I’ll get right to it… here are things I didn’t expect on set at my first commercial shoot as a background actor:

1. It wasn’t nearly as background as I thought it would be
2. It was incredibly fun
3. I got to meet some amazing people and build new relationships
4. The food was way better than expected

Listen, I have no illusions that I’m about to become a big movie star 😆 and, to be honest, I’m not sure I’d want to be. But, when my brother suggested I try out of background work in a local TV show I actually entertained the idea. From there, new doors started opening and I thought, “Why not try some cool new stuff? Life’s short, after all.”

Which brings me to a few applications, one filmed audition, some voice acting auditions, and my first commercial campaign as a background actor.

My first commercial shoot wasn’t nearly as “background” as I thought it would be

The email went something like this: “You’ve been selected to participate as background for this commercial campaign are you available?”

So, here I am thinking that I’ll be standing on a sidewalk as the principal actors walk by, or that I might be in the distance sitting at a table sipping a coffee – you know, the stuff you usually picture as background work.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was in on the action!

Although my role wasn’t the focal point of anything, I got to actively participate in building an important atmosphere for the scene.

(I’m the blurry fiddler! lol)

My first time acting in a commercial campaign was incredibly fun

From getting to hang out with everyone else before our scene to shooting the scene itself, I had a blast. We laughed a lot, shared stories, and really got into the overall atmosphere of our “kitchen party” scene.

Now, I can’t say the mood would have been entirely the same if it had been a different type of commercial (for example, something sad). BUT, I am definitely glad that this is where I started!

I got to meet some amazing people on set and build new relationships

Meeting new people can be hard, especially when you tend to work from home a lot of the time. The opportunity to get to sit and chat with other actors and crew members was extremely refreshing for me. It turned out that I had actually met one of the other actors when I photobombed her filming something a month earlier 😅 We laughed about that one. (Yes, I love photobombing people and you would be shocked how many people invite me into their family photos.)

The food on set was way better than expected

Look, we’ve all heard about the craft services tables on movie sets and stuff. What I did not expect was that there would be such a glorious table when filming a commercial project!

Overall, I felt very cared for every step of the way. From the communications with casting directors, to the atmosphere created by the filming director (who was probably hot and tired after such a long day but managed to stay upbeat and make everyone feel at ease), to the kindness of everyone else on set.

…

Will there be more acting in the future? Probably not 😆 It was really fun but I realize my body (health) isn’t built for schedules, especially ones where performance is required. I won’t say never because it was so much fun but probably not.

I prefer a lot of the behind the camera tasks anyway 😉