You, suh, are the absolute furthest from wrong! While I did indeed do a quick & dirty GIF search of mah own, alas with Ø results, I also wholeheartedly agree that a GIF should be...
John Travolta has a story about being an extra early in his career. Determined to get noticed he made sure he was visible in every scene he could and that he was doing some sort of business. Finally the director noticed him and asked his name. After identifying himself, the director said, "Well John Travolta, get the &%#$ off of my set, you are wrecking my movie".
@@joelellis7035 He did good in Pulp Fiction. The "stopping bullets" chat in the car stays a classic. And his speech in Broken Arrow, after hitting the guy's throat ("Quite frankly, I don't know what's the big deal") is as cold-blooded as can be.
Not only did the head bonking Stormtrooper garner a laugh, he also garnered an extra line to show that the other Troopers did indeed see him hit his helmet. The line is so quick you might miss it. "See to him." is the line and actually explains why there is only one trooper left in the room when C-3P0 asks to take his counterpart down to maintenance. LOL
Actually, the stormtrooper who said, "See to him" was referring to the guy Chewie shot. He was telling the other troops to either help him, or dispose of the body.
@@playerpage That may be the case, however I have no memory of any trooper laying on the floor in the scene, just the poor trooper who bonked his head. I should say that was in the unaltered original film release. Way back before it had two title changes and was just call Star Wars.
@@shawnamoore4831 No, not a storm trooper, one of the officers. Remember, as soon as they got through the door, Chewie smacked one guy across the room and Han shot (first!) a guy in the chest. Those folks didn't just disappear when they locked the door. That's in every version since the beginning.
They added the sound effect to it in later versions. It was total accident that it ended into the movie. Nobody some reason noticed it or that take was accidentally used.
To anyone out of work, being an extra is easy money. They take anyone and feed you well, pay you well. I've done extra work over my 70 year life span. Advertising or drama, if you're available they use you. I once sat around for 12 hours and ate some beautiful food then they shot a scene for an hour and I went home. I was in the movies without the paparazzi. Loved it and my privacy. You don't need a lot of money to enjoy life. That's all I have to say about that. Forest G. (Stand in)
@@hsonmari6665 You don't see many ads, but they exist. My brother and mother in law do it regularly. It's really cool hearing their stories from behind the scenes.
@@mikitz a good Director would explain there's an alien invasion from that directions, aliens are coming out of the sky and destroying the city. Now when I say action run for your life!
Life of Brian an extra blurted out “I’m not” - a joke he improvised that monty python considered to be the funniest line in the entire movie... when you outwit monty python on the spot, it clearly deserves to be #1 on this list
@@luisitocomunista546 he’s standing in house’s window with mother in back, followers below calling up to him to lead them. He telling them he’s not special- his mother confirms this true l think lol
The original GREASE has a kid with dark slicked back hair that absolutely shines in every dance sequence. At the very end, when the cast is randomly running diagonally in front of the camera, he pops up doing an absolute awesome Charlie Chan impersonation, and all throughout the film, he's in all the scenes where just the guys are singing and dancing, and he's a stand out every time, No idea who he is, but I hope he had a career after that.
I knew exactly who you were talking about from your description, and I haven’t seen Grease in at least a decade- the guy really did stand out that much.
Being a supporting actor myself,i always look for a way to stick out more than my fellow extras. In Cobra (tv series,not the sly pic of the same name) i was playing an escapee from a immigrant detention centre. The scene was a group of guys attacking a car and it’s driver to high jack it..we were told to all start moving down to where the action was taking place. So i looked on it as a football hooligan,going over to backup the lads against the other teams hooligans..ie walking with a real purpose at a pace that made it look real and not at a snails pace. I was the only one who made it look real and the director put me in more scenes because of it.
The best extra in a movie has got to be, hands down, the red headed warrior in Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves. He was so good at dieing that they killed him about a dozen times in the same scene.
@@DrZeuss-cr8jm but not know who this was and why is it was put in...especially how it deliberately focused on his carrying margaritas...they even showed a picture of him standing behind a bar after 🤦♂️. It's like saying there there's an extra who wears glass and has a mustach in every Marvel movie lol.
Probably not… They’re WhatCulture. They do juuuuuust enough research to get the video scripted. That’s why there’s also soooo many mispronunciations lol
That explains a lot lol. Then again I imagine that when celbs get word of a film they really want to be in they can get ahold of their buddies in the machinery to get cameos and extras' roles. See also Colbert showing up in The Hobbit, front and center, as a grungy townsfolk.
The bar used in Terminator 2 was off Foothill Blvd in Lake View Terrace. There was a guy who just bought a video camera and he decided to try it out on the filming location for the bar. Later on, he heard a disturbance outside an apartment complex and took his camera out there to film whatever was happening. What he filmed was LAPD officers beating Rodney King who was supposedly driving drunk on the 210 freeway and tried to ditch the cops at that offramp. So, the famous video tape that eventually led to the LA Riots also has scenes from the bar being used for Terminator 2.
Those extras from the original Ghostbusters will go down as the most impactful extra performances ever on screen. The Hasidic jews, the guy running after the Ectomobile, and the hipster mouthing OMG. Classic.
you didn't go back far enough. Life of Brian had great extras. My favorite was (and I quote from tvtropes) -The lone man in the "We are all individuals" scene, who plaintively comments "I'm not!"? That was improvised. He ended up getting a pay raise to speaking actor for his improv. The other extras in the scene were genuinely shushing him, thinking he'd screwed up the scene.
Dude how are you guys going to leave off the extra from “Being John Malkovich”? Guy chucked a can at John’s head from a passing pickup truck. That wasn’t part of the script but the director found it hilarious and kept it in.
@@reh3884 Followed quickly by all of the perfectly reasonable "These people made comments I never had to read and certainly didn't have to expand the thread" comments.
