The life of a Bristol film extra

We’ve been getting used to having Bristol on our screens. BBC One’s The Outlaws and Showtrial started up over the last couple of weeks, and Poldark, Sherlock, Broadchurch and Wolf Hall have all been here over the years.

Then, of course, there’s Only Fools and Horses, which used Ashton Gate as a backdrop for the East End back in the 1980s. I’ve been told this country is, more than ever, the filmmaking powerhouse of Europe.

Pinewood Studios have a ten-year lease to Disney, Shepperton has a mega-deal with Netflix, Warner Bros remains the home of fantasy films, and Ealing and Elstree house classic television. These hubs are all within the M25. But Bristol is surely the ‘second city’ when it comes to on-location touring.

I have first-hand experience to verify that. Studying in Florence during my gap year, a friend of a friend persuaded me to join an extras agency. When I arrived in Bristol, much paperwork, many measurements and four years on, I now have two ‘agents’ (well ‘agencies’, but ‘agent’ sounds better when you take a call). I’m sent almost daily emails asking my availability. Naturally, as a busy student, I can only accept jobs during the holidays or at weekends (though sometimes they bring me on for longer projects, and for continuity I need to fit around them).

Fellow extras are often semi-retired or self-employed.

My appearance in ‘The Trial of Christine Keeler’ – screenshot from BBC/Ecosse Films

My first job was on the BBC 2019/20 New Year series The Trial of Christine Keeler, in a recreated 60s nightclub below Temple Meads, and I’ve gone on to work on Infinite (a massive flop film), Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Masters of the Air (for Apple TV) and series five of The Crown.

The hours have been horrendous (all the worse relying on public transport). It’s 5am starts and 10pm finishes. But the pay is good, days start with a cooked breakfast on set (there’s hot lunch from the catering van too) and hanging out with the likes of Jude Law and Steven Spielberg is an experience most would pay equivalent money for.

I’ve always loved the glamour of the movies, and with behind-the-scenes interest, I thought I was prepared for budget levels of blockbusters. But nothing could have prepared me for the money injected into thirty seconds of reel.

In 2019, I opened a futuristic car door for Mark Wahlberg, in the centre of a closed-down Pall Mall as a stunt car sped through. A few weeks ago, I spent the night with 150 extras and 100 crew (most shipped in from Hollywood), in an impeccably detailed prisoner of war camp, with ‘snow’ on the ground, built from scratch in rural Oxfordshire (standing in for Eastern Europe). We each earned £380, plus food, for a wide five-second shot of the back of our heads… so you do the maths.

Xander Brett says the job is worth the early starts and long hours- photo courtesy of Xander Brett

Xander Brett is a student at the University of Bristol and is currently on a work experience placement with Bristol24/7

Main photo: BBC/Ecosse Films/Ben Blackall

Read more: Bristol is the ‘Hollywood of the South West’

Listen to the latest Bristol24/7 Behind the Headlines podcast: