An Actor’s Dream and Nightmare: Steady Work, No Speaking

The day Billy Concha got his first speaking scene as Officer Miller on “NYPD Blue,” Dennis Franz stopped the shoot with an important announcement.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I want to recognize the fact that this is Billy Concha’s first speaking part on a show,” said Franz, who plays Det. Andy Sipowicz. “In recognition of that, although I won the Emmy this year, this is my version of the Emmy for you.”

As the crew applauded, Franz presented Concha with a mock statuette. A wardrobe assistant snapped a picture of the two, which Franz now has taped to the refrigerator in his trailer.

Concha, along with fellow “NYPD” players Mike Echols, Ray La Tulipe, Hank Murph, Lisa Jabboury and Maxine Carter, are part of a curious niche in Hollywood: the permanent background artist. Rather than bounce from project to project, they remain with a single show, usually one set in a workplace or school requiring the same background faces every week.

What’s odd about the job is that it presents a kind of performing purgatory. These people have the rare distinction of making their livings as actors. But they do shows that require them to be available on-set each shooting day, which often prevents them from auditioning for guest roles on other series. They spend years performing opposite stars, even forging lasting friendships with them, without becoming celebrities themselves.

Permanent background artists also fall between cracks in acting castes. Some show staffs consider them a part of the family, with producers taking care to write them occasional lines but overlooking them for guest starring roles. Others regard the job a dead-end and treat them like nonentities.

Then there are the mini-hierarchies whose full-time extras segregate themselves from both guest stars and daily extras. One group of permanent extras on “ER” even went as far as to dub themselves the “executive background.” But always present is the subliminal dangled carrot that this road could lead to a lucky break.

It’s extremely rare, but it can happen. Just ask Maxine Carter. After four seasons as an “NYPD Blue” extra, the former model landed the recurring role of Dr. Joan Carter on another Steven Bochco production, CBS’ “City of Angels.”

“You’re very thankful for being employed full time every day and getting to work on a Top 10 show with Emmy-caliber talent,” says Concha, 37, who has had two dozen more speaking scenes as Officer Miller since winning the Franz Emmy in 1995, after he’d been on the show for six months. “But it’s hard to ask for time off to go out for other things if they’re depending on you to be there every day. Otherwise there’s someone in line right behind you waiting to take your place.”

A lot of someones.

Central Casting, the world’s largest extras casting agency, has more than 100,000 registered extras and has signed as many as 200 new registrants a day. Hourly union pay starts at $96 for an eight-hour day and a typical nine-month production can earn permanent extras up to $30,000 plus health benefits. Dramas usually require a daily commitment, and comedies a day or two a week, which opens the door to non-acting professionals who like being part of a production. Either way, working your way to becoming a permanent background artist takes as much hustle as auditioning for speaking parts.

Central Casting actors, for example, call a hotline listing the shows needing extras for the next day, each with a corresponding phone number and agent. Then they compete with the hundreds of actors trying to get through to that agent for a spot. If they do, they still might not fit the requested physical description. If not, they start again.

“When I first started, I’d have my phone line, fax line and cell phone on redial,” says Andrew Paul Binder, a 43-year-old production designer who plays the nonspeaking role of Daggett on the NBC comedy “Just Shoot Me.”

“It’s an amazing cycle to get onto a show. You have to work hard to get the next day’s work. If you’re on a set, you spend all of your breaks on the phone finding work for the next day. Even if you become a regular extra, nothing is guaranteed.”

Those lucky enough to get asked back often attempt little gimmicks to separate themselves from the background corps. Concha took it upon himself to make morning cappuccino for the cast and crew and play tour guide to visitors. For Binder, it was his wardrobe.

“I always came in with really nice upscale clothing, which was perfect for ‘Just Shoot Me,’ because it takes place at a fashion magazine,” he says. “I would make sure to know the script, not get involved in background gossip and try to treat everyone as I wanted to be treated.”

Although Binder has come close a few times to landing his first line, and Concha has amassed enough footage for a short demo reel, there’s a point beyond which permanent background work is not productive.

“We give opportunities to our background people, because it’s important in the final production that everyone be made to feel important, because it comes across on-screen,” Franz says.

“But I think if you’re seen and recognized by some shows as background, they don’t think of you seriously as being capable of handling a speaking role.”

“Just Shoot Me” executive producer Don Woodard is also skeptical. “I’m not sure it’s the best way to get work as an actor, because opportunities like getting a line here and there don’t typically happen,” he says.

“It’s a great place to network but a tough way to get noticed, because when you’re doing your job well, you’re invisible.”