The Unsung Heroes: The Vital Role of Background Artists in TV Production (Full Transcript)

Speaker 1: When I look at the sketches, I really appreciate how much work goes into everything, the writing, the production, and even down to the actors that you get in the background. The actors that you get. The extras, yeah. The extras for support. Everybody's perfect. Do you spend a lot of time working to get the extras just right?

Speaker 2: We do, I mean, we have a really good extras casting person and we try to, because they help create the world, the way you want the world to look. So if you're on a pirate ship, you want extras that are gonna look like craggy old pirates and stuff. And they're amazing. We had a scene this season where we're in a plane that's hitting air pockets and a lot of turbulence and there's like 25 extras and the director's just yelling at all of them. He's like, and up, and they're like up, and then to the left, and to the right. And they were all amazing. It's terrifying. It's terrifying, it looks terrifying, like the right kind of amount of fear. Everything was perfect, they were great. They're called background artists. Background artists, yes. I believe. We're not allowed to say extras anymore. That's derogatory. Yes, yes, yes. It's little people and background artists.

Speaker 3: Yes, yes, got it. As they do that. So it's a very important part of our show. But, you know, without fail, once a week, we get one background artist who just, I guess, is trying to be the law. It's a real artist. It's a real artist. Yeah, yeah, yeah. In every sense of the word. Yeah. And it always seems like there'll be a guy who just has to take it upon himself, this is his moment, he's gonna do something flashy, and he becomes the catalyst for the scene, you know? So, you know, there was one scene where we were signing the Declaration of Independence, and it was a scene about, if I went back in time and dressed like a founding father and protested the Second Amendment before it was signed. And so I come in and nobody knows I'm there, and I go, gentlemen. And then the circle sort of parts. So after the first time we did it, you know, I come in there and I go, gentlemen. And my man next to me, playing John Hancock, talking about.

Speaker 1: And no one's asked him to do that.

Speaker 2: No one has asked him to do that. All of a sudden it became John Hancock's idea to talk to the future guy about not signing the Second Amendment. It's like, buddy, take it easy.

Speaker 3: And it's really weird. I mean, you can see the other background performers just getting so pissed at this guy, you know, for just taking it upon himself to be the catalyst. And the same guy was the guy that was standing next to me, going.

Speaker 2: Into his phone. Into his phone. He was walking near Jordan with his phone. I saw him and took off in the opposite direction as fast as I could. In a sketch? No, no, we were setting up the cameras. It was between sketches. It was between sketches, and he's just going.

Speaker 3: You know when someone's doing something and they want you to ask, what are you doing? Yeah. And he was trying to, he just put the line out there for Jordan. I'm like, don't ask. What are you doing?

Speaker 2: I'm a musician, actually. Here's my CD. Yeah. It's my second time. And you're gonna love it. This song is just something I've been working on lately. Why did I ask? Why did I ask?

Speaker 1: Why ask? Same guy, same guy. Right, priceless guy. You have to ask.