11 Celebrities That Got Started As Extras!
Stepping onto a film set can not only open the door to a wealth of opportunity, but also ignite a love of film that – in many cases – lasts a lifetime.
Did you know that this is also often the case for many of our favourite household names?
We thought we’d take a look at 11 very familiar faces that kickstarted their careers in Film & TV as Background Artistes before working their way right on up to A-list status…
How Many of these Celebrities Did You Know Began as an Extra?
1. Renée Zellweger
Before she was telling Jerry Maguire that he had her at “Hello” or was turning heads in Bridget Jones’s Baby, Zellweger can be seen as an Extra in the coming-of-age comedy Dazed and Confused (1993).
Among an ensemble cast of other famous actors including Adam Goldberg, Matthew McConaughey and Ben Affleck, Zellweger appears in a couple scenes as a wild high school student.
2. Daniel Day-Lewis
Before getting internationally recognised in Stephen Frears’ My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) and Merchant Ivory’s A Room with a View (1985), Day-Lewis played a child vandal in Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971) – a drama about a young, bisexual artist and his infidelities.
…Shortly afterwards Day-Lewis also scored a minor role in Ghandi (1982).
3. Regé-Jean Page
Page may have stolen our hearts as the handsome Duke of Hastings in the Netflix’s Bridgerton (2020) but, like many great British actors, he also appeared in the beloved Harry Potter film franchise.
In The Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Page can be seen standing behind Emma Watson as a guest at Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour’s wedding.
UVE provided extras for The Deathly Hallows: Part 2!
4. Channing Tatum
Tatum worked many jobs before gaining prominence as an actor. These include performing as a dancer in a music video for Ricky Martin’s “She Bangs” and working as a stripper, an experience upon which the 2012 film Magic Mike is loosely based.
One production you may not know Tatum was involved with, however, is War of the Worlds (2005), where you can just about spot him running behind Tom Cruise as Aliens attack a church.
Uni-versal Extras provided casting support for 2011’s The Eagle.
5. Marilyn Monroe
When we think of ‘Celebrity Extras’, they don’t get much bigger than Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe. Monroe was just 22 when she was signed to 20th Century Fox as a contract player.
This gained her a role as Betty in Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay! (1948) where she has one line saying “Hi, Rad” before swiftly walking off screen. Can you spot the young Marilyn in her blue pinafore walking down the church steps?
6. Bruce Willis
For all you Die Hard fans out there, did you know that Bruce Willis played an Extra in films like The First Deadly Sin (1980) and The Verdict (1981) in the early 80s?
Before his John-McClane-days, you may be able to spot Willis watching on with intrigue in this courtroom scene!
UVE provided extras for Red 2!
7. Sofia Coppola
You might know that Hollywood film director Sofia Coppola featured in the third Godfather film (1990) as Michael Corleone’s daughter, but did you know that her father, Francis Ford Coppola, also cast her as the baby (Michael Francis Rizzi) in the famous Baptism scene in the first Godfather film?
She also played an immigrant child just two years later in the second Godfather (1974).
Coppola’s talents were soon made clear elsewhere in the industry as she went on to direct iconic films such as The Virgin Suicides (1999) and Lost in Translation (2003).
8. Leonardo DiCaprio
Oscar-winning actor known for Titanic (1997), Inception (2010), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), Leonardo Dicaprio, made his film debut in Critters 3 (1991) when he was seventeen but – even before then – you will be able to spot him as an Extra in the TV series Roseanne.
See if you can you track him down as one of Darlene’s classmates!
9. Sylvester Stallone
Before he was throwing punches as Rocky Balboa or showing his combat skills as John Rambo, Stallone was an uncredited ‘subway mugger’ in Woody Allen’s 1971 film Bananas.
As the story goes, Allen was going to send Stallone back to the casting agency believing he did not look tough enough to play the role, until Stallone made him change his mind.
10. Jackie Chan
A big fan of Bruce Lee and his films, the young Jackie Chan appeared as both an Extra and as a stunt double in Lee’s Fist of Fury (1972), and then later appeared again in Lee’s Enter the Dragon (1973).
He was also an Extra as a child in the film Big and Little Wong Tin Bar (1962). Eventually, this work history lead to Chan becoming the talented Kung-Fu film star we all know and love today.
11. Jesy Nelson
As it turns out, Jesy Nelson has been making an appearance on our screens far before she made it onto our radar as 1 quarter of girlband Little Mix!
Prior to her X-factor fame, Jesy Nelson also had a passion for the movies and can be seen not only at the Yule Ball in Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire (2005), but also as part of the school audience in About A Boy with Hugh Grant and Nick Hoult!
🤓 FUN FACT
Before joining the team at UVE, 2 of our very own Casting Agents both dabbled in Extra work!
You can spot UVE’s Chris and Sophie appearing in many things including: My Mad Fat Diary, Sex Education, Fantastic Beasts 2, Sherlock, The Nutcracker, Doctor Who and Eddie the Eagle!
Head back to the UVE blog for even more fun, Film & TV content?