Stories from a Movie Set: That One Time When an Extra Started Eating the Prop Food
There’s a story that comes up often in my personal list of anecdotes on set: that one time when an extra started eating the prop food.
When you’re making a movie, there are a ton of things that have to come together to make it work. You need the actors, the extras, the set design, the costumes, and everything else to create a believable world that the audience can get lost in. But sometimes things don’t go according to plan, and that’s exactly what happened on one particular movie set with an extra living in his own fantasy world.
There was this one guy, let’s call him Mark, who was supposed to play a “wedding party attendee”. The scene was supposed to be all happy and celebratory, with Mark and a bunch of other extras filling in the background to make it look like a real party. But instead of doing his job and acting, Mark was more interested in the prop food and “wine” that had been set out for the scene.
The food was real, and the “wine” was juice…but everything had been sitting on set for a week. Not only that, but some food items were glued to the tray so they wouldn’t fall off.
This didn’t stop Mark. He was eating that stuff like it was the real deal, and the crew was getting pretty worried. They tried to tell him to stop, but Mark just kept going, not caring that the food and wine had been sitting out for a week and were totally spoiled. In his head, he was at a real wedding party.
When the scene moved to the dance floor, Mark’s weirdness didn’t stop. He was busting out some seriously awkward dance moves, and the other extras didn’t know how to react. It was amusing for some and uncomfortable for others. Even though the situation was awkward, it helped to represent a real party.
In the end, Mark’s antics were both hilarious and annoying for the crew, but they taught everyone a valuable lesson. They reminded everyone that no matter how well you plan something, you never know who you’re going to have to work with, and sometimes things just don’t go as planned. You have to be flexible and adaptable to make it work.
So there you have it, a lesson in movie making from a guy who just couldn’t resist the appeal of spoiled food and fake wine!