You know with all the film awards given out every year, I think it's about time they have an award for best extra, giving them the opportunity to be recognized where they can get their names out there for more movie roles possibly getting a starring role in a smaller film
this would make extra with egoistical ego try harder to be noticed, wasting more shots , that cost money . and actualy aiming for shots that cost alot of MONEY so the shot can't be remade easely increasing theyr chance to be noticed. one thing is trying to go the extra mile to be noticed by "acting the extra part well" and not sweeping the air , for example, another is going overboard with your presence .
Can't believe none of the extras from the Raimi Spider-Man trilogy made it on this list, there are some absolutely golden performances in the backgrounds of those movies
About 12 years ago I got the opportunity to be an extra in Secretariat. I had a look and wardrobe that was very appropriate for the time period (early 1970s) and after a while the directing and production staff nicknamed me "Dennis Hopper". Surprisingly, I can be found 6 times during the film, most noticeably in the scene where the jockey gets fired and walks over to me and near the end as the camera pans up from principal actors in a crowd scene.
The director doesn’t direct the supporting artists. It’s generally the 3rd assistant director. Quite a hard job, liaising with the director and continuity, choreographing everything in the background basically!
Yep. I was an extra for a brief period and we had zero to do with the director (I'm sure they would step in if they wanted to though). It was the assistant director's job to round up all of us extras (a shopping mall scene) and tell us where to go and what to do in a very short amount of time, I didn't envy him at all.
I just finished a role on a pretty major (upcoming) film and the ADs were pretty annoying...all 50 of them :O - needless to say there were quite a few SAs to wrangle
I am a Director and I choose to believe Con.Troller.418 8 out of 10 directors say I am right. Next you guys are going to say that I am not even a Director.
@@trevormiles5852 Well, I certainly don't believe you're really a Dictator, because I've never heard of any Dictator with your name. Oh, wait a minute... Sorry, I read that wrong... Oh, a Director. Yeah, I believe you're one of those. : )
I was an extra for the movie Warrior, during a take for a scene in the high school where kids were running past the classroom in which Joel Edgerton was teaching, I ran into one of the actors as they came out of the classroom and slammed him into the lockers. I felt awful and thought for sure they'd send me home but the actor was really nice about and wanted them to use that take but I dont even think they used that scene at all haha
@@jemagu6 No you don't.... The Screen Actors Guild doesn't exist anymore. In 2012, the SAG merged with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) to create SAG-AFTRA. SAG-AFTRA is basically a union for actors, broadcasters, recording artists/singers, other performers etc. It is very difficult to get work on major big budget projects unless you are a member of SAG-AFTRA, but not impossible. When a producer becomes a “signatory” with SAG-AFTRA, they sign a contract with them, agreeing to follow their rules and procedures. When a movie is under a SAG-AFTRA contract, the signatory must notify SAG-AFTRA within 15 days of the performer’s initial work date and include the reason for hire. The signatory must explain/justify why they hired a non-union actor over a union actor. Technically, the union can fine the signatory $500 if the explanation is not accepted by SAG-AFTRA.
@@jemagu6 yup that’s how I got my ACTRA back in the day☺️ Except we were given the line by the director as we were supposed to be “hyping ourselves up” which obviously looked weird when we weren’t allowed to actually say anything 😂
Best extra has to be in The Life Of Brian. Brian has just told the crowd "YOU'RE ALL DIFFERENT!", and the crowd responds "We're all different", an extra puts his hand up and says "I'm not". That wasn't scripted, but Terry Jones loved it so much he gave the extra a credited part in the film, and a pay rise as he now had a speaking part.
I would have loved to hear the scenes play out a bit but this guy managed to fill every second with his opinion. No wonder my English teacher kept me from putting first person in my essays.
@@oldenweery7510 Pretty sure it was something like he was supposed to be sweeping but also the director got mad at him for kicking up dust (just a guess).
This was a great list and very interesting. Thank you. The only negative was that you pronounced Rohirrim extremely incorrectly, and the extra who "fell off his horse" was a cgi character, not a real person. That scene included many extras actually riding horses, mixed with thousands of more cgi people and horses not actually there. So, you sort of blew it on the Lord of the Rings one, but the rest were spot on. Well done.
Thank you! I came here to say just that. I was so hoping that he was the #1 spot and was extremely disappointed that not only was he not #1, he wasn't even mentioned!
A definite favorite extra of mine is in the drinking game scene, at Marion’s bar, in Raiders of the Lost Ark! She is camera left of Karen Allen, who is seemingly trying to gather herself together, after shooting back another shot, & as Marion presents the empty shot glass, to turn it upside down, onto the table, the extra woman’s face absolutely lights up, & smiling, she says, “Ahh!”, seeing that the player she is backing, is still in the game! 😃
A friend of mine was an extra in the first Avenger's movie. She's the woman in the black and white dress in near the front on the left in the exterior museum scene where Loki tells the crown to kneel.
It's so funny this came up in my feed. I've recently started working as a movie extra, and I just came back from discussing that while visiting with my neighbor. She showed me a clip of her close friend as an extra in the movie Dumb and Dumber. He is sitting as a background actor in the fancy restaurant fight scene.
My personal favorite extra is from the movie war of the worlds with the tall alien machines. This was in the first scene when the alien machine came up out of the ground. The camera pans to everyone standing still, watching the looming vehicle, accept for one person in the background booking it out of there. I love when extras give a realistic reaction despite what the director or screen writers want
Did they forget what list they were doing? While the "clumsy Stormtrooper" may be #1 on a "most memorable extras" list, it's hardly one of the "greatest movie extra performances ever".
I don't disagree with what you are saying, I just kinda expected you to drop an example of a better one. One of my personal favs is a Mr. Mark....I wanna say Luken? Final destination 2, or The Bullfighter from the auditions in Mystery Men.
