Background actor extras – When to start? Anytime is a good time! As it’s probably not going to be a full-time paying job – unless you go professional, – (such as being a card-carrying SAG/Aftra member which gives you more pay for what you do) – but IF you have the free time to devote to being a background actor, by all means, acting can be a fun experience!
Just don’t plan to get rich on the minimum wage the background actor jobs for movies or TV shows pay (in Tennessee we usually get $8.00 per hour and most times a guarantee of 8 hours pay), with overtime (time and a half) paid for any time over eight hours. In neighboring Kentucky I have seen background actor jobs listed for $7.25 per hour (that state’s minimum wage).
Since we are retired, we have the freedom to put in to work acting jobs at our leisure, and have sometimes worked several weeks (maybe 1 day each week) or several days in a row on one project or another as a background actor.
This is not something you can do while you hold a full-time job elsewhere – unless you have days off you can take when you want to go and be a background actor. Most time requirements for these acting jobs will tell you that you ‘must be available all day’, and not just specific parts of a day.
Fill up your days upon retirement from your normal job? Sure you can if you want to get into acting and want to be a background actor. It seems we are seeing more acting jobs being advertised around town these days, with word of possibly even more to come soon.
More later on…
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Photos in ‘holding’ at Nashville TV Show while waiting to go ‘on set’ as background actor.
NancyG43blog 
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