We started covering the topic in the Minka Kelly thread, but to avoid derailing it anymore than I already have (sorry about that guys lol) I figured I could just move those stories into this thread and continue expanding and adding as they come to me. Everything posted in the Minka thread I've added below under the first spoiler. I guess I didn't anticipate this many people being such fans of the show because it was horribly slept on.. Spoiler I was one of the lucky few that was a "premiere extra" meaning I was a part of the football team and football players and cheerleaders constantly got booked for scenes through out the entire shooting season, where as 80% of the extras used were "day players" and usually would just work that day for a quick check and they'd just keep the revolving door going with people. But being a premiere extra was awesome in the sense that all of the main characters got to know you and you'd be seeing these people several times a week for 3 months. So you'd have ample opportunity to get to know these people for all of their awesome and ****ty traits. Spoiler The lady who ran the casting company behind FNL was Beth Sepko. Called her and got in her good graces maybe 4 months before moving to San Marcos. Spoke just enough I felt I had my foot in the door enough when she slid me her personal e-mail, I slid her headshots and a non existent resume and never heard back from her. Fast forward 3 months and one of Beth's assistants gave me a call asking if I could be in Austin and start as a premiere extra the following week, so I moved a lil early and lived in hotels for about 2 weeks until my SM lease started. Awesome, awesome job though. You'd get your schedule at the end of every week and you would work anywhere from 2-4 days for 2-6 hours for $80 checks/day on non-dress up shoots (any scene you don't wear a jersey) but ANY day we wear a jersey, no matter if it's a pep rally, locker room, practice, you get $170 for the day. On nights we shot games, you'd still get $170, but you're guaranteed nothing less than 12 hour days. So those were really the only days everyone felt hassled. (shooting a rain game was one of the top 10 worse nights of my life lol) But overall, I owe a lot of where I am now to FNL because you meet SO many people in the game whether their upcoming writers, directors, actors, producers, musicians, etc. So I was able to network the **** out of that opportunity. (Not to mention it was a GREAT way to meet girls for being someone new to a city) You can see me quite a bit through out 3rd season if you know where to look Spoiler The Masturbator Spoiler Funny Story I forget which episode (in season 3).. but you know the game where Coach Taylor got kicked out and ejected and had to leave the game??? During that very game, production got held up because some impatient moron extra couldn't wait to get home and got arrested for jacking off in the parking lot during filming. SMH.... So... Next time you go through the season... And you see that episode... Just know... as Coach was being kicked out.... there was illegal shaft stroking going on somewhere a mere 200 yards from the action. Just want to cement that mental image... for every... single... viewing......... Many more to come
I tried to time my workouts a few times at Hyde Park Gym to get on the show, but it never worked out (I was too ripped for a high school kid anyway per Minka). My buddy allegedly got on in a background shot, but I never saw it -- I didn't ever watch the show though so who knows.
How was the football game scenes shot? Did the actors really do play football in those scenes or do they have stunt doubles? Sorry if its a dumb question. I always wondered about that.
Back in b-school I lived next door to Aimee Teagarden (Julie) off South Congress. She was pretty young then and lived with her mom. Jesse Plemons (Landry) lived on the 3rd floor of my building. Nice dude, and one of the few actual Texans on the cast.
