While watching reruns of the primetime Australian TV drama, Winners and Losers one evening, engulfed in the juicy storylines and characters, a thought struck me, ‘how did TV extras get their roles? What did the process look like? How were they accepted or rejected for TV?’
The TV world can sometimes seem like an exclusive elite club. I wanted to find out if this inaccessibility was a reality, so I dared myself. I applied with a casting agency.
It wasn’t too long before I started receiving casting calls and soon enough, I was getting roles as a TV extra. I got cast as a nurse on a medical drama, an injury claimant in a law firm advertisement and a passenger in a domestic airline commercial, among other roles.
Being a TV extra can be anything from exciting and thrilling to repetitive and wearisome.
Otherwise known as, “supporting artistes,” “background actors,” or “atmosphere” in the industry, or as “walking background” and “human props” by extras themselves, being a TV extra can be anything from exciting and thrilling to repetitive and wearisome. But more importantly, what it can also be, for some of us, is quite the achievement.
Being featured as an extra on television as a person of colour felt like I’d arrived, like I’d made it. I couldn’t believe I’d broken through this intense media barrier and gotten into spaces where it can often feel like minorities need not even dare explore.
But there I was, a young African girl, putting myself out there and saying yes to calls, roles and opportunities, and getting accepted for the same.
When I broke the news to a group of friends at a house party that I’d been “promoted” and bumped up to a speaking role on another advertisement, the reactions were mixed. Many were excited, others were in disbelief, and one older gentleman, black himself, pulled me aside, told me not to get ahead of myself, and to realise that there was no way “they” would allow a black person to be visibly seen and heard on TV.
Apparently, the way it worked, he said, is that people of colour were always blurred out. I was astounded. But this man had lived in Australia for over 23 years, so I figured he knew what he was talking about, I didn’t debate him.
When the commercial was finally released, there I was, front and centre, visible and heard. My friend called and said, “Wow, I guess you did it. I guess you’re the different one, you proved us wrong.” I could only smile at the other end of the phone call.
But he wasn’t done yet. He also said, “Thank you for representing us. We can feel so alone otherwise, when we rarely see people who look like us on TV. Thank you for reminding us that we exist.”
That’s what happens when you’re a minority in spaces like media and TV, you stand out. It’s a fact that’s pointless to fight, the better strategy is to embrace this difference.
I smiled some more.
That’s what happens when you’re a minority in spaces like media and TV, you stand out. It’s a fact that’s pointless to fight, the better strategy is to embrace this difference.
Whenever I went to more casting calls, anxious and nervous because I never quite knew what the job of the day would be like, I’d compose myself, and tell myself that at the very least, I could meet new, interesting people.
Sometimes, these interesting people would be the three or four of Hispanic, Asian, Latino or Middle Eastern descent, in a casting call of around 80 TV extras. When we would lock eyes, we would give each other an almost involuntary nod and smile, these gestures were a brotherhood and sisterhood acknowledgement of some kind, that we’d slightly made it, somehow. We’d finally made our entry into the big, tough, world of television.
On set, when another person of colour had been selected for a speaking role, the pride I felt for them was instant and palpable. It would be a special kind of satisfaction to know that one extra for example, with her dark skin (black) and exotic hair (braids) and way of speaking (accent), was just as good enough to be on TV; to be seen and to be heard.
And to be a representation and reminder to people of all kinds, creeds and colour, that they too, can take up spaces in their places of passion and interest. That they too, can achieve something like this. That they are not alone.
