I may not live in New York or L.A., but I do have actor friends. Well, one actor friend.
My friend John is a bona fide thespian who acts at night and works to protect pandas during the day. Currently, he can be seen in the Washington Post-hailed Arabian Nights (although I think that may have just ended).
Anyway, John (seen at right, nestled in a bosom) recently took part in the filming of an episode of TiFaux favorite The Wire. He was an extra. That still counts, though.
I did an interview with him about his experience and this is what he said. And by “said,” I mean “e-mailed back to me.”
(Photo courtesy of C. Stanley Photography)
First things first, how much did you get paid?
I don’t have my paystub on me so I can’t give the exact amount, but I made slightly more than I would have had I gone in that morning to my temp job. I got paid a little extra for letting them use my car in one shot, which tipped me over the “It Beats Temping” threshhold.
What was your role on The Wire?
I played a pair of exciting and challenging roles: “Guy crossing the street” and “Guy pulling his wheeled luggage across the hotel lobby”. I performed them wordlessly, because I think there’s much more power in silence, and words are, ultimately, useless as a means of communication.
Did anything weird happen?
Another silent actor, who got the role “Homeless black guy” that I had initially auditioned for — I was told it was ‘in the bag,’ and I had spent days researching the character, interviewing homeless people, etc — was nearly escorted off the set until they realized he was actually another extra (sorry, I meant “non-featured silent actor”). Had I gotten the part, I’d've been so fucking In The Moment that I’d've gotten completely booted off. I would have sealed that deal. It’s their loss. I was so dissapointed that I don’t even put “The Wire” on my resumé.
You are a trained, professional actor. Do you have any Inside the Actor’s Studio-type reflections on your experience?
I truly believe that ensemble non-featured silent acting is where the future of the theatre lies. After the success of our group improvs of “Crossing the Street” and “Checking into a Hotel” performed in an artistically stimulating counterpoint to traditional stifling bourgeois practice of memorizing lines and creating characters, I then went on to create a series of solo non-featured silent performance pieces in a ‘found space’ known as “My Apartment,” where I would perform a repertory of pieces I called “Surfing the Internet” and “Watching Doctor Who Re-runs.” Nelson Pressley of the Washington Post raved, but ultimately the review he wrote was shelved due to the pressure of a cabal of fascist traditionalists (Shakespeare Theatre, you know who you are…).
Now that you’re famous, how often do you get stopped on the street and do you just “want to live like a normal person”?
I feel I’ve transcended the whole “non-featured silent actor” oeuvre; my work speaks for itself, and I am ready for new challenges, so I stopped temping and took a full-time job. My public understands and respects this choice, and thus far have upheld my desire to be treated no differently from the wage slaves that they are. I am at one with my peeps.
