Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Odd Careers- Movie Extras (Entry 4 of 6)

 My friend Gary Frink of Luray, Va., has the rare distinction of running for Congress, once a Democrat and later as a Republican, in his native Michigan. Alas, he lost both times.

But, Frink was spotted in Richmond around the state capitol in 1999 by film director Rod Lurie who was looking for extras to be members of Congress in his film "The Contender" (2000), which was being filmed in Richmond. It starred Jeff Bridges, Joan Allen, Gary Oldman and Christian Slater.

Frink later went on to extra work for "Traffic," "Along Came a Spider" and "Hearts in Atlantis." Most recently Frink was featured in the comedy hit "Evan Almighty," which was filmed around Charlottesville, Va.

And, apparently, though Frink has other gigs, there are indeed people who make a living at it.

I was reminded of this when I spotted the following ad in the May 14th issue of "Independent Weekly," an alternative weekly paper in the Raleigh-Durham, NC, area:

Movie Extras: Up to $200/day. All looks needed to work with film and TV production companies. No experience required. Please call................

With my luck, I'd probably end up in a film like "Howard the Duck!"

Useful Links:

http://www.indyweek.com

 

No comments: