'I have no illusions about becoming a Hollywood star': Cork locals revel in their roles as extras on film sets

Extras in the film 'Jimmy' having their costumes checked in the line up before they go on set and filming starts. Pictures: Neil Michael.

“A spare pair of knickers and two bras.”

This is what one female extra blurts out to the shocked laughter of everyone around her when asked if she had everything she needs for a day’s filming.

With her jovial nature and hair already in curls under a classic 1940s' headscarf, she was one of about 35 extras who boarded a 6.30am private coach to West Cork Studios one dark cold morning recently for filming of the Hollywood movie  Jimmy.

Many onboard knew each other, and if they weren’t already friends from other film sets, they would probably be by the end of a long day's shooting.

Semi-retired super yacht captain Jim McCarthy checking details of extras due to take part in filming on the early morning coach to the film studios in Skibbereen.

Indeed, ask many of those who sign up to be extras, and they will tell you they do it for fun, and for meeting people — even if, deep down, they might also harbour their own secret Hollywood dreams.

The mood on the bus, and at the studios,  is far more relaxed and jovial than the more dark, deadpan portrayal of extras by Ricky Jervais in his hit series Extras.

Patiently making his way through the dimly-lit coach as it eased itself along the early-morning Skibbereen streets to the studios was semi-retired super yacht captain Jim McCarthy, checking the details of each extra on his iPad.

Like those onboard, he too is an extra who plays minor parts in films and TV dramas.

The 54-year-old was helping out Cashell Horgan, boss of the Munster-based extras agency Extra Extra, as they had hundreds of extras to deal with for the film for a dance scene in a studio made to look like a Second World War hanger.

The film, which stars KJ Appa, covers the period when the late Hollywood acting legend James Stewart served as a bomber commander in the US Air Corps during the war.

While the band that plays the songs in the hanger scene are real musicians serving in the US Air Force at Ramstein air base in Germany, a large number of background extras, background dancers and dancers were also needed.

Swinger dancers Zara Dillon, Holly O’Flynn, Ailish O’Halloran and Catherine Field Blain practise behind the scenes before heading into the studio for filming scenes from Jimmy. 

Jim says he got into being an extra more on an impulsive whim than anything else.

Cashell Horgan came into a coffee shop owned and run by Jim’s wife in Schull last May.

At the time, he was looking for extras for the Body is Water, the Vicky Wight-directed film which finished shooting last month and stars Stephen Rea, Aidan Quinn and Eva Birthistle.

Cashell — who is also a film director — suggested Jim should sign up as an extra.

“One day, I just went home and signed up,” he recalls.

I did a day’s extra work and I loved it. All I had to do was be in a hall where there was a concert on, and sit in a group of people.

“It was just interesting to see the way films get made.”

For many, that is what being an extra is all about.

But while it is a guaranteed chance to take a look behind the scenes, it’s rarely a chance to rub shoulders with famous actors.

Indeed, running up to the main star on a film set and fawning over them is a big no-no.

Film set designer Lilly O’Donnell getting her make-up done before filming.

So is not doing what you are told, although there have been extras who broke these cardinal rules and still ended up as a Hollywood A-lister.

Brad Pitt, for example, worked as an extra for two years before his breakthrough role as the drifter JD in Thelma and Louise.

Later in life, he would recount how he would always try and slip a sentence into non-speaking roles to get himself noticed by directors.

In 1987's No Man’s Land, where he was cast as a waiter, his one scene was to go over to a table and pour each person a glass of champagne.

Professional dancer Jenny Murphy, left, originally from Bishopstown, Cork, but now living in London, and swinger dancer Maria Alvarez practising before filming, watched by other extras. 

As the cameras rolled, he decided to ad lib and ask one of the actresses if she would like anything else.

He later told how one of the directors stopped filming and warned him he‘d be thrown off the set if he ever did that again.

Kevin McGrath is one extra who would “100%” deploy the same tactics Brad Pitt used to get noticed.

The 22-year-old, who had just finished an acting course in Dublin’s Bow Street Academy, said he signed up to Jimmy to see “could I do that potentially, you know, do I have what it takes?”.

He said he was also there to learn from the actors, and also how the film crew work.

Another male extra, who wants to be a major Hollywood star, even admitted they planned to “inject” a few lines into their extra “character”.

They also admitted there could be a certain amount of “jostling” among some of the more ambitious extras in a bid to get as near to where they know the main stars are going to be in a film.

But for the most part, the extras on Jimmy came across as just being very laid back and there to enjoy “a moment”.

Jennifer Darrington is an extra who does not regard herself as a budding Hollywood star, but sees what she does as more of a “hobby”.

She is typical of a lot of extras — young, educated, and interested in films, but with little or no interest in taking things any further than a few days extra work from time to time.

Jennifer Darrington waiting to be called for hair, make-up and costume.

Unemployed, the 23-year-old from Drimoleague, Co Cork, has just finished her masters in environmental and natural resources law at University College Cork.

Jimmy is her third foray into extra-ing, with the first being a role in Float Like a Butterfly when it was being filmed in Goleen, West Cork.

“I was just walking down a street in it,” she recalls of her part in the Carmel Winters drama film about a young Irish Traveller girl who idolises Muhammad Ali and wants to become a boxer.

Her second extra role was in The Holding, the four-part ITV series in 2022 based on talk show host Graham Norton’s debut novel.

“It's not something that I would like to do professionally,” she says as she waits in a prefab holding area for extras before they get their make-up and hair done and get their costumes.

“It's just something that I like to do in my spare time.

“It's kind of a bit of a hobby. I like movies and I like seeing how they're made. You also start to notice extras more in films.”

She bursts out laughing when asked if a Hollywood director spotted her on a set and offered her a major leading role in a film, what she would do.

“I would go for the opportunity, but I wouldn't be pursuing it myself,” she said.

I have no illusions about becoming the latest Hollywood star. I’m just here to enjoy the experience.

Kenmare-based barista May Zinger is also typical of another type of extra — people who think they would like to give acting a shot but are just seeing what it’s like.

Kenmare barrista May Zinger waiting to be called by the costume department. 

The 25-year-old has been an extra for just under two years.

“To be honest, I'm looking at it in a more realistic way,” she says, as she sits with her hair wrapped in curlers.

“I don't think a director is going to come to me out of nowhere and be like: ‘I want you’.

“Since I started doing these projects, [I’ve realised] if you want to be an actor, there's a certain way to get into it.

“You need to have, like, a show reel.”

Does she have one?

“No, I don't,” she says.

“I could put more work into it, but I'm always asking myself: Do I really want to go down that route?”

She adds: “I find it really interesting. But to be honest, I think the best part about this is just meeting lovely people, doing all of this together — getting the make-up, getting the hair, laughing about like whatever. I think that's kind of what makes it for me.”