Psych set visit: The extras (part 6)

(Check out our set visit and Maggie Lawson, Timothy Omundson, Dulé Hill, and James Roday interviews)

The next best thing about getting to interview consulting producers, stars, and writers is talking to the guys behind the scenes. Ever since Ricky Gervais brought Extras to the little screen, I’ve found myself even more interested in the people who seemingly serve as human backgrounds. Are they fledgling actors waiting to get noticed? Are they biting their nails hoping for a peek at superstardom? From the two I interviewed — Michele, an up-and-coming Canadian producer, and Peter, a former managing consultant turned extra — the answer is no, far from it in fact.

Over two years ago, Michele, a dedicated film lover, started Zento Productions with her sister. They developed the 11-minute comedic short film, Memoirs of the Last Samurai’s Geisha, which received third prize at the Annual Mighty Asian Moviemaking Marathon in 2008 and served as an official selection at the DisOrient Asian American Film Festival in Oregon and the Annual DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival in 2009. After listening to James Roday detail his love of film, I’m partially surprised the two haven’t had a miniature discussion. Ironically enough, the film centers around an extra mistaken for a geisha. So, why does Michele serve as an extra in between discussing her own films with her core production team? Honestly? Because, like Roday, she really loves film. Even when she isn’t working on her own, she enjoys participating in the process. Her main thoughts on Psych? She found it an enjoyable, relaxed set. Her main thoughts on continuing filmmaking? She enjoys meeting great people.

Peter gave me the same feeling as C. Thomas Howell. After ten years he’s a grizzled acting veteran and his identity isn’t hinged on “making it.” At the end of the day, like Tim Omundson, it’s a job. And, that’s a good thing. He shifted to acting from business management and loves every second. Although he doesn’t do theatre while realistically acknowledging its financial limitations (note: my local theatre only paid its White Christmas female leads around $836/month), he is having fun and most recently served as an extra on the A-Team. With all of the re-boots, re-makes, and re-constructions, I initially thought he meant the 1980s A-Team. I absolutely forgot about the June 2010 release which used Vancouver as its production location. He also served as an extra on USA’s Facing Kate (now called Fairly Legal and slated for a January 20^th release). Regarding the Psych set, Peter called it great. He felt that everyone got along, said everyone had a great sense of humor, called them fun to be around, and viewed the actors as engaging.

I received permission to talk to the extras from the USA/Psych team. And, although they, like C. Thomas Howell (another interview I still have on tap) weren’t prepped, they had nothing but positive things to say about the set. For the five minutes I grilled them between set takes, I enjoyed Michele’s filmic energy and Peter’s grizzled candidness. Both served as background actors for the summer mid-season finale which aired in September. After watching Extras, and loving the allegedly “candid moments” of Orlando Bloom and Daniel Radcliffe, I secretly hoped to hear Nestor Carbonell pulled a mac daddy on the craft services mistress or that Freddie Prinze Jr. rocked ab work between takes, but honestly, after walking around various sets for what felt like 24 hours (but was truly 8-10 hours), I myself have nothing but positive things to say. So, it’s no surprise that the people who spend slightly more time on set in the “background” would have the same opinion.

Between Haven, The A-Team, Fairly Legal, and Psych, more American film companies are shifting to Canada. While it’s great for the Canadian local economy and local actors, most of the main actors are those they already cast in LA\NYC. But, either way, even if we don’t see fabulous actors such as Megan Follows (yes, I still crush on her) and Lucas Bryant in the front lines it brings us awesome people like Michele and Peter in the back.

Clacked by An Nicholson
on Jan 02, 2011 @ 14:12 EST5EDT