Did TV used to have more speaking roles for extras?

Submitted by warrenseth t3_zloll4 in television

I'm rewatching Fringe, and it feels so weird how many small, tiny roles there are. An episode starts with demolition workers rigging a building, but then finding a hidden room with a little boy in it. The episode goes on without them, but they had a whole scene together, without any of the main cast!

And it feels like there used to be more of this. Monster of the week episodes with full cast of smaller actors, talking extras. Nowadays it seems like all you see are ensemble casts and NOONE ELSE.

I know there are still police procedurals on network TV that still do this, but why did this change? These small roles however small always feel like they're expanding the world, making it more believable. Did something change with actors unions, wages, fees, or something? Or am I just completely wrong and nothing changed, it's just me who watches other shows?

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Benjamin_Grimm t1_j06cdoi wrote

Covid resulted in trying to keep casts as small as possible to limit exposure. It's had a very noticeable effect on the shows shot since.

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methodwriter85 t1_j08w58l wrote

I remember watching Cruel Summer and it was really noticeable, especially the mall scenes (which was supposed to be a busy mall in 1990's Texas) and the 4th of July celebration scenes. You could really see the lack of people.

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TruthFlavor t1_j06fflk wrote

There's a distinction between 'Extras' and ' Day players'. Extra's are paid a certain amount and are not entitled to further payments [ eg: for international sales or syndication ] .

Day players, who say one line [" One steak, coming right up! " ] or have a scripted piece of action with a main character [ An old girlfriend walking hand in hand with a main character, in a brief flashback] do get residual payments..this is less popular with broadcasters and streamers as it costs money and admin. Whether or not that effects productions...I don't know.

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DancingOnACounter t1_j09rrix wrote

Do you work in the entertainment? How'd you learn all the different levels of an actor?

I work in advertising and our definition of an Extra is different then that of film/tv.

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TruthFlavor t1_j0atqck wrote

I shoot 'behind the scenes' material for TV shows, and one thing I hear quite frequently in the production office are 'Extra's' trying to bump their pay level up to 'day player' . " The director said as they bring in the birthday cake that I should step out of the way to let [ Named actor] pass.. so that's scripted piece of action !! ".

I don't blame them, it can quadruple your wages. Production staff tend to be very aware of the rules and what is a legitimate claim.

I am unaware of the commercial rules, other than they used to like to pay actors huge buy out fees , to cover international and future use.

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DoomGoober t1_j0amaql wrote

You prolly never got residuals from ads, right? That explains a lot of the difference.

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DancingOnACounter t1_j0ap6i6 wrote

Extras do not get residuals in ads even if they’re SAG members.

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DoomGoober t1_j0bw9xv wrote

I was genuinely asking a question if you got residuals for ads, but based on your answer...

Sweet Jesus, SAG members get residuals for ads? Damn, that's awesome (I basically never did any ads under union.)

So then do SAG members get residuals if they are extras in non-advertisement work?

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ArchDucky t1_j07twhm wrote

On The Office, Creed was an extra. He didn't have a speaking role at first. He was just supposed to be someone in the background. The original plan was that they would have two of these people and then Michael would fire one of them. They wanted to actually see both actors in the background before that episode as a cool little easter egg for the fans. As the firing episode grew closer, the director walked up to Mindy and Creed and said "I think we need a line of dialog here" and Creed immediately responded "I'll do it." Mindy shot him a look because hes not supposed to talk but didn't say anything to the director. They shot it and it ended up in the episode. This is the reason why Creed never got fired.

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listyraesder t1_j084pgg wrote

By definition, extras never have lines.

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Pineapple996 t1_j091jlu wrote

They definitely can have dialogue. Sounds like OP is referring to actual actors that just had really small parts though.

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aw-un t1_j0aazr7 wrote

No, they can’t.

Once you get dialogue, you are no longer an extra, you are a principal actor

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Pineapple996 t1_j0b7hue wrote

Not true, at least in the UK. You can be hired as an extra and then be given a supplementary fee if you are given some dialogue. Then you are considered a featured extra but still won't have your name in the credits.

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bent_my_wookie t1_j0au15l wrote

They can’t, even in scenes with lots of extras talking like at a party. Even the murmuring is dubbed because of industry rules about the definition of “extra”.

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Pineapple996 t1_j0b8v9p wrote

In the UK they can. They would just be given a supplementary fee and called a featured extra. They don't have to be credited for having dialogue.

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bent_my_wookie t1_j0c4xqc wrote

So are these rules by country or industry or just by whatever collection of companies decide on their projects? I'm interested an I don't know why.

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Pineapple996 t1_j0crf2z wrote

In the UK It depends on what union agreement the company uses for their project. Have a look here. I have no idea what the differences are in other countries though.

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WeDriftEternal t1_j073bmn wrote

>I'm rewatching Fringe, and it feels so weird how many small, tiny roles there are

They even got Eric the Actor

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kevindurant t1_j07o9we wrote

Just depends on the show. I think the Star Wars Andor show from this year kind of fits what you're talking about. Plenty of speaking parts for characters that just feel like part of the world.

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IRMacGuyver t1_j0an5he wrote

If you are an extra you can't have a speaking role. It's a basic definition of what an extra is.

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awildyetti t1_j094xof wrote

Depends on the type of the show. The term started largely with X-Files but “monsters of the week” type series where most episodes can be played as a stand-alone even if some or most have an impact on a greater story. So those types of shows have many more individuals around for a single use episode only instead of a dedicated right short one season story.

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kittentarentino t1_j09p5y8 wrote

why pay more when people who already have lines do trick?

That's basically the gist. Extra vs Co-star is really just the difference between line and no line, but operate at very different pay rates, and even are hired through different companies.

featured extras/ day-players have no lines but some focused camera time, still pretty cheap. they make more on the backend.

co-stars in the union could cost almost 1k for a day, whereas extras make about $100. If you're penny pinching, what would you avoid?

also, small fun fact, the dream is to be an extra plucked from obscurity and given a line to say, which starts a career or whatever.....that almost never happens. usually a co-star that auditioned to say that one line.

source: I've driven 40 minutes to say 1 line many times.

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smileymn t1_j09e7vt wrote

I like in Xfiles if you pay close enough attention you start to see a handful of actors play new roles season to season, to fill out a character who only is in one episode. The doctor becomes the cop becomes the scientist, etc…

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therlwl t1_j07om2i wrote

Episode count

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[deleted] t1_j083hms wrote

[deleted]

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therlwl t1_j08fm3m wrote

No, the more episodes the more likely the wider cast, the more speaking roles. Network television with the budget/22 to 24 episodes has a greater ability to have many more present characters.

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