10 Greatest Movie Extra Performances Ever

when you're watching a movie how often do you even think about the hundreds or possibly thousands of extras or background artists hired to bring authenticity and ambiance to the background of a scene generally speaking that's the way things are supposed to be if you notice them it's often because they're doing a comically poor job but make no mistake extras are actors and every so often an extra manages to add something to a film by drawing attention their way i'm josh from moreculture.com and these are the 10 greatest movie extra performances ever number 10 the extra running away from the chitari the avengers the avengers movies are so jam-packed with airless actors and digital mayhem that you would be forgiven for not paying any attention at all to the extras ducking for cover amid all the chaos there is one exception however in 2012's original avengers movie near the start of the iconic battle of new york as the chitauri descend upon the city and cap black widow and hawkeye arrive on the scene dozens of civilians can be seen fleeing from a giant fireball and desperately trying to get themselves to safety now for the most part the extras actually look like they're just taking a pretty casual jog considering how life-threatening the moment is supposed to be however there is a one person wearing a striped shirt who absolutely just books it across the bridge pelting the pavement like their life absolutely depends on it and in turn giving an all-timer extra performance now everyone else is all right but that's someone genuinely running for their life sadly the person in question has never been identified but she certainly deserves to be recognized here number nine margarita man jurassic world my hero my world my idol jurassic world is a serviceable but forgettable blockbuster for the most part though anybody who noticed this extra while watching the movie likely still remembers them all these years later when all hell breaks loose and the dinosaurs start attacking the patrons of jurassic world the park's men's square descends into chaos as customers attempt to run to safety from the peridoctals hilariously we can briefly see one man running away from the carnage while vice gripping a margarita in each hand and even attempting to sip one of them as he disappears out of frame the two second clip quickly went viral shortly after the movie's release and margarita man even became an unexpected cosplay character in 2015 number 8 the disapproving video star customer screen generally speaking extras are supposed to do as little as possible to draw attention to themselves in any given scene especially when major characters are talking to each other in the foreground but just as wes craven's scream broke so many other cinematic rules it too gave an extra a brief moment to shine in one memorable scene randy and stu are discussing the killer terrorizing woodsboro and when stu asks randy why i suspect billy would dare try to kill his own girlfriend sydney randy callously replies quote there's always some stupid bullsh reason to kill your girlfriend viewers who pay close attention to the scene though might notice that a blonde head woman in a blue jacket is browsing movies in the isle behind randy and though out of focus it's clear that she's paying concerned attention to randy's increasingly deranged diatribe after he talks about stew being a suspect the woman looks around the stars if to say is anyone else hearing this [ __ ] before shaking her head and then just walking out a shot it's unclear whether the extra went into business for herself or was directed by craven to act this way but it's a great piece of low-key acting regardless number seven the nuclear wessels lady star trek four the voyage home the fourth star trek movie the voyage home sees the crew of the enterprise transported to 1986 san francisco where ahura and chekhov are tasked with finding a nuclear reactor which will allow them to return to the 23rd century the two of them end up asking random passes by how they can locate a reactor in alameda or nuclear wessels as chekhov calls them with his accent though the extras were reportedly directed not to answer the pair one of them nevertheless gave it a shot extra layla sarakillo decided to give the duo an impromptu response saying quote i don't know if i know the answer to that i think it's across the bay in alameda inspiring chekhov to of course improv the famous response that's what i said alameda as it turns out sarakillah wasn't originally planning to appear as an extra in the film at all but did have an ulterior motive that's because her car had been impounded on the day of filming after she missed a warning to move it for the shoot in order to make someone get to free her car from the impound then she signed up to be an extra and while the filmmakers expected her to ignore ahura and chekhov like all of the other extras she decided to engage with them number six the big gulps guys dumb and dumb dumb and dumber remains one of the most iconic and endlessly quotable comedies of all time and perhaps its single most repeated line occurs when lloyd leaves a convenience store comes across two guys drinking big gulps and awkwardly says big gulps huh and then all right well see you later after getting no response a few years ago director peter farrelly not only confirmed that jim carrey improvised the r-inspiring line on the spot but that the two extras in the scene weren't even supposed to be there the two men drinking big gulps were simply watching the scene being shot when farrelly felt that they would fit the scene well and decided to drag them in in his own words