I'm a movie extra and it is the best experience ever. Blue Beetle was my first one and I've been in four movies already, next Tuesday August 13-2024 is the next one.
how to become an extra in your country? do you have to do the audition first? in my country we just send our photo file to the agents and just wait for the job's call
Fast and the furious has a guy in the background when Dom is saying "ask any racer any real racer." The guy is going 2000% extra on his emotions. I laugh every time.
Return of the King has one of the best extra of all time, when King Theoden (RIP Bernard Hill) answers "No we cannot" when asked if they can break the lines of Mordor, one or the extras gives the perfect look in response
In my opinion is Bernard Hills performance as Theoden the Top Acting in all three movies. Thats a KING, thats Emotions in every scene, and the face before the final attack is that perfect " we have no chance, we will die, Iwill die but we die fighting."
You clearly never watched Independence Day then. They asked for anyone who had any flight experience no matter what in. As they wanted as many planes in the air as possible to distract the aliens from the actual main pilots.
Ever since was a "Background Actor", I have said that Hollywood needs to recognize background actors in the credits and in the awards. At the very least an award for best Extras casting. I have had closeups in films and Television and legitimately acted showing fear, grief, disinterest, disgust, etc. I like you have noticed some great acting by "extras" If they can give credit to 2nd assistant to the assistant or whatever and list literally hundreds of crew, why not list background actors in the credits.
I’m not sure if it’s changed since I was an extra (I’ve heard that it has), but when I did background work, if your name was in the credits you were paid more (union rate) & you got instant union membership. That’s how I got my ACTRA.
Credits already run for half an hour as it is! The last thing we need is to add a few hundred more names. (Written as someone who actually does sit through the credits of every movie I go to.)
@@viddork right, so leave them off the credits unless their performance was a long shot or better. Background actors in establishing shots are irrelevant but there have been excellent performances by background actors in long shots and close ups. I had a closeup in Astronaut Farmer. It wasn't a huge film but there have been important scenes in big films by actors that never got credit.
terrible idea. That would only give more incentive for you all to fight over each other trying to be the one in the shot and standing out. The list of annoying and terrible extras is far larger than the list of good ones.
Some good ones there. I just rewatched “The Fugitive” and I love the reaction of all the attendees in the ballroom near the end when Dr. Kimball interrupts the seminar
I'm currently a extra and my bucket list goal is to be a noteworthy extra to be remembered as the best extra who ever lived idk why but maybe someone watching at home or theater might say " wtf is that guy doing 😂" and be like a easter egg in disney movies.. maybe one day. Good luck to all aspiring actors :)
I like Willrow Hood and the ice cream machine more than the stormtrooper. His performance with the unusual prop was so stellar that he eventually became a named character with a backstory in the official Star Wars' canon.
Regarding the storm trooper, I remember Luke's line "I can't see a thing in this helmet". Can't remember if that was before or after the scene in question but next time I watch I'll be sure to pay attention.
NOOO!!! What a missed opportunity! Margarita Man was actually Jimmy Buffett! He's drinking those margs at his own restaurant, Margaritaville, named after one of his most popular songs.
@@DrZeuss-cr8jm bro...you've commented this on multiple people jimmy buffet post....are u like his scorned band member he dropped before becoming famous?
My favorite extra performance is one of Mark Wahlberg's students in the Happening. When Marky Mark tells another student that he has a perfect face, she makes the most appropriately bewildered WTF expression that is not only perfect in the moment, but also serves as a reflection of the average the Happening viewer throughout the movie.
You missed one. North by Northwest in the ending scene an extra puts his hands over his ears before the gun shot goes off in the cafeteria. This was a classic.
If we want to talk TV shows instead of movies, Eddie Paskey has to qualify as the top extra of all time. He was in 57 of 79 episodes of the original Star Trek, which is more than some of the main characters (Rand, Sulu, and Chekhov). Apparently, he liked working on the show so much that he'd skim the scripts as soon as he could get his hands on them to see if they were going to kill off any red shirts in that episode. Then, he'd avoid being around when they filmed those scenes, so he wouldn't get killed off. Eventually, there was an episode where Kirk gave him a direct order, and Shatner named his character Lieutenant Leslie, after his own daughter (Leslie Shatner).
My favorite movie extra is in The Life of Brian. When Brian is on the balcony and implores "We're all different!" random extra guy yells"I'm not..." I think they had to get him an equity card to keep it in.
Major props that he doesn't even draw attention to it. He soldiers through. I certainly hope that the moment someone yelled cut, someone else immediately went "dude.... you alright?!" That deserves a SAG card right there
I always thought that the extra in Scream was a perfect addition to the seen. Her reaction made the seen more believable to me. Same with the lady running in the Avengers movie!
Because those extras allegedly weren't acting, but really in hilarious laughter, because they were told it was some "serious historical movie" and they were supposed to be totally serious in this situation. But, as it turns out, they just couldn't.... I mean WHO COULD?!?!? They were totally unable to "stay in character" - hilarity ensued :D
In the movie Dragonheart, when Brother Gilbert is up in the little tree-fort with the other archers, firing his bow.... dude there is an archer behind him who just REALLY loves his job, and it shows, and I love it.
3:50 fun fact: if you talk as an "extra" they have to pay you as an actual actor instead of just a background player. Maybe that's also why she said something.
What about the "I'm not" guy from life of brian (it wasn't scripted he said it so he got more money as he had a speaking role) and the poor sod who got kicked in the knackers by a horse in the last samurai and stayed standing
That person in the Avengers running like hell had me dying with laughter for some reason! Someone needs to make a GIF of this
You, suh, are the absolute furthest from wrong!
While I did indeed do a quick & dirty GIF search of mah own, alas with Ø results, I also wholeheartedly agree that a GIF should be...
"My parents aren't home" *insert GIF*
"I'm pregnant" *insert GIF*
"Who is she?!" *insert GIF*
@@MiseryRG Or...
