The following is my view of what it was like to be an extra on ‘The Golden Compass’ set. I have not written anything that can’t be found elsewhere on the internet, and as far as I know, I haven’t divulged any information I have been asked to keep private. If I have done so, I apologise in advance and I will ask the moderator of the website to remove the relevant information as soon as possible. I haven’t written this as a money making or self-promoting tool; I have done it to whet the appetites of the many fans of the books that are desperate for some information (anything) about the forthcoming film. Don’t get too excited, though, as there really isn’t anything new to learn about the films here; it’s only my own meandering experiences in an overly drawn-out and long-winded article. Nevertheless, I hope there are some who find my experience interesting, at the very least.
Jamie Sutherland
From the moment I had finished reading the ‘His Dark Materials’ trilogy, it became my mission to be involved with the films in some capacity. You see, these books had touched me, moved me and inspired me more than anything I had ever read before. Without the slightest hint of exaggeration, the story had made more of an impact on my philosophies, morals and beliefs than any other form of media had even come close to doing previously. In fact, unlike some, who took a while to truly appreciate the magic of the books, I fell in love almost immediately.
And so my mission began. As an actor, times were (and still are) hard. People not involved with the industry can not begin to appreciate the difficulties that struggling or wannabe actors constantly face. Granted, there are those few that have the financial stability to be able to afford to attend a heap of auditions every single week, confident in the knowledge that if they are rejected, there is always tomorrow’s audition. But when you need to work to earn a living in between, every single audition becomes infinitely important; because you know you can’t afford to keep taking time off to audition over and over again. And getting the audition in the first place is even more difficult! Especially when you’re trying to get an audition for a big-budget, Hollywood-style production-valued project!
I’m sure Lucy Bevan and Fiona Weir probably received my CV and headshots about five times in the post, from me and my agent. I even banged on about it so much that a completely random agent I hardly knew ended up knocking on the casting door and enquiring for me. Perhaps that was considered too keen! Maybe they were looking for people with more screen and film acting experience. Perhaps they just didn’t like my face! Who knows? What I do know is that they weren’t interested!
Having previously vowed to my agent never to do extras work seemed like the right thing to do at the time. Extras are considered an entirely different entity to actors and within most circles, it is advised against for those who really want to break into the acting scene. I was prepared to make an exception to the rule, though. Considering the circumstances - the efforts I’d gone through to be involved with the film and the level to which I admired and adored the books – there was no way I could turn down the chance to be ‘just’ an extra.
The funny thing is, very few of the other extras had even read the books, so when we first turned up for the costume fitting and glimpsed a sneak preview of Lyra’s world, nobody else batted an eye lid (whereas I was practically wetting my pants with excitement).
Once the pant wetting had subsided, we were up to the hair and make-up department. Having previously learned that I was to play a student at Oxford, as opposed to the much more appealing prospect of being a Gyptian, I soon learnt that I also needed my hair cut. Actors are generally told to keep their hairstyle as close as possible to the one they sport in their headshots and as my usual audition fodder came in the form of trendy commercials for Coca-Cola and youthful brands like that, the rather unfashionable combination of short back and sides with a… erm… well… just horrible side parting, didn’t seem like a particularly career-viable idea on my side. I justified it as all being in the aid of my art, though. After all, I had done much worse for plays before.
A few days later I was in a bed & breakfast in Greenwich getting up at half four in the morning. The truth is, I was to spend almost as much on my accommodation and travel as I was to earn in the two days, but I wasn’t doing it for the money – I was doing it for the experience - one which would hopefully stay with me forever and would exist on the DVD of the finished product (that I could hopefully pause and zoom in on when I’m the background).
As extras we were treated pretty well; "really well" according to the testimonials of fellow extras. We got fed good, large meals regularly and were spoken to and treated like adults (most of the time), even though a lot of the other extras were as young as 16. Having said this, it was undoubtedly a different world altogether from work as an actual named actor; you get herded around like cattle and spoken to as a collective group, as opposed to individuals. This isn’t a criticism or a moan, as there is no other way of doing it, it’s just an observation that immediately struck me and emphasises the world of difference between being an extra and being an actor.
For the scene I was to appear in, filming was taking place at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, with parts doubling for the Jordan College Dining Room in Lyra’s Oxford. The set itself was lavish and extravagant and every bit as magnificent (if not more so) as I imagined Jordan College to be. It reminded me a little bit of the dining hall in the Harry Potter films, actually.
When I first entered the dining hall, I have to admit I felt a shiver down my spine. I was standing in the world I had imagined and loved. To me it was a beautiful realization and felt other-worldly, even though in reality I was standing in a room with barely any strange props or gimmicks. I feel this is a remarkable feat. I was soon brought back to reality, however, as I bumped into a friend I had met whilst filming a commercial in Spain. He was some kind of technical assistant on this project. I found that really weird considering he was Spanish and had barely done anything out of Spain before. It’s a small world!!
Me and my temporary, single-serving, friends were to sit on the long tables which can be seen in the background of the shot of Nicole Kidman on the official website. We were served fresh meals for each take, and were asked to converse with our fellow Oxford student friends. My opinion was that even our conversations (despite unquestionably being inaudible in the finished film) should be the kind that real Oxford students would have – as my brother always says, "it is the imperceptible detail that make the difference between mediocrity and magnificence". Not everybody shares that sentiment, however, so for the most part I had to put up with the others talking about last night’s football results (I hope this doesn’t destroy the magic of the story for you knowing this when you watch it).
Nicole Kidman’s Mrs Coulter, looked every inch the stunning and glamorous character you imagined from the books and it didn’t take much to act stunned into oblivion when we watched her strut up the aisle with such elegance and poise. In my opinion, she is perfect for the role.
I was also impressed by the professionalism of all the crew involved and the perfectionist attitude that they all had, even down to making sure that our neck ties were tied in the same way as previous shots (despite the fact that being seen in the background was probably fairly remote).
In fact, the whole cast and crew, including all of the other extras I worked with, were friendly and amicable. Chris Weitz and Nicole Kidman even took the time to thank the few extras who were loitering around on set for a couple of minutes longer than was necessary and I was genuinely touched by the appreciation they showed, even when they were evidently inundated with work.
Before I finally left the set and said my goodbyes to the friends I had made, I made one last ditch effort. I scribbled my website address on a piece of paper and handed it to the director of the crowd who had been dealing with the extras. He was very polite, but I got the impression nothing would come of it; though having said this, he didn’t imply or give me any false hope either. After all, they probably get this sort of thing shoved in their faces regularly. At least I had tried, though, and knew I could go home free of regret.
I genuinely believe that this film has the potential to be really quite something. The love of the material and attention to detail was obvious in all of the cast and crew. I only wish that real wannabe actors were employed for extras work, as opposed to random people who may not even have any interest in film or acting.
After all.. "it is the imperceptible detail that make the difference between mediocrity and magnificence."