Aaron Marcus, a veteran actor and commercial model, shows extras how to stand out on set by introducing themselves to PAs, hair and makeup artists, and wardrobe staff. He recommends using downtime to ask crew members about their careers and always asking permission before stepping away. These small, consistent actions help you get remembered among hundreds of background performers and lead to better treatment on future projects.
Hi, I'm Aaron Marcus, and if you're watching this on YouTube, welcome to my Acting and Modeling Tips channel. Don't forget, you can subscribe by clicking the subscription button and also the notification button, so that way every time I post new acting and modeling information, you will automatically get it. If you're watching this elsewhere, I'm really glad you're getting a chance to get some really helpful acting and modeling information from me. Just to quickly introduce myself, if you're not familiar with my work, I've been making a living— my living as an actor and a commercial model for over 30 years. So far, I've booked over 1,200 jobs. You can check out my website, howtoactandmodel.com, to get more information about what I do and what I've done. But let me tell you what I want to talk with you about today. That is, if you are doing some extra work, especially if you're doing multiple days on a project, it's really helpful to have people know who you are. I know people always say, in order to have success in the industry, it's who you know. Actually, the way I view it is, it's who knows you. So, you know, when you're getting checked in and you're meeting a PA, a production assistant, make sure you introduce yourself. Certainly, if they are incredibly swamped, that's not the time to try to have a conversation with them. But you can also introduce yourself if you're going to hair and makeup. You know, just introduce yourself. You know, you can talk to people for a couple seconds, whether it's wardrobe as well. And I think it's really helpful and it's also more enjoyable. When people start to know who you are, because a lot of times you could be one of hundreds and hundreds of people. And I think it's much more enjoyable for the people working on the set to know who you are as well. And you can do little things that will make their life easy and also will be helpful to you. So let's say you want to leave the set to run to the restroom for a minute. You know, always walk over to a PA, you know, and Hi, I'm Aaron Marcus. Hey, I just wanted to find out, do I have a minute and a half here just to run out or something like that? And not only does it make their life a lot easier, it's also a nice way to communicate with people. And if you do find that there is a lull and there's some downtime, sometimes I find it really interesting and helpful just to walk over to a PA and say, hey, I'm just kind of curious, what are you interested in doing in the industry? Do you want to get into directing? You want to be a first AD? Second AD? Second, second. Is that where, you know, where you want to be? Do you want to be a writer? Do you want to be a producer? Just kind of curious. And you can start sharing information about yourself, about, you know, learning about them. And I just find that to be really, really helpful. And the other thing too is you just never know when you're going to see somebody on another project. And that's also really nice when you can walk in, people remember who you are, they treat you better, and it's just a nicer environment. So anyhow, if you are working as an extra, especially if If it's multiple days, try to get people to know who you are. I'm curious if you have any suggestions on things that you like to do when you're working as an extra on a set. Please leave it, leave it here below. Love to read it and also have it shared with other people as well. If you have any questions, always you can reach me, howtoactandmodel.com. And really, don't forget, subscribe and also hit the notification button so that way you can always continue to get more acting and modeling tips from me. I'm Aaron Marcus, and I can't wait to talk with you again soon.