NOPE, insert gif
"When the worlds ending but you don't wanna die a virgin" *insert running person here*
LMAO, IT HAD ME DYING WITH LAUGHTER TOO
Striped shirt guy definitely survived that movie, he’s the only one with proper instincts 😂
That's a woman
Thats a Man. He is an Albuquerque local who is pretty well known in the bodybuilding and ballroom dance communities here.
@@EmmanuelChiwayaVEVO Definitely a man.
@@EmmanuelChiwayaVEVO It's clearly a male physique.
Lol Thought they were a woman too!
John Travolta has a story about being an extra early in his career. Determined to get noticed he made sure he was visible in every scene he could and that he was doing some sort of business. Finally the director noticed him and asked his name. After identifying himself, the director said, "Well John Travolta, get the &%#$ off of my set, you are wrecking my movie".
And he's continued to wreck movies ever since.
@@joelellis7035 😂🤣😂🤣
Brilliant story!
You have to be noticed, but not TOO noticed... And it 100% has to fit the scene.
@@joelellis7035 He did good in Pulp Fiction. The "stopping bullets" chat in the car stays a classic. And his speech in Broken Arrow, after hitting the guy's throat ("Quite frankly, I don't know what's the big deal") is as cold-blooded as can be.
Not only did the head bonking Stormtrooper garner a laugh, he also garnered an extra line to show that the other Troopers did indeed see him hit his helmet. The line is so quick you might miss it.
"See to him." is the line and actually explains why there is only one trooper left in the room when C-3P0 asks to take his counterpart down to maintenance. LOL
Actually, the stormtrooper who said, "See to him" was referring to the guy Chewie shot. He was telling the other troops to either help him, or dispose of the body.
@@playerpage That may be the case, however I have no memory of any trooper laying on the floor in the scene, just the poor trooper who bonked his head. I should say that was in the unaltered original film release. Way back before it had two title changes and was just call Star Wars.
@@shawnamoore4831 No, not a storm trooper, one of the officers. Remember, as soon as they got through the door, Chewie smacked one guy across the room and Han shot (first!) a guy in the chest. Those folks didn't just disappear when they locked the door. That's in every version since the beginning.
They added the sound effect to it in later versions. It was total accident that it ended into the movie. Nobody some reason noticed it or that take was accidentally used.
Omg no way
In a later cut, George Lucas found it amusing and even added a sound to the Storm Trooper hitting his head on the door.
BONK
And don't forget he added Jango hitting his head in the prequels to show it was genetic (because that's how that works).
I still didn't see his head hit. Is it the guy in the foreground or someone else?
@@KutWrite he's the stormtrooper on the right of the screen, he's a little to tall and didn't duck
@@AliceSinclair98 Thanks!
To anyone out of work, being an extra is easy money. They take anyone and feed you well, pay you well. I've done extra work over my 70 year life span. Advertising or drama, if you're available they use you. I once sat around for 12 hours and ate some beautiful food then they shot a scene for an hour and I went home. I was in the movies without the paparazzi. Loved it and my privacy. You don't need a lot of money to enjoy life. That's all I have to say about that. Forest G. (Stand in)
Only advert I saw for extras in Australia was paying $200 a day
@@hsonmari6665 You don't see many ads, but they exist. My brother and mother in law do it regularly. It's really cool hearing their stories from behind the scenes.
Director: Act like you're in danger.
Striped Shirt GUY: *Runs like HIS life depends on it.*
Might be a dude, he or she is pretty buff and muscular.
@@amehak1922 true
That's acting.
He/she rightfully made all the other extras in the scene look bad. The others were merely 'acting' and no director wants that.
@@mikitz a good Director would explain there's an alien invasion from that directions, aliens are coming out of the sky and destroying the city. Now when I say action run for your life!
Life of Brian an extra blurted out “I’m not” - a joke he improvised that monty python considered to be the funniest line in the entire movie... when you outwit monty python on the spot, it clearly deserves to be #1 on this list
the extras for the biggus dickus gag were really good too
Which scene was it? I got to see it
@@luisitocomunista546 he’s standing in house’s window with mother in back, followers below calling up to him to lead them. He telling them he’s not special- his mother confirms this true l think lol
@@bot7070 They were just being tormented. Firmly instructed not to laugh.
@@luisitocomunista546 The 'We are all individuals!' bit that culminates in 'He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy. Now... clear off!'
The original GREASE has a kid with dark slicked back hair that absolutely shines in every dance sequence. At the very end, when the cast is randomly running diagonally in front of the camera, he pops up doing an absolute awesome Charlie Chan impersonation, and all throughout the film, he's in all the scenes where just the guys are singing and dancing, and he's a stand out every time, No idea who he is, but I hope he had a career after that.
Green shirt guy is Daniel Levin.
He passed in 2015
@@Reddison aw :(
I knew exactly who you were talking about from your description, and I haven’t seen Grease in at least a decade- the guy really did stand out that much.
He was a professional dancer. I bet he was plenty of musicals. Things like Chores Line and so on. He was very memorable. A+ proformance.
Being a supporting actor myself,i always look for a way to stick out more than my fellow extras. In Cobra (tv series,not the sly pic of the same name) i was playing an escapee from a immigrant detention centre. The scene was a group of guys attacking a car and it’s driver to high jack it..we were told to all start moving down to where the action was taking place.
So i looked on it as a football hooligan,going over to backup the lads against the other teams hooligans..ie walking with a real purpose at a pace that made it look real and not at a snails pace. I was the only one who made it look real and the director put me in more scenes because of it.
Do you have a clip?
The best extra in a movie has got to be, hands down, the red headed warrior in Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves. He was so good at dieing that they killed him about a dozen times in the same scene.
I love that movie.
On behalf of Extras everywhere, thank you for noting our efforts!
Can't speak for all of us but mostly i had a blast 😄
It's Jimmy Buffet with the margaritas!!! It was intentional, it's a nod to Margaritaville being on citywalk in Universal.
Still an extra, not part of the main cast makes him an extra, cameo or not.
