Friday Night Lights - Info from an Extra Posted by DarkUFO at Sunday, August 31, 2008 (View Comments) Labels: Friday Night Lights

Last week, I got a call from a girl from the "Friday Night Lights" extras casting office, asking me to be an extra again on the show. However, this time I was going to have a specialized role...as a waitstaff. I didn't get any other info from her, except that I was to be one of five people, so there was a pretty damn good chance I was actually going to be visible on tv! I hesitated, since I was planning on going to Houston this weekend since today is my mom's birthday. I decided to go for it, since I knew my mom would understand and want me to do it (of course, she did).

I wanted to go get my nails done in case they were going to show a close-up of my hands or something. I've only gotten my nails done a handful of times in my life, mostly because I can't do a damn thing (zipping up my pants, buttoning a button, etc) when I have fake nails on. The Vietnamese woman who was doing my nails baffled me, because she was speaking Vietnamese to herself, it seemed. There were two other Vietnamese women there but they weren't saying anything or looking at each other. My lady was laughing to herself (the others weren't laughing), so I was thinking she might have a mental illness...until I told someone about it later, and apparently not making eye contact while conversing is part of their culture. Who knew? I want to learn Vietnamese just so I can understand what they're talking about the next time I go.

I showed up at a church off of Bee Caves Road in west Austin, and figured we were going to be filming there. As it turned out, it was just a meeting spot for all the extras and to get everything ready (i.e. wardrobe) before we went to the actual filming location. One of the waitstaff didn't show up, so it was just another girl named Kristen and me, and two guys, Charlie and Dustin. We had the most horrible outfits to wear...we had to bring our own button down white shirts, jeans, and cowboy boots, and they provided us with BOLO TIES and country-looking aprons made of denim and the pockets were in red bandana material. It was so embarrassing, but hey, you do what you gotta do.

We piled into vans and drove a mile or two down the road, to some extremely ritzy house with a gate out front. It had a circular driveway and the most amazing backyard/pool/bar ever. It was the nicest house I've ever been in, hands down. The other extras started showing up--the football players, cheerleaders, and barbecue guests. The scene was that one of the "Friday Night Lights" couples was hosting a hoity-toity barbecue at their house to try to get their son on the team or something.


I had already done my hair and makeup beforehand, but they wanted to put my hair up in a ponytail. I got to sit in one of the actors' special chairs and have one of their hairstylists do my hair. I felt like a celeb! I had to find a place to hide my purse, so I came up with the ingenious idea of hiding it in the bushes. Jesse Plemons, one of actors who plays a football player on the show, saw me struggling to get it out, and he came and pulled it out for me. That was pretty exciting! I was blown away by how attractive Coach Taylor (Kyle Chandler) was. He's hot for an old guy!!!

Kristen and I were chosen to be part of the scene inside the house where Brooke Langton (not sure of her character's name), who was hosting the party, was telling the waitstaff (Kristen and me) to fill up the guests' wine glasses and to "not be chintzy", then Connie Britton (coach Taylor's wife) walked in. Brooke was friendly and made small talk with us. I was laughing with her about how high her boobs were pushed up in her dress. The "wine" she was drinking was actually Cran-Grape juice, and she couldn't stop raving about it. Once Connie came in and Brooke went to meet her at the door, Kristen and I then had to turn and go into the kitchen and pretended to be washing our hands (with no water), filling up wine glasses (with an unopened wine bottle), etc. I know for sure you'll be able to see me on camera in that scene because the camers were in our faces--thank God they got my good side!

We had a later scene outside with everyone, complete with a Texas band who sang about "leaving a girl in San Angelo" and guests two-stepping. I had to go around with a tray of cheese and nasty-looking figs and offer them to the guests. My feet were KILLING me by the end of the night. I had bought some cool-looking cowboy boots a few years ago at Goodwill for