The good, bad & ugly (Betty) of being an extra

When I told my friends about my stint as a background actor (“extra”) on an episode of “Ugly Betty” they thought I was the luckiest person ever. Imagine getting to mingle with the stars on this wonderful show, to be surrounded by the exotic trappings of Hollywood. “Was it exciting? Was it fun?” they asked. Well, it was a lot of things: terrifying, ego-squelching, boring, exhausting, and, yeah, kind of fun.

I'm the least likely person to get involved in show business. I have a full-time “real” career that pays well. I have a lumpy middle-aged body that normally runs from cameras and their extra 10 pounds. But here's the lure of background acting: you get to go behind the scenes, get into secret places, and see and do things that are normally off limits. And when you see yourself on TV you jump up and down shrieking ecstatically and then show your friends the tape.

My husband, who's done several background gigs (resulting in shrieking and jumping when he appeared on screen), egged me on. The first step was the ego-squelching part: signing up at the agency and getting my picture taken. I have never felt so old and fat as I did standing in line with those twenty-somethings.

After that I was too traumatized to try to get a gig for months. But finally, when I had some time off from work I called the job line and got hired for the “Ugly Betty” episode, as one of about 80 theater-goers seeing “Wicked.”

Bring your own wardrobe
We were supposed to wear “elegant dresses.” I have one dress: a $30 polyester number from Target. I worried that I'd be rejected upon arrival. “Are you kidding with that thing? And you're too ugly for ‘Ugly Betty’,” I imagined them saying. Luckily this didn't happen.

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The location was the Pantages Theater in Hollywood. That morning was a blur of standing in lines in the hot sun among a maze of trailers behind the theater, waiting to be approved by wardrobe (my Target dress passed muster), makeup (OK again), and hair, where I got fancied up a bit. Unless there are costumes, background actors supply their own clothes and makeup.

Then we sat for hours until we were called to the set — the lobby of the theater — where we were given prop drinks and “Wicked” programs. I was placed on my entry point by friendly Second Assistant Director Courtney, then assigned a series of “crossings” between souvenir kiosks.

I was so focused on my instructions that at first I didn't notice the cameras, lights and principal actors. Now, I'm not star-struck but I was surprised to feel a jolt of excitement when I saw them. Observation: America Ferrera is much more slender than they make her out to be on the show. She'd only be considered “fat” at a fashion magazine. And she's so pretty! Those braces, glasses and eyebrows have to work hard to turn her into “Ugly Betty.” By the way, background actors don't talk to the principal actors, and if you stare at them you might as well hold up a neon sign that says “I'm a giant dork.” So there's no “mingling” with the stars.

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