@@DrZeuss-cr8jm but not know who this was and why is it was put in...especially how it deliberately focused on his carrying margaritas...they even showed a picture of him standing behind a bar after 🤦♂️. It's like saying there there's an extra who wears glass and has a mustach in every Marvel movie lol.
Amd margatitaville in the food court in tje movie.
while I didn't know the reference it was obvious the scene was in reference to something lol
@@immapotato1 listen to Margaritaville by jimmy buffet and you'll understand the reference
Love the extra in the scream store scene. Extras like those really make the movie seem like it actually takes place in a real world.
You do know that the "Margarita Man" in Jurrasic World is Jimmy Buffett don't you?
As always thank you so very much for the video.
Probably not… They’re WhatCulture. They do juuuuuust enough research to get the video scripted.
That’s why there’s also soooo many mispronunciations lol
Wastin away again in margaritaville…
Ironic that there is literally a WhatCulture Top 10 cameos that has Jimmy Buffet as one of the ten.
That explains a lot lol. Then again I imagine that when celbs get word of a film they really want to be in they can get ahold of their buddies in the machinery to get cameos and extras' roles. See also Colbert showing up in The Hobbit, front and center, as a grungy townsfolk.
2:00 they credit his Twitter and still didn’t figure out it was a cameo. 😂😂😂😂
I always got a laugh out of that bar waitress whose expression quickly goes from shock to impressed approval in T2.
That extra wasn't running away from the Chitauri, they were getting in line for some shawarma. Apparently, it's very popular.
Heard crafty is good on Marvel sets
This was filmed in Albuquerque... The extra (male by the by) is a someone I am well aquatinted with.
Shawarma is so good
💀💀💀
They were running to craft service.
The bar used in Terminator 2 was off Foothill Blvd in Lake View Terrace. There was a guy who just bought a video camera and he decided to try it out on the filming location for the bar. Later on, he heard a disturbance outside an apartment complex and took his camera out there to film whatever was happening. What he filmed was LAPD officers beating Rodney King who was supposedly driving drunk on the 210 freeway and tried to ditch the cops at that offramp. So, the famous video tape that eventually led to the LA Riots also has scenes from the bar being used for Terminator 2.
To the extras that make movies extra, I salute you.
Those extras from the original Ghostbusters will go down as the most impactful extra performances ever on screen. The Hasidic jews, the guy running after the Ectomobile, and the hipster mouthing OMG. Classic.
Number 10 is me! We filmed that scene in the Albuquerque railyards. I, uh... took my part pretty seriously, I guess.
YASsss Sam. Bump his comment to the top NMT people!
You definitely deserve the recognition.
You are awesome at everything you do!
Hell yeah, Sam!
It's people like you that make movies good. I definitely notice when the background actors ruin a scene. Might as well have cardboard buildings. :p
Only Jim Carrey can take an improved line like "Bug Gulps, huh? Well see you later!" and make it pure comedy gold!
In one of his many "Star Wars" revisions, Lucas added a "bonk" sound effect when the Stormtrooper hits his head on the door.
One of the good ones if you ask me.
Whatculture fans probably know this as they’ve covered it in their videos
They know.
you didn't go back far enough. Life of Brian had great extras. My favorite was (and I quote from tvtropes) -The lone man in the "We are all individuals" scene, who plaintively comments "I'm not!"? That was improvised. He ended up getting a pay raise to speaking actor for his improv. The other extras in the scene were genuinely shushing him, thinking he'd screwed up the scene.
Dude how are you guys going to leave off the extra from “Being John Malkovich”? Guy chucked a can at John’s head from a passing pickup truck. That wasn’t part of the script but the director found it hilarious and kept it in.
Also the extra from _The Last Samurai_ who took a nut shot from a horse and stood back in line.
Also, John Malkovich confirmed that it wasn’t an extra and it was definitely planned. But still a great scene.
@@paulzuniga4256 Yup. beat me too it. Malkovich still has no idea where that rumor about it being unplanned came from.
And here come all the annoying "you left my favorite off the list" comments.
@@reh3884 Followed quickly by all of the perfectly reasonable "These people made comments I never had to read and certainly didn't have to expand the thread" comments.
A good selection. However, I think that you should return the word "iconic" to the stable for a while to let it cool down and recover from overuse.
That extra ran away from the Chitauri faster than Cap did in Civil War.
You should see him do a dead lift...
I laughed so hard when that person zip through the frame in the Avengers. Seriously tears were coming out.
You know with all the film awards given out every year, I think it's about time they have an award for best extra, giving them the opportunity to be recognized where they can get their names out there for more movie roles possibly getting a starring role in a smaller film
wouldn't that kinda like make it harder for people to shoot movies because so many extras want to get noticed tho
this would make extra with egoistical ego try harder to be noticed, wasting more shots , that cost money . and actualy aiming for shots that cost alot of MONEY so the shot can't be remade easely increasing theyr chance to be noticed.
one thing is trying to go the extra mile to be noticed by "acting the extra part well" and not sweeping the air , for example, another is going overboard with your presence .
Yeaaaaahh that's a horrible idea
Can't believe none of the extras from the Raimi Spider-Man trilogy made it on this list, there are some absolutely golden performances in the backgrounds of those movies
"Hey, Spiderman stole that guy's pizza!"
Pretty sure the person running for their life in Avengers is a "he" with long hair, not a "she..."
It is a dude, his arms are stacked as shit
@@dylanstephens4075 Either way, they are bowlegged. lmao
A dude? Here I thought I finally found my dream girl! "Wife, make me a chicken pot pie"!
I have it on good authority that they identify as a hamburgler.
I guess we won't know untill we grab inside their pants
to get the I.D. card
About 12 years ago I got the opportunity to be an extra in Secretariat. I had a look and wardrobe that was very appropriate for the time period (early 1970s) and after a while the directing and production staff nicknamed me "Dennis Hopper". Surprisingly, I can be found 6 times during the film, most noticeably in the scene where the jockey gets fired and walks over to me and near the end as the camera pans up from principal actors in a crowd scene.
