Throughout my career people have encouraged me to seek out opportunities for background acting, or ‘extras’ work. In the past have dismissed this suggestion due to my personal career goals in New York, but while I’ve been in Sydney I decided to give it a red hot go!
Over the last six months I have been working with a talent agency here in Australia and have been occasionally appearing on television shows and commercials as a background actor. While this isn’t necessarily challenging my craftsmanship, it does allow me to be on a production set. I look at every day on set as another opportunity to learn. Even if I am just sitting at a cafe table with my back to the camera, I can learn about how the set runs. I am able to watch the actors, note how they are making adjustments or responding to direction. Every day I learn something new, meet a lot of interesting characters (on and off camera), and I’m reminded why I love this crazy business after all!
If you’re watching Australian soap operas, comedies, or commercials, keep an eye out! You may just see my wild curly hair lurking in the background!