They could be eating dinner in the background of a shot, just a face in the crowd during a sport scene or strolling past the camera on the street, but many Hollywood stars got their first experience of being on a film set as an extra.
Extras are actors who appear very briefly in the background of scenes, hence why sometimes they’re called ‘background actors’.
This is different to a cameo - where an already famous person or actor makes a brief appearance in a film or show. As an extra, they very rarely have any lines and for the most part don’t even appear in the end credits of the film.
BBC Bitesize takes a look at major actors who were spotted in the background, early in their career.
Stephen Fry and Kenneth Branagh in Chariots of Fire
Stephen Fry was a student at the University of Cambridge when he got a taste of the film industry. He was an extra on the set of the 1981 historical sports film, Chariots Of Fire. He can be spotted, very briefly, as a chorus member in a production during the film.
Fry was clearly bitten by the bug, going on to appear in dozens of movies including playing Oscar Wilde in the film Wilde and appearing in the 2010 live-action Alice in Wonderland.
He’s not the only future star to appear in the movie. Kenneth Branagh, who has featured in films such as Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Oppenheimer, was studying at RADA, a drama school, when he was also an extra in the movie.
“The first assistant director came on the megaphone and said, ‘Hello boys, I don’t know if anyone is interested but we have some lines to offer,’” he told The Independent newspaper in 2015. “The trampling was instant! It was an interesting lesson in showbiz.”
Regé-Jean Page in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One
Before British actor Regé-Jean Page shot to fame playing The Duke of Hastings in smash-hit series Bridgerton, he worked as an extra in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One.
You can just about spot him beside Emma Watson and Julie Walters in a wedding scene. Like many stars who start as extras, Page looked at the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it role as a valuable learning opportunity.
He told American chat show host Jimmy Fallon in 2022: “The best thing about background acting, particularly on big movies like that and I recommend it to every actor out there - is essentially, no one pays attention to you in the background, so you get to be the best actor spy. I was like watching how these directors work with these actors, where Emma Watson hides her phones between takes… and this is the valuable stuff.”
Sally Hawkins in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)
Sally Hawkins in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
These days we recognise Sally Hawkins from huge box office blockbusters such as Made In Dagenham, Paddington, The Shape of Water and Wonka.
And in fact she made one of her earliest appearances in another giant Hollywood movie. Unlike the stars in this article, where you could pause the film the see them in the background, Hawkins role was so small you’d almost need a microscope to spot her. She appears next to multiple digitally recreated versions of herself in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.
“I was just an extra in the village. I got paid 100 quid, I think” she told Variety Magazine in 2013. “I was still in drama school. A friend was working on it and got me in. I was in a huge audience scene. We were replicated about a thousand times. I remember I wore a chiffon costume. It was quite a look. And I saw Ewan McGregor. He would not remember me,” she joked.
This article was published in March 2026
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