Extra (acting)

[2][4] When hiring background actors, casting directors generally seek those with a specific "look", such as "high school students" or "affluent senior citizens", consistent with the context of the film.

Casting directors may also look for background actors with a special skill for the scene, such as rollerblading, bike riding, skiing or dancing.

Some background actors are needed on the set only for a day or two and are paid on a daily basis, while others may remain with the film for an extended period.

Hence on many advertisements, which are often shown multiple times and distributed internationally, while the extra is paid a contracted day-rate, the largest payment is from ongoing royalties.

Due to the resultant complex calculations from multiple international showings, performers under a are often bought-out of their advertisement royalties with a one-off payment called a 'buyout'.

On productions outside of union jurisdiction, payment for background actors is at the discretion of the producers, and ranges from union-scale rates to "copy and credit" (i.e., no pay).

[10] Notable extras during the Studio Era include Bess Flowers, Ellinor Vanderveer, Symona Boniface, Minta Durfee, Florence Wix, Maurice Costello, Lester Dorr, Philo McCullough, Barry Norton, Larry Steers, and Shep Houghton.

Charles Chaplin tackled the subject of film extra work in three of his early short comedies: The Masquerader (1914), His New Job (1915), and Behind the Screen (1916).

Perry (1929) and I Should Have Stayed Home by Horace McCoy (1938) depict the working lives of Hollywood extras during the Great Depression.

In his novel Infinite Jest (1996), David Foster Wallace refers to silent extras in sitcoms as "figurants", commenting that the need to include them is a concession to reality, even while their complete silence is unrealistic.

In the Hindi black comedy film Mithya (2008), the protagonist is a background actor whose facial similarity to an underworld crime boss lands him in trouble.