{"id":1005,"date":"1975-04-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1975-04-16T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/dalton\/?p=1005"},"modified":"2020-05-18T11:59:28","modified_gmt":"2020-05-18T15:59:28","slug":"extra-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/dalton\/extra-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Extra Work (1996-2010)"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the reasons I prefer working in New York is that real actors work as extras. \u00a0They are members of the Screen Actors Guild, and many appear regularly on and off Broadway. \u00a0Many have worked their way into speaking parts.<\/p>\n

Sidney Lumet, Director<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

THERE ARE NO SMALL PARTS<\/h3>\n

Sitting on my bed staring into the abyss of what my life has become, I surmise, \u201cThere\u2019s got to be a way.\u00a0 <\/span>Other people do it.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>And like Scarlet O\u2019Hara, I rail at the heavens, \u201cAs God is my witness I will be an actor.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>And then out of desperation I actually get down on my knees, take a deep breath, sigh, and say,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGod, you probably don\u2019t remember me, it\u2019s been a while, but you got to help me.\u00a0 <\/span>I give up.\u00a0 <\/span>I have no idea what to do anymore.\u00a0 <\/span>Please, what should I do?\u00a0 <\/span>Just tell me and I\u2019ll do it.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>And the answer came back,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cExxxxxtraaa woooork.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cExtra work???\u00a0 <\/span>Wait . . . what?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cExxxxxxxxxtraaaaaaa woooooooork!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSeriously?\u00a0 <\/span>That\u2019s not exactly what I had in mind, God.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In my twenties, I attended an open call for Sylvia Fay Casting and she told me in her raspy voice that sounded shredded from years of nicotine abuse, \u201cIf you want to do extra work I can have you working five days a week,\u201d and I said, \u201cThanks so much.\u00a0 <\/span>I\u2019ll keep that in mind.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>But the thought of that was truly horrifying.\u00a0 <\/span>But now almost twenty years later and after doing stand-up comedy for 4 \u00bd years I find myself broke and miserable.\u00a0 <\/span>And turns out being heckled, hit on, almost dying at the hands of a drunk headliner driving back from a gig, or riding the D train home alone at three in the morning with the homeless guys, crack dealers, and ex-cons just isn\u2019t for me. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So, at forty-five years old with no other prospects on the horizon, I ponder.\u00a0 <\/span>To do, or not to do extra work?\u00a0 <\/span>That is the question.\u00a0 <\/span>Whether \u2018tis nobler in the mind to suffer typing memos, and serving canap\u00e9s or to take up arms against a sea of troubles, and work on sound stages, and movie sets throughout the five boroughs. \u00a0 <\/span>So in the winter of 1996, I swallow my pride and send my photo\/resume to every background-casting agency in the city.\u00a0 <\/span>I attend every open call, and faithfully send out postcards once a week, and sure enough, my phone starts to ring.<\/p>\n

One of my first background jobs is a particularly early morning call in the dead of winter for the Mel Gibson film, Conspiracy Theory<\/i>.\u00a0 <\/span>Still pitch black dark outside I sit shivering in holding, which is where they house the background actors when they\u2019re not being used on set, still in my coat and gloves.\u00a0 <\/span>And since I know absolutely no one I\u2019m eavesdropping on a conversation between two actors discussing their SAG insurance benefits. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cExcuse me,\u201d I interrupt, \u201cYou can\u2019t get your insurance from doing extra work can you?\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes, you can.\u00a0 <\/span>We do,\u201d they reply. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At that moment I decide to do extra work whenever, wherever, whatever it takes.\u00a0 <\/span>If a job comes in and I have plans I cancel them and, sure enough, I begin booking lots of jobs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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“In & Out” c. 1998 (I’m on the right.)<\/p><\/div>\n

In 1996 I worked for several weeks, as a core townsperson on the film, In & Out,<\/i> starring Kevin Klein, Joan Cusack, and Tom Selleck.\u00a0 <\/span>On this particular day, we\u2019re shooting in upstate New York somewhere.\u00a0 <\/span>And we\u2019re coming up on golden time.\u00a0 <\/span>Golden time is every extra\u2019s wet dream.\u00a0 <\/span>After 16 hours of work, you receive a day\u2019s pay for each additional hour worked.\u00a0 <\/span>So we\u2019re upstate, and it\u2019s getting really late, and production realizes they need to get us out of here, and back to the city ASAP or we\u2019ll hit golden.\u00a0 <\/span>They immediately wrap us and start frantically yelling, \u201cLet\u2019s go.\u00a0 <\/span>Let\u2019s go.\u00a0 <\/span>Move it.\u00a0 <\/span>Move it.\u00a0 <\/span>Get changed.\u00a0 <\/span>Get on the bus.\u00a0 <\/span>Move it.\u00a0 <\/span>Move it.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>We\u2019re all moving as slowly as possible, as we leisurely change out of wardrobe and back into our street clothes.<\/p>\n

Finally, we\u2019re all on the bus, and our driver, who I\u2019m sure, was told to, is driving like he\u2019s Richard Petty on the speedway.\u00a0 <\/span>And it\u2019s snowing, and we\u2019ll all checking our watches, and it\u2019s a race to see if they can get us back to the city without killing us before we go into golden time.\u00a0 <\/span>It looks like they will, but then miracle of miracles, there\u2019s a traffic jam, and now the bus is stuck behind these cars.\u00a0 <\/span>As the clock nears our golden hour, like it\u2019s New Year\u2019s Eve, the actors begin counting down, \u201c3, 2, 1, golden!\u201d All the extras cheer, whistle, and applaud.\u00a0 <\/span>The stressed out to the max production assistant, whose job it is to make sure we don\u2019t get golden, is so upset she yells,\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cNo way.\u00a0 <\/span>I don\u2019t care.\u00a0 <\/span>You\u2019re not getting golden.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>In my delirium, I yell back, \u201cToo late.\u00a0 <\/span>Time doesn\u2019t go backward.\u00a0 <\/span>It only goes forward.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>Once again the extras erupt into cheers and applause.\u00a0 <\/span>We got it.<\/p>\n

\"\"

The Talented Mr. Ripley c. 1998<\/p><\/div>\n

Turns out extra work is not for the faint of heart.\u00a0 <\/span>I learned the hard way not to work outside in the freezing cold or pouring rain or the dog days of summer because no one will take care of you, but you.\u00a0 <\/span>Animals have more rights than extras on sets. I learned you need to ask casting very specific questions before accepting a job.\u00a0 <\/span>Because it\u2019s not that they lie, well sometimes they do, but many times they withhold information so you\u2019ll accept the job.\u00a0 <\/span>For example, I receive a call from casting asking me, \u201cJill, you have expensive cocktail wear, right?\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGreat.\u00a0 <\/span>You\u2019ll need a very upscale cocktail dress with heels, jewelry, evening bag, and wrap.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have that,\u201d I reply.<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay.\u00a0 <\/span>We\u2019d like to book you on a film this Friday.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>On the surface, this seems like an okay job.\u00a0 <\/span>You think cocktail party.\u00a0 <\/span>This usually means you\u2019ll be working in some plush place inside.\u00a0 <\/span>However, I\u2019ve learned to take nothing at face value.\u00a0 <\/span>Plus he said, \u201cFriday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now here\u2019s the deal with Fridays.\u00a0 <\/span>Fridays are notoriously late, as\u00a0<\/span>TV, and film shoots begin their Monday workday at 6 or 7 a.m. or even earlier so by the time Friday rolls around the call time could be as late as 6 p.m.\u00a0 <\/span>This means most likely you\u2019ll find yourself working all night.\u00a0 <\/span>They\u2019re referred to as Fraterdays or F*#k You Fridays.\u00a0 <\/span>So I ask the casting director,<\/p>\n