The director doesn’t direct the supporting artists. It’s generally the 3rd assistant director. Quite a hard job, liaising with the director and continuity, choreographing everything in the background basically!
Yep. I was an extra for a brief period and we had zero to do with the director (I'm sure they would step in if they wanted to though). It was the assistant director's job to round up all of us extras (a shopping mall scene) and tell us where to go and what to do in a very short amount of time, I didn't envy him at all.
Thanks for the info. I always like to understand movie making more when I can.
I just finished a role on a pretty major (upcoming) film and the ADs were pretty annoying...all 50 of them :O - needless to say there were quite a few SAs to wrangle
I am a Director and I choose to believe Con.Troller.418 8 out of 10 directors say I am right. Next you guys are going to say that I am not even a Director.
@@trevormiles5852 Well, I certainly don't believe you're really a Dictator, because I've never heard of any Dictator with your name. Oh, wait a minute... Sorry, I read that wrong... Oh, a Director. Yeah, I believe you're one of those. : )
I was an extra for the movie Warrior, during a take
for a scene in the high school where kids were running past the classroom in which Joel Edgerton was teaching, I ran into one of the actors as they came out of the classroom and slammed him into the lockers. I felt awful and thought for sure they'd send me home but the actor was really nice about and wanted them to use that take but I dont even think they used that scene at all haha
The Alameda lady was given an honorary membership in the Screen Actors Guild since only members were allowed to have lines in a movie
Nothing "honorary" about it. If you speak a line on camera and it ends up in the film, you have to have a SAG card.
@@jemagu6 No you don't....
The Screen Actors Guild doesn't exist anymore. In 2012, the SAG merged with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) to create SAG-AFTRA. SAG-AFTRA is basically a union for actors, broadcasters, recording artists/singers, other performers etc. It is very difficult to get work on major big budget projects unless you are a member of SAG-AFTRA, but not impossible.
When a producer becomes a “signatory” with SAG-AFTRA, they sign a contract with them, agreeing to follow their rules and procedures. When a movie is under a SAG-AFTRA contract, the signatory must notify SAG-AFTRA within 15 days of the performer’s initial work date and include the reason for hire.
The signatory must explain/justify why they hired a non-union actor over a union actor. Technically, the union can fine the signatory $500 if the explanation is not accepted by SAG-AFTRA.
@@daijudo That is true today, but I was referring to 1986, when Star Trek IV was made.
@@jemagu6 yup that’s how I got my ACTRA back in the day☺️ Except we were given the line by the director as we were supposed to be “hyping ourselves up” which obviously looked weird when we weren’t allowed to actually say anything 😂
👍
Best extra has to be in The Life Of Brian. Brian has just told the crowd "YOU'RE ALL DIFFERENT!", and the crowd responds "We're all different", an extra puts his hand up and says "I'm not".
That wasn't scripted, but Terry Jones loved it so much he gave the extra a credited part in the film, and a pay rise as he now had a speaking part.
Watching Independence Day on opening night was one of the best experiences I've had in a theater.
Hm, my best experience in a theater had nothing to do with the movie and everything to do with Jenny. Oh yeah....
@@favlonifan7833 yeah right.
@@favlonifan7833 *Gin,surely
Ya. Good enough that I remember what theater I saw it at.
That movie is the perfect amount of cheesy.
2:00 Are we just ignoring that “Margarita Man” is none other than Jimmy Buffet himself?
The Jurassic World one is not an extra, it's a cameo
Yep thats Jimmy Buffett himself
I was about to comment on this fact thank you both for pointing it out idk why but it bugged me
@@derekmeyers10 Because it indicates lazy research. It bugged me too.
They NEVER do an research it's pathetic
@@havenwest8145 You guys know that WC does these kinds of things to invoke comments to play the RUclips algorithm, right?
I would have loved to hear the scenes play out a bit but this guy managed to fill every second with his opinion. No wonder my English teacher kept me from putting first person in my essays.
I'm kind of a fan of the dock worker sweeping nothing in Quantum of Solace.
I thought sure he'd be on this list. WTH was the schlubb thinking?
@@oldenweery7510 Pretty sure it was something like he was supposed to be sweeping but also the director got mad at him for kicking up dust (just a guess).
me, when the manager tells me to sweep for the third time during my shift:
He did such a great job sweeping that there was nothing left to sweep
I thought of that after seeing all the people in this list.
This was a great list and very interesting. Thank you.
The only negative was that you pronounced Rohirrim extremely incorrectly, and the extra who "fell off his horse" was a cgi character, not a real person.
That scene included many extras actually riding horses, mixed with thousands of more cgi people and horses not actually there.
So, you sort of blew it on the Lord of the Rings one, but the rest were spot on.
Well done.
Actually, that rider did fall of his/her horse in real life. Peter Jackson talks about it in the behind the scenes videos. 😊
What about the pointing “Batman, yeahhh!” guy in Batman Forever?
I thought he was saying "Batman! Aaaahhh!"
Ffs you had to bring him up 😂
Hahaha. I watched Batman Forever again 2 months ago and I forgot about that guy. 😄
I like the flamboyant melodramatic reporter
Thank you! I came here to say just that. I was so hoping that he was the #1 spot and was extremely disappointed that not only was he not #1, he wasn't even mentioned!
A definite favorite extra of mine is in the drinking game scene, at Marion’s bar, in Raiders of the Lost Ark!
She is camera left of Karen Allen, who is seemingly trying to gather herself together, after shooting back another shot, & as Marion presents the empty shot glass, to turn it upside down, onto the table, the extra woman’s face absolutely lights up, & smiling, she says, “Ahh!”, seeing that the player she is backing, is still in the game!
😃
A friend of mine was an extra in the first Avenger's movie. She's the woman in the black and white dress in near the front on the left in the exterior museum scene where Loki tells the crown to kneel.
