Richard Castles divulges details on what it’s like being on a set of a show as an extra.
As a freelance writer currently working on his first book, Richard Castles needs to somehow make money. So he does lots of other jobs, including being a casual film and television extra.
Film production costs big money per minute, so unless you are Tom Cruise or Nicole Kidman, no one is going to put up with a troublemaker. Mostly, you just need to be comfortable enough to be unself-conscious on camera. An interesting, distinctive face can help if they are wanting particular looks, but you don’t have to be a supermodel. They usually want a cross-section of people with multicultural faces.
Thuy On is the former Reviews and Literary Editor of ArtsHub and an arts journalist, critic and poet who’s written for a range of publications including The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, Sydney Review of Books, The Australian, The Age/SMH and Australian Book Review. She was the Books Editor of The Big Issue for 8 years and a former Melbourne theatre critic correspondent for The Australian.
She has three collections of poetry published by the University of Western Australian Press (UWAP): Turbulence (2020), Decadence (2022) and Essence (2025).
Threads: @thuy_on123 Instagram: poemsbythuy