\u201cIs this a night shoot?\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To which he replies, \u201cNo, they\u2019re starting at 6 p.m.\u201d<\/p>\n

I follow up my question with, \u201cIs this interior or exterior?\u201d<\/p>\n

And he replies, \u201cYou\u2019ll be running from a burning building.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, I have this image of me running all night long, over and over again, \u201cback to one, back to one,\u201d from a burning building in my once upscale cocktail dress and high heels now tattered and torn.\u00a0 <\/span>And in the mayhem being pushed and shoved, stampeded and trampled by non-union folks wanting to get on camera or hoping for stardom, then finding myself with a broken extremity or two, being laid up in the hospital in traction for several months, so I reply, \u201cThank you so much for thinking of me, but I\u2019m going to have to pass.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

“Primary Colors” c. 1997<\/p><\/div>\n

But no matter what when I accept a job I never show up on set as an extra.\u00a0 <\/span>I always show up as a professional actor and leave my ego at home.\u00a0 <\/span>Unlike some actors I know, I\u2019m not there to be discovered, cause trouble, eat crafty out of house and home, or be a drama queen.\u00a0 <\/span>I\u2019m there to do my job, which is to serve the production in the capacity for which I\u2019ve been hired. \u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve played: doctors, lawyers, detectives, police officers, undercover cops, society ladies, ladies who lunch, lesbians, flight attendants, reservation clerks, rich Republicans, Wall Street broker, Wall Street lawyer, wives, mothers, models, manic depressives, mental patient, rape survivor, pedestrians, nurses, upscale restaurant patrons, art dealer, flower shop owner, fashion designer, dead body, stenographer, pornographer, photographer, non-descript passers-by, reporters, and secretaries to name a few. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Also, TV and film sets are a class system.\u00a0 <\/span>The director is God unless there\u2019s a megastar attached to the project, and then they\u2019re God.\u00a0 <\/span>The stars, for the most part, are pampered and protected.\u00a0 <\/span>The crew is there to serve the director.\u00a0 <\/span>And background is the rank and file.\u00a0 <\/span>Background actors are basically foot soldiers.\u00a0 <\/span>They\u2019re expendable and are usually replaced daily.\u00a0 <\/span>Production\u2019s job is to save money, and many times they do it by cutting corners with background.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

“The Bone Collector” c. 1998<\/p><\/div>\n

However, being on sets 3-5 times a week made me a better actor.\u00a0 <\/span>It gave me practical experience and certainly took the mystery away.\u00a0 <\/span>Film and TV sets can be very high-pressure places and as a principal actor most times you get little to no rehearsal or direction.\u00a0 <\/span>Time is money, and you need to come in totally prepared.\u00a0 <\/span>And because I feel comfortable on sets when I work as a principal actor I\u2019m relaxed enough to do a decent job.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So from 1996-2010 not only do I qualify for my SAG insurance, but I also receive vesting points towards my SAG pension.\u00a0 <\/span>I ended up with sixteen years vested in SAG, which qualified me for a pension when I reached retirement age, which by the way, came faster than I anticipated. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

“Mona Lisa Smith” with Jack McCullough c. 2003<\/p><\/div>\n

I\u2019m not saying you should do extra or stand-in work but if you want to understand how the movie business operates it\u2019s a great way to see it up close and personal.\u00a0 <\/span>My motto:\u00a0 work is work. \u00a0And remember,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There are no small parts, only small paychecks.<\/em><\/p>\n

Jill Dalton<\/p>\n

\"\"

Standing in for Hope Davis on “Deadline” 200-2001<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"

Saturday Night Live c. 1998<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"

“Blind Justice” 2004<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"

Commercial shoot. c. 2000<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"

“L&O: Criminal Intent”. I was a regular in the Squad Room from 2001-2007.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"

Commercial shoot, NYC.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\t\t