A new act: LI retirees get bit parts

Sunday has become David Paris' favorite TV night this fall. After all, not everyone can say they've worked on two of that night's prime-time shows -- HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" and ABC's new series "Pan Am" -- even if Paris often has to rely on his DVR's rewind button to spot himself in a scene.

Paris, 71, a retired engineer who lives in Floral Park, has worked as an extra on several episodes of "Boardwalk Empire," including one scene where he donned a tuxedo and was nearly showered in Champagne. For the '60s drama "Pan Am," shot at the old Grumman plant in Bethpage, Paris had the not-so-difficult task of staring at a group of long-legged stewardesses walking through the terminal. "A bunch of us were supposed to react to how lovely they were," Paris says. "I had no problem with that."

Working as an extra has become a new mini career for people of a certain age on Long Island, like Paris. And with the recent bump in TV production in New York, the calls from casting companies are likely to keep coming. This fall, 23 prime-time series are being filmed in New York -- including "30 Rock," "The Good Wife" and CBS' new dramas "Unforgettable" and "Person of Interest" -- compared with nine in 2006, according to the Mayor's Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting. Often, the pay is little more than minimum wage, but the thrill of appearing on-screen, even for a few seconds, is priceless.

After filming the Champagne scene in "Boardwalk Empire," Paris was asked to stand at the bar and pour shots. "The camera was on this track and went right in front of my face and back again and I actually have a couple of seconds filling the screen," he says. "That's the biggest thing I've ever got. People have come up to me and said, 'Oh, we saw that.' "

Once on the set, however, extras, also known as background actors, don't expect star treatment. A typical day involves an early morning call and long hours with a lot of down time.

That combination can diminish the glow of klieg lights, even for veteran extras like Al Reno, a retired correction officer from Ronkonkoma who started working as an extra in 2002. Early last year, Reno, 64, gave up his background spot for good. "It just got to be a lot of waiting around and was boring," he explains. "I got a lot of reading done." Since then, Reno has found his niche doing community theater.

Tinsel and glamour never mattered to Bob Engel, a retired human resources worker for Sara Lee, who decided to indulge his inner ham when an Army buddy said, "You keep saying you want to be an actor, go be an actor."

So Engel, who divides his time between Flushing and Kings Park, where his fiancee lives, signed up with Sylvia Fay/Lee Genick & Associates Casting in Manhattan. His first role was in an antacid commercial. "We were in a ballpark and everyone was eating frankfurters and junk food and getting indigestion," he says. His age? Don't ask. Being "ageless," he believes, offers a better chance of being cast in different roles.

Paris got his start six years ago when a contact from an acting class needed extras for an independent film. Paris then signed up with Casting Networks, a fee-based service where you can post your résumé with photos and receive job postings by email for $10 a month.

Doing background work was nothing new for Barbara Hutchins, 64, of Glen Head. As a budding New York actress in the late '60s, Hutchins joined the Screen Actors Guild, where she found work in the films "Hello, Dolly!" and "Midnight Cowboy." In the early '70s, she moved to Los Angeles and did some work as an extra, including in the prom scene of the movie "Carrie." Eventually, she left the screen world behind and settled into retail sales. Currently, she works at a jewelry store near her home.

A couple years ago, Hutchins, who's been married to TV's "Sugarfoot" star, Will Hutchins, since 1988, decided to give show biz another go. A friend in L.A. hooked her up with some casting agents in New York, which led to background jobs on TV's "Gossip Girl" and the 2009 film "The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3."

In the 2010 film "The Romantics," her husband had a cameo, while she was among the extras playing wedding guests. "We were told to wear lightweight clothing, in November, and it was freezing off the Peconic," she says. "Then they sprayed with us with hoses and we were soaked to the skins."

For older wannabes who don't have connections, the first step to "stardom" is often filling out an application on a casting agency's website. "We used to do things live, so now things have moved to computer," says Lee Genick, president and owner of Sylvia Fay/Lee Genick Casting. "As things happened we would give them a call. Right now we have well over 1,000 seniors in our database."

Having so many names is a necessity considering the short warning often given for cast calls. "Generally there's not a lot of lead time," Genick says. "We often call the day before or post a notice a day before and get in touch with the person. We give them some information and they have to call back later in the evening to get the final time since it's all dependent on the turnaround for the crew."

It's a scenario Paris has played out many times, including once getting a call at midnight for a 5 a.m. shoot. "It would have meant catching a train at 2:30 [a.m.]. I said, 'I'm not going to do that.' So they said, 'Suppose you didn't have to come until 6:00?' I said, 'No.' "

He has answered other such early calls, where a day of shooting can last 10 hours -- and frequently longer. "There's a lot of sitting around and waiting and that's true of every film and television show," says Melissa Braun of Manhattan-based Grant Wilfley Casting. "It takes a lot of time to set up each shot."

Such a long day, however, doesn't translate into a hefty paycheck. A typical 10-hour-day's pay for a nonunion actor is about $85 compared to a union actor, who gets $139 for eight hours work, Genick says.

"After eight hours, that's where all the money starts to kick in," says Engel, who joined the Screen Actors Guild in 2001 after advancing from extra to getting three on-screen speaking roles. "Then you're working on time-and-a- half, and after 12 hours, it's double-time, and if you work more than 16 hours, it's an extra day's pay."

Engel, who last year graduated from an extra to a featured role as deli owner Abe Klein on "Boardwalk Empire," is hungrier than ever to go before the camera. "I need to perform," he says, "and I need the satisfaction of entertaining and making people happy, or at least letting them forget their problems and concentrating on the character's problems."

Getting started

If you've got the bug and think you have that "extra" something to work as a background actor, here are some starting points:

CENTRAL CASTING
875 Sixth Ave., Suite 2411, New York, NY 10001 646-205-8244, centralcasting.com
To apply: Fill out the online registration packet. Nonunion extras can also register Tuesdays and Thursdays at the office (11 a.m. for men, noon for women).

EXTRA MILE CASTING
487 Myrtle Ave., Suite 63, Brooklyn, NY 11205,  212-727-1011, extramilenyc.com
To apply: Send your headshot and résumé by snail mail or email them to info@extra milenyc.com

GRANT WILFLEY CASTING INC.
123 W. 18th St., 8th floor, New York, NY 10011, 212-685-3537, gwcnyc.com
To apply: Nonunion actors should mail in a headshot and résumé.

SYLVIA FAY / LEE GENICK & ASSOCIATES CASTING
sylviafaycasting.com
To apply: Fill out a form online; do not call or drop in.