How do you become a creature extra in films and TV?
As an ‘extra’ or ‘walk-on’ you don’t get an awful lot to do and as for jobs, you don’t have to do things you don’t fancy. It’s not likely that there will be a lot of this sort of theme in future but who knows what might come up. You can join an agency and some require a fee. This is not wrong or illegal but you might locate one that only requires a photo, CV and measurement chart. Background acting requires little skill and virtually anybody can do it. Would it not be better to get involved at a higher level then use your training to create the sort of work you want? Once I’d got a few years under my belt I started my own company and now I do what I want as often as I want and pay the bills from it.
Hi there, I’m not from the UK so I can’t give you any specifics, just some general advice. First of all, if you have a film commison or bureau in your city/area, you may be able to get a list of what’s filming in that area to figure out if they are filming any creature features. Your local actor’s union office should be able to give you a list of talent agencies that take on people to work as extras. If not, check the business section of your phone book. If you have any film industry trades (magazines and other publication specific to the film industry) you can find out what is shooting when and, in general terms, where. They won’t often tell you the specific neightborhood to avoid stalkers and sightseers. I work as an extra in Canada. There are no specific background (as extra’s are known here) agencies that deal only in “creature” roles. I have friends who have been zombies and creature warriors on films. They didn’t have much fun doing it. The creature costumes were clastraphobic, h