Oh that's awesome! I didn't even know Aimee was from ATX. Was she into acting back then too?? A few times Jesse mentioned trying to get a poker game going with some of the extras but all of the lead actors sort of get lost in the fray once everyone wraps up for the day. Not at all a dumb question. Pretty much everyone assumed that first day. The way that runs is: depending on the shooting schedule, the stars (called the "A team" would only be out there on the field for specific shots that included close ups, huddles or shots where you could make out the person behind the helmet. But those shots never consisted of live action plays as they would then sub in and film those with the "B team". The B team consisted of college players that no longer played due to injuries or other reasons, some were arena football players, they even had a couple no name pros that rode the bench their careers. The B-team shots were def the more timely of the process. Majority of the time, they'd knock out all of the close up shots with the players on the field, sometimes certain actors reactions or dialogue in the stands. Then they'd get all of the couches reactions, dialogue, etc. THAT was when all of the extras tried their best to shimmy their way behind coaches or w/e the camera was pointing for potential face time. It was like crabs trying to get out of a bucket. Next they'd set up all cameras on one side of the field, get every B-Team player and shoot every play needed. Which took anywhere from 2-3 hours. Then they'd take the cameras to the opposite side and other angles and shoot the exact same scenes. So depending on what side they were shooting on we'd either have to act overtly enthusiastic for 2-3 hours straight, or have 2-3 hours of downtime. We'd get there at 5pm... they'd be about done setting up blocking (or placement) on the field around 6, and filming would start as soon as nightfall settled. And we'd be lucky to get off of the field by 4am. Majority of the time getting on the road and home just as the sun was coming up. Game days were rough because of the time needed to be there, be active for large windows of time and with SO many mouths to feed, we were 9 times out of 10 fed prison food* lol. They'd shove everyone into this huge circus tent for "lunch break" with a long line of slop, and if you lallygagged around enough then you wouldn't even have THAT to eat and you'd be forced to dine off of granola bars. *BUT.. Non-game scenes like class room, hallway, strip club, ect scenes - we dined like KINGS. They'd bust out some quail and asparagus one day, cordon blue another. Damn good eating. But what sucked is, despite FNL having its grassroot cult following, NBC continued to cut back on the budget season after season. So during the first season, game days was thanksgiving meals and smaller days they were serving up lobster!! hahaha I can't imagine what they had to feed them during the 5th
Was their any possible hint that Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton were having an affair? The main producer mentioned in an interview that their off screen chemistry was so natural and strong, he was convinced they were having one.
Guys like you are annoying. Stars are stars for a reason and extra's are extra's. Be thankful for the opportunity instead of using it to exploit their popularity by becoming a gossiping housewife. That's probably the only role you wouldn't be an extra for. Know your role, and shut your mouth.
A self-aggrandizing poster like yourself shouldn't be envious of the op. His stories from behind-the-scenes are really interesting.
I'm envious of an extra who talks about an actor being caught masturbating? Whatever helps you feel better about yourself. If he wants to talk about himself or his experiences that's fine, but turning into TMZ and leaking off all this personal info he got being an extra in the cast is lame.
Exactly. You don't have to be a pretentious prick, either. I only took the time to type these stories because people were curious to read. What's TMZ about it?? McCoy humping the table?? No **** I'm going to be willing to share that. It's not like I was peeking my nose into his business and caught him. He peeked his crotch into ours when he was humping our dinner table. IMO That's making your bed and laying in it. Same with Saracen firing someone trying to pay his bills over nothing. Everything else was mere harmless observations that some people wanted to hear about. What does it matter??? It's not like I'm tweeting to the world that the married actress sitting beside me on a plane is trying to make a move on me (see melissa stetten) I'm sharing stories giving an inside view on something that millions view from the outside. It's just a different perspective on something. If you don't like it, get the hell out and stop reading. Lol A hip hop site called Coli and they have a ridiculous thread making random ass smilies using random celebs and everyone there uses them. I'll pop in every now and then and find myself rolling the way they use them to express haha so I figured I'd try to get a similar smiley movement going on over here. Haha I have no clue, but I really doubt it ......Then again, Hollywood is scandalous so who knows
Paragraphs rambling about your judgments of talented people who don't know your name. You might view being an extra as a cool chance to be in a social situation paralleling high school and try to score some stank p***y but believe it or not, others around you view performing as an art. And when you're playing a character or creating art, it's not about being everyone's best friend. It's not about going out of your way to relate to everyone. It's about the end product, because at the end of the day, this is work for some people. Have some respect for the real artists out there. It speaks volumes about you as a groupie and hollow human being, instead of someone who hopes to be more than an extra one day. Obviously the nerds here aren't going to get that, but don't take it personally.
