You oughta be in movies. (Hurray for Hollywood!)

I'm pretty sure that, at some point in my childhood, I wanted to be a movie star. Or at least a television actor. I don't recall the details, but I'm pretty sure I wanted to swan around in ball gowns. And when I wasn't swanning around in a ball gown, I wanted to smooch cute cowboys or Dr. Kildare. 

Then I grew up, reached the age of reason, and realized that acting would be a tough way to make a living, and that if you got famous at doing it, your life would not be your own. So acting? Hard pass.

Which isn't to say that if I were asked to be an extra in a film being shot locally - passenger on a swan boat, diner at the next table in the restaurant - I wouldn't get a kick out of if. (Years ago, I did sit next to Jessica Lange and Sam Shepard in a local spot. Alas, they weren't being filmed, just eating out, so it wasn't an opportunity to be an extra. But it almost counts, doesn't it?)

Still, there are plenty of folks who do want to be actors. Or who may even be content as extras, maybe with a line or two, maybe just blending into the background to make a scene seem more authentic. And for them, Boston has become an okay place to try to make it happen. That's because, thanks to our state's largesse, and the fact that writers do set a lot of stories that turn into films set in the Boston area, there are actually quite a few movies filmed here.  

Mostly, of course, it's the money, honey. 

...Hollywood is hunkering down, enticed by the tax breaks approved by the Legislature in 2006 and made permanent last year. More than 30 major film and TV projects were shot in the Bay State last year, compared to just one or two a decade ago. (Source: Boston Globe)

Not sure I'm all that wild about my tax money going to give breaks to big Hollywood machers, but I do enjoy watching movies filmed here, and don't mind stumbling upon the filming, even when it impedes my walk or otherwise disturbs my peace. And there are a lot of extras out there I might stumble upon.

While the stars of a movie are usually cast in New York or Los Angeles, smaller speaking roles and extras are locally sourced, often by Boston Casting owners Angela Peri and Lisa Lobel, who have an inventory of 100,000 actors to choose from.

100,000 extras? 100,000 actor wannabes? Wow!

One of them is Chelsea Hueter. She was an art teacher before her shoulder appeared in the rework of "Ghostbusters." And that was enough to give her the bug. She quit teaching and now pieces together a living through gigs as an extra or stand-in. She's hoping that at some point the extra appearances will lead to a speaking part or even beyond.

Dale Appel is in her 70's and retired, but likes working as a background actor to supplement her Social Security. It beats, she says, putting on the vest and greeting shoppers at Walmart. And she has no illusions. “At my age, I don’t expect to suddenly be the next Meryl Streep.”

Anyone can sign up with a casting agency. But getting a job as an extra depends on what’s needed in a particular movie. Sometimes the background roles are nondescript, like senior citizen or bartender, and sometimes they’re specific, like men with mustaches or, in the case of the Civil War-era “Little Women,” amputees.

Senior citizen? Ahem. Look no further, Hollywood.

Amputee? Man with a mustache? Keep on going. 

Not that it's an easy way to piece together a living, but the pay can be good, especially if you get a speaking part. Even if it's a brief one.

Actors with at least one line of dialogue make $1,056 for an eight-hour day, while extras in the union are paid $187 a day, or twice that if filming runs long, or takes place at night or in bad weather.

Plus there are benefits: 

You’re eligible to join the union [Screen Actors Guild] after one day of principal work or three days of background work.) Membership isn’t free — there’s an initiation fee ($1,800) and annual dues ($230) — but the union provides health insurance.

Sometimes extras do hit the big time. Viola Davis started out as a background actor ("NYPD Blue") and she went on to win an Oscar. Brad Pitt was milling around at a party in "No Way Out" before he went on to do all sorts of Brad Pitt things.  

Still, most extras keep their expectations closer to the ground:

“I never expected to be a star,” said Stew Replogle, a South Shore resident who was an extra in “Manchester by the Sea,” among other films. “But it’s like when you’re on the bench on a sports team. You know the coach could, eventually, turn and yell, ‘You!’ ”

Extras also get fed and, if they're starstruck, they do get proximity to the stars. You just can't talk to them. Unless, of course, they speak to you first. Just don't count on it. (When Replogle was filming Manchester, he did sit at a table with Casey Affleck. Affleck nodded Replogle's way. Almost friends.)

It must be sort of a bummer when Mr. or Ms. Big won't even make eye contact with you. (Not that I can blame them.) There's also the disappointment that comes when an extra's bit is cut. (That can happen even to a real actor. Kevin Costner's career was not yet fully baked when he had a role in "The Big Chill." All of his scenes were cut, other than the one where he's laid out in the casket, playing the friend who's death brought the big chillers back together.)

Anyway, next time I come across a film being shot nearby, I'll be sure to take a look and see if I can figure out who the extras are. In the big scheme of movie-making, they also serve who only stand and wait.