It's so funny this came up in my feed. I've recently started working as a movie extra, and I just came back from discussing that while visiting with my neighbor. She showed me a clip of her close friend as an extra in the movie Dumb and Dumber. He is sitting as a background actor in the fancy restaurant fight scene.
That first one from the avengers had me cracking up just now. I'll never see that scene the same way again.
My personal favorite extra is from the movie war of the worlds with the tall alien machines. This was in the first scene when the alien machine came up out of the ground. The camera pans to everyone standing still, watching the looming vehicle, accept for one person in the background booking it out of there. I love when extras give a realistic reaction despite what the director or screen writers want
Did they forget what list they were doing? While the "clumsy Stormtrooper" may be #1 on a "most memorable extras" list, it's hardly one of the "greatest movie extra performances ever".
Wasn't it also high on the "Worst Movie Extras Ever" list?
@@JessHart006 Is he considered an extra. seems like a pretty specific role. Not really a movie business guy. love movies but know didly.
I vastly prefer Willrow Hood's extra performance to the storm trooper head-bump.
Thats an excellent point. Kinda forgot about the whole "memorable" bit as the lit went on...
I don't disagree with what you are saying, I just kinda expected you to drop an example of a better one. One of my personal favs is a Mr. Mark....I wanna say Luken? Final destination 2, or The Bullfighter from the auditions in Mystery Men.
I'm a movie extra and it is the best experience ever. Blue Beetle was my first one and I've been in four movies already, next Tuesday August 13-2024 is the next one.
how to become an extra in your country? do you have to do the audition first? in my country we just send our photo file to the agents and just wait for the job's call
Fast and the furious has a guy in the background when Dom is saying "ask any racer any real racer." The guy is going 2000% extra on his emotions. I laugh every time.
Is it the dude that looks like the singer of Deftones?
@@metalbeast99
Had to look up the singer of the deftones but yes thats the guy!!! Im laughing all o er again right now hahahahha
Return of the King has one of the best extra of all time, when King Theoden (RIP Bernard Hill) answers "No we cannot" when asked if they can break the lines of Mordor, one or the extras gives the perfect look in response
In my opinion is Bernard Hills performance as Theoden the Top Acting in all three movies.
Thats a KING, thats Emotions in every scene, and the face before the final attack is that perfect " we have no chance, we will die, Iwill die but we die fighting."
That isn't a pilot; he's wearing a cranial protection helmet ("cranial"), not a flight helmet. He's ground crew.
Yeah, dude prolly had a bowl of boogers for breakfast. ;)
I just found out the pilot was a he 🤣
You clearly never watched Independence Day then. They asked for anyone who had any flight experience no matter what in. As they wanted as many planes in the air as possible to distract the aliens from the actual main pilots.
That dude running got me dying😭😂
Ever since was a "Background Actor", I have said that Hollywood needs to recognize background actors in the credits and in the awards. At the very least an award for best Extras casting. I have had closeups in films and Television and legitimately acted showing fear, grief, disinterest, disgust, etc. I like you have noticed some great acting by "extras" If they can give credit to 2nd assistant to the assistant or whatever and list literally hundreds of crew, why not list background actors in the credits.
I’m not sure if it’s changed since I was an extra (I’ve heard that it has), but when I did background work, if your name was in the credits you were paid more (union rate) & you got instant union membership. That’s how I got my ACTRA.
Credits already run for half an hour as it is! The last thing we need is to add a few hundred more names. (Written as someone who actually does sit through the credits of every movie I go to.)
@@viddork right, so leave them off the credits unless their performance was a long shot or better. Background actors in establishing shots are irrelevant but there have been excellent performances by background actors in long shots and close ups. I had a closeup in Astronaut Farmer. It wasn't a huge film but there have been important scenes in big films by actors that never got credit.
terrible idea. That would only give more incentive for you all to fight over each other trying to be the one in the shot and standing out. The list of annoying and terrible extras is far larger than the list of good ones.
the margarita man was seriously having a bad day at the park vibe
"oh, great, i'm taking my drink!"
No love for the guy in a green shirt in the last song and dance number of Grease? That dude poured his heart and soul into 😂
Some good ones there. I just rewatched “The Fugitive” and I love the reaction of all the attendees in the ballroom near the end when Dr. Kimball interrupts the seminar
I loved when the Scrubs janitor plays the cop. "KIMBLE!!!" Excellent work
My wife was an extra on "Heat of the Night" Thank you, thank you. No autographs please.
I'm currently a extra and my bucket list goal is to be a noteworthy extra to be remembered as the best extra who ever lived idk why but maybe someone watching at home or theater might say " wtf is that guy doing 😂" and be like a easter egg in disney movies.. maybe one day. Good luck to all aspiring actors :)
Missing the extra in Life of Brian
Brian: You are all individuals!
Man: I'm not.
I like Willrow Hood and the ice cream machine more than the stormtrooper. His performance with the unusual prop was so stellar that he eventually became a named character with a backstory in the official Star Wars' canon.
I love the saluting guy. Every time I watch Independence Day I quote along with the speech and then salute with the extra. It's tradition lol
aint no way this man just said p-terodactyls 1:45
Extra Extra, it's marvelous when an extra can make a impact in a scene without the filmmakers noticing.
Did extra work for many years. Got a few good moments. Got to work with everybody. Good experience for the most part.
Margarita man is jimmy buffet, he’s a famous singer who owns a restaurant chain called margaritaville
I mean, he technically IS the margarita man lol
@@Tattooedgaymer true true ahaha
And sang the song.
Is it an all you can eat buffet restaurant?
@@SperoinDeoahahaha unfortunately not 😆
Regarding the storm trooper, I remember Luke's line "I can't see a thing in this helmet". Can't remember if that was before or after the scene in question but next time I watch I'll be sure to pay attention.
Just a heads up the one in Independence Day isn’t a pilot he’s ground crew you can tell by what he’s wearing.
