Aaron Marcus explains what stand-ins do on film and TV sets and how to get hired. You need to match the actor's height, build, and skin tone. Pay starts around $15 more per day, with some gigs hitting $250 to $300. Check your local film commission and contact extras casting directors to find work.
Hi, my name is Aaron Marcus, and I want to share with you some incredible information. Someone just asked me a question the other day about how to go about getting stand-in work, and I thought, you know what, I think there are a lot of people who would really like to learn a lot more about how to go about getting stand-in work. Let me first explain to you exactly what a stand-in is. Whenever they're shooting a feature film or a television show, instead of having the principal actors stand in place or walk or run down the street as they're getting the cameras and the lighting put together, they will hire a stand-in to do that in replacement of the principal actors. So the stand-in doesn't necessarily have to look exactly like the actor, but you do have to be the same height. And by the way, I mean, like, there are always some exceptions to the rule, but typically you've got to be the same height wear the same size clothing, have the same build, same skin tones, so that when they put the actor's clothing on you, the principal actor's clothing on you, and they're doing tests with the lights and camera movements and angles, once they're ready and they get all the technical work done, then they will call in the first team. Those are the principal actors, and now they're ready to shoot. This allows the principal actors to sit, relax, go over their lines, Do whatever they need to do instead of working on all the technical stuff and then going in and shooting for the day. And basically, you will be an extra. A stand-in is in the extra category, but it's a higher-level stand-in. You do get paid more money. It's about $15 more for the first 8 hours that you work, but you can wind up making a lot of money. I mean, you could be— easily getting $250, maybe $300 a day. Depending on who you're standing in for, you could be working on a project for months because there's a lot of overtime. You'll be on the set for a long time period. So it's really— it's a very interesting job. You get an opportunity to watch some phenomenal actors up close, see how they prepare, how they deliver their lines. You'll listen to the directors talk. I've been a stand-in probably about 7 times on various projects, and they've always been really, really interesting learning experiences for me. So the way that you can go about trying to get a job as a stand-in is first you have to find out if there's a project coming to your town. Maybe you can check out the film commission website in your particular area. If there is a film coming to town, I would contact the extras casting director, and I would simply ask, You know, whether they need stand-ins, which I'm sure they will. See who the actors are, the principal actors are, and if you fit the right category— you're the same height, facial features, skin tone— then, you know, contact them and say you would like to talk with them about auditioning to be a stand-in on the project. That's really the best way to go about doing it, getting in touch with the extras casting director. So I hope this was helpful to you. And if you have any questions at all, you can always contact me at aaron@howtomodel.com, and you can also visit me on my facebook.com/howtomodel page. Anyhow, I look forward to talking with you soon. I'm Aaron Marcus. Thanks, Aaron.
