Interview: Movie Extra Jeremy Wells

By Rob Christopher in Arts & Entertainment on May 21, 2007 3:29PM

Chicago is just one big set, isn't it? Everywhere we turn these days we see people hamming it up; and no, we're not referring to the shenanigans of our local politicians or the outspokenness of a certain rapper. We're taking about all the movies being shot in Chicago at the moment. Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman's new flick is doing some location work in the Loop, joining the new installment of the Batman franchise with Christian Bale and Heath Ledger.

But there's more to a Hollywood blockbuster than sheer star power. In most cases it also takes a small army of men and women willing to mill around for hours, looking enthusiastic at all times while doing very little. They are the movie extras, people whose job is to blend in seamlessly with the CGI effects that will pasted around them (remember when it was the other way around?)

When he heard that the new Dennis Quaid football movie needed extras, comedy writer Jeremy Wells immediately jumped on board. He's done everything from being a production assistant on the cable show "Mission: Organization" to co-writing Kara Buller Live! at the Cornservatory, but playing a 50's football game spectator was totally unexplored territory. Was a day in the life of a movie extra all he hoped it would be? Find out after the cut.

Chicagoist: How did you hear that they were looking for extras?

Jeremy Wells: Craigslist. Craigslist. Craigslist. Nearly all of the television and movie
jobs I've gotten are from Craiglist. It's the most important website on
the internet next to my own, The Jeremy Show.

C: Have you done extra work before?

JW: No sir.

C: How did you sign up and what did they tell you about the shoot?

JW: I sent them an email via craigslist, and they called me back. They told me what to wear (a suit, with a tie) and that I needed to be there at 5 a.m. They told me that I would be a spectator at a football game. They didn't say how long it would be — it was thirteen hours.

C: Did you know anything about the movie beforehand? Did you do any character preparations?

JW: Nothing. Just that Dennis Quaid was in it. I was curious about his alleged "manorexia." Not making fun of it, just curious. He looks fine, by the way. I didn't do any preparations. But as the day went on I tried to think about my character and how he would be reacting. My only task was to clap and cheer. So I decided that my character was gay and that he didn't really like football, but he was here just to keep up the charade of heterosexuality. So I was overly enthusiastic with my clapping and cheering.

C: Where did you report for work? What happened once you got there?

JW: I reported for work at Ryan Field at Northwestern. I took a cab there and walked around a bit until I found a security guard. I was directed to a large tent. Inside there were others dressed like me. I sat alone for about a half hour and then went to smoke outside and then came back in. A lot of waiting around. They served a gross breakfast, and then we waited around more. We didn't actually start shooting until three or four hours after I arrived. Girls had to get makeup and costumes on, guys had to have their hair cut.

C: Tell us what happened during the evening.

JW: Basically, we were sitting in the bleachers the whole day and evening cheering and shouting for an imaginary football game. We did do a couple scenes where Dennis Quaid was cheering on his team. We did those probably ten times each, with long pauses between. There was a break for a gross lunch/dinner and then more of the same.

C: Any good anecdotes?

JW: Not really. It was a very surreal experience. Clapping and cheering in the cold for eight hours. The turning point was realizing that I could take a break if I wanted to and leave the bleachers and try to get warm by one small space heater that others were huddled around beneath the bleachers. I would alternate between doing that and then going back up to be in the movie again. Then someone discovered that there was a "roach coach" parked outside the gates of the field that had coffee. That was the best part, running to get that coffee like my life depended on it.

C: What other sorts of other people were there as extras?

JW: All kinds. There were two women that I think may have stumbled into the shoot without signing in or getting costume or hair done. They looked homeless. That was a little weird. But like I said, the whole day was very surreal. I started to feel like I couldn't leave and it would never end. It started to get very Stockholm Syndrome-esque.

C: Any other star sightings? What was that like?

JW: Dennis Quaid. By that time it was so cold and so weird that it could have been the Queen of England, and I just would have wanted more coffee.

C: Did you get paid on the spot?

JW: No. About two weeks later.

C: Would you do it again?

JW: Absolutely not. But I'm a pussy. Others might enjoy it.