. I didn't see anybody try to do that, either.

During the waiting time, though, I met some really nice people. Hint - if you get the chance to do this, make friends with the crew - they will look out for you and work to get you in a good spot, especially if it's a large crowd scene. The crew for this movie were extremely nice. While we waited, they had raffles for autographed copies of DVDs that Hilary starred in, as well as some from Minnie Driver, who also is in this movie. I didn't get to see her, though, nor did I win anything in the raffle. That's OK, though.

Other than that, I spent time getting to know some of the other extras. Some had done this before; for others, it was their first time. It is amazing the amount of equipment and semi trucks that it took for the shoot. And to think they had to pack it all up to move to another location the next day! Wow!

I had the opportunity to play Housewife #4 when Jeff Daniels brought "Super Sucker" to Jackson, so this wasn't my first time on a movie set. For me, the "Super Sucker" experience was more fun, but this was still a pretty neat experience.

Now, I just wait to find out if I make it into the movie scene, or on the cutting room floor. In the meantime, I wonder if I should put in an order for Harry Winston to hold some diamonds for me next year.......Nah!