quote they happen to have big gulps and jim just ran with it true story and yet despite doing nothing more than staring at jim carrey and giving him a knowing nod they immediately entered the pantheon of legendary movie extras the fact that they completed the shot without bursting into laughter at kerry's bizarre ad-lib is some award-worthy restraint number five the roha rim the lord of the rings return of the king the charge of the roha rim is largely agreed to be one of the greatest scenes in the entire lord of the rings trilogy and a big part of the reason for that is the clear enthusiasm of the 150 extras who took part in the sequence now director peter jackson famously insisted that only actress who had read the novel and could recite the odin's iconic battle cry could be placed at the front line of the battle as they would most appreciate its importance and convey that gravity on screen fans have singled out a few particularly enthusiastic riders over the years especially one who powers forward aggressively on his horse selling the intensity of the scene incredibly well then there's the poor extra who fell off his horse and somehow wasn't harmed despite falling directly in the path of numerous horses behind him jackson apparently loved this so much that he kept it in the movie these extras fully gave themselves over to jackson's epic vision and the results are absolutely spectacular number four the surprised barmaid terminator 2 judgement dare james cameron has always had a knack for picking memorable extras and perhaps the most candy selection of his entire filmography appears in one of terminator 2's establishing scenes when the new t800 arrives in the present day and hits up a cd bar to acquire clothes and transportation it scans all of the bar's patrons and staff to find someone of a comparative size whose clothes it can take in one hilarious moment it scans a waitress who is clearly both startled and a little bit excited by the presence of the naked man she gives the t800 a lingering stare down from top to bottom before smirking at the machine and letting out an intrigued home a great background player can provide that little extra something to punctuate a scene and that's absolutely the case here number three the ghostbusters all right guy ghostbusters sometimes an extra might seem to draw a little bit too much attention to themselves but the results end up becoming iconic and much loved anyway that's certainly the case with the original ghostbusters where just ahead of the finale an extremely enthusiastic redhead ghostbusters fan can be seen jumping up and down clapping and shouting ghostbusters alright alright ghostbusters as it turns out the man is now emmy-winning makeup artist eldo ray estes who was determined enough to ensure that he was noticeable in the film and most certainly achieved that goal and yet his enthusiasm is both infectious and entirely believable within the context of the scene estes added that he was constantly recognized by passersby during the summer of the movie's 1984 release automatically making him both one of the best and most famous movie extras of all time number two the saluting pilot independence dare few who have seen independence day will ever forget president whitmore's instantly iconic rallying cry for humanity to stand up and fight back against the aliens it is a scene both immensely cheesy and genuinely awesome actor bill pullman's stirring performance is a big part of the reason that the scene works but it's impossible to ignore the efforts of one extra who really helps tie it all together after whitmore says the iconic quarter of today we celebrate our independence day director roland emmerich cuts to various faces in the crouching ring before showing a pilot passionately saluting the president the pilot in question is allegedly played by darren mangan and despite appearing in the film for barely a second gives one of its most persuasive performances 25 years later that beautiful salute remains a popular gift and rightly so number one the clumsy stormtrooper star wars a new hulk and of course there was only ever going to be one extra in the number one spot and that's the clumsy stormtrooper who bumps his head on a doorframe while entering the death star's control room in the original star wars the scene has been a source of considerable amusement among fans of the last four plus decades many wondering how george lucas could allow such a blatant gaffe to make it into the final cut of his movie but it doesn't really matter why it's there we're just so glad that it is there because while the moment might only make the stormtroopers look even more useless it is a textbook example of a happy accident that generated one of the funniest moments in blockbuster cinema history though many have claimed to be the extra in question it appears that the real actor under the helmet was laurie good as nobody called could he just assumed that the bump wasn't visible on camera only to be surprised when he sat down to watch the film and saw that it was both on camera and also in the actual movie so that's our list once you guys think down in the comments below what do you think of all of these extras and are there any good ones that i missed off here while you're down there as well could you please give us a like share subscribe and head over to whatculture.com for more lists and news like this every single day even if you don't know i've been josh thanks so much for watching and i'll see you soon

Channel: WhatCulture

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Id: S80goXH-P0I

Length: 9min 41sec (581 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 31 2021