Thank you. Pilots don’t wear cranials.
Beat me to it :-)
I was going to say the same thing.
I had to scroll to make sure I wasn't the only one wo spotted that gaff.
NERD
😂 That Runner, in stripes, in the Avengers: *LEGEND* 😆👏
NOOO!!! What a missed opportunity! Margarita Man was actually Jimmy Buffett! He's drinking those margs at his own restaurant, Margaritaville, named after one of his most popular songs.
Still an extra, not part of the main cast makes him an extra, cameo or not.
@@DrZeuss-cr8jm still a missed opportunity to not point it out tho
@@DrZeuss-cr8jm bro...you've commented this on multiple people jimmy buffet post....are u like his scorned band member he dropped before becoming famous?
@@user-tx5bx3wq4g Do you English good?
@@DrZeuss-cr8jm yep, what did Jimmy do to you?
My favorite extra performance is one of Mark Wahlberg's students in the Happening. When Marky Mark tells another student that he has a perfect face, she makes the most appropriately bewildered WTF expression that is not only perfect in the moment, but also serves as a reflection of the average the Happening viewer throughout the movie.
You missed one. North by Northwest in the ending scene an extra puts his hands over his ears before the gun shot goes off in the cafeteria. This was a classic.
These are good extra performances. That was a bad performance and is in their list labeled as such.
@@jakefollensbee How is a Storm Trooper hitting his head a "good performance"?
I was looking for this comment. It's just so darn famous. That and the guy sweeping the air in a James Bond movie.
@@patrickmccurry1563 Or the guy in the Dark Knight movie ("Rises"?) who gets knocked down by nobody during a fight with Batman.
If we want to talk TV shows instead of movies, Eddie Paskey has to qualify as the top extra of all time. He was in 57 of 79 episodes of the original Star Trek, which is more than some of the main characters (Rand, Sulu, and Chekhov).
Apparently, he liked working on the show so much that he'd skim the scripts as soon as he could get his hands on them to see if they were going to kill off any red shirts in that episode. Then, he'd avoid being around when they filmed those scenes, so he wouldn't get killed off. Eventually, there was an episode where Kirk gave him a direct order, and Shatner named his character Lieutenant Leslie, after his own daughter (Leslie Shatner).
My favorite movie extra is in The Life of Brian. When Brian is on the balcony and implores "We're all different!" random extra guy yells"I'm not..."
I think they had to get him an equity card to keep it in.
such a great film XD
The fact that other people were heard shushing him made it even better.
Ok the big gulp thing is fantastic!!! 🤣😂
The extra in The Last Samurai that got kicked in the junk by a horse and stayed in character deserves a shout out!!! 🐎 🥜😵
Major props that he doesn't even draw attention to it. He soldiers through. I certainly hope that the moment someone yelled cut, someone else immediately went "dude.... you alright?!" That deserves a SAG card right there
I would have NEVER imagined that I needed this in my life but now I know that I was oh so very wrong. So TY!
You forgot the guy in "Being John Malkovich" who throws the beer can from the car and hits Malkovich with it.
Intense Rohirrim extra never fails to make me smile in that scene 🥲
How can you forget the "Hey Malkovich, think fast!" guy?
Looked through the comments specifically for this, was expecting it to be #1!
I could've sworn I was the only one to notice the extra in Avengers. I'm not so thx for that, WhatCulture! Hell of a video
I was an extra in a movie. A friend and I were background in a coffee shop scene. It was a blast.
This was a fun video. Thank you!
Curious as to who else knows the sprinting "woman" from Avengers? 🤣
He's pretty stoked to have made this list.
Yeah, he was my physics TA.
Love him, especially in RHPS...
@@raebee4321 ME TOO!
@@theautisticveteran2466 I've never seen him do it, only pictures.
Never had him for a TA, but I knew him in college. He was a campus celebrity, and possibly a campus legend now he's gone.
My favourite is the woman in Terminator 2. Brilliant reaction shot.
Maybe she likes mechanical things when naked
How about being John Malkovich when the extras hit him with a beer can
Running guy in avangers had me in stitches, like the ONLY person taking this shit seriously 🤣 And Margarita man is a LEGEND, period!
"Aren't you a little tall for a storm trooper?"
*BONK*
#1 Brings new meaning to Leia's line, "Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?" 🤣😂
As much of a star wars fan that I am, the saluting guy from Independence Day will always be the #1 extra to me.
I love how you added the LOTR scene.
I always thought that the extra in Scream was a perfect addition to the seen. Her reaction made the seen more believable to me. Same with the lady running in the Avengers movie!
Best list ever. I couldn't stop laughing the whole time for these classic extra appearances. Keep them coming as always
I'm sorry, but HOW is Monty Python's The Life of Brian's "Biggus Dickus" extra NOT ONLY not #1, but not even on the list?!
Because those extras allegedly weren't acting, but really in hilarious laughter, because they were told it was some "serious historical movie" and they were supposed to be totally serious in this situation.
But, as it turns out, they just couldn't.... I mean WHO COULD?!?!? They were totally unable to "stay in character" - hilarity ensued :D
Just thinking about that scene makes me laugh.
W cause any movie not made by the US doesn’t exist. Typical!
In the movie Dragonheart, when Brother Gilbert is up in the little tree-fort with the other archers, firing his bow.... dude there is an archer behind him who just REALLY loves his job, and it shows, and I love it.
That monologue from Independence Day still stands the test of time. It's still epic and moving!
Exactly! Just ask Coach Finstock
3:50 fun fact: if you talk as an "extra" they have to pay you as an actual actor instead of just a background player. Maybe that's also why she said something.
What about the "I'm not" guy from life of brian (it wasn't scripted he said it so he got more money as he had a speaking role) and the poor sod who got kicked in the knackers by a horse in the last samurai and stayed standing
The word for a happy accident is Serendipity ;)
Very interesting stuff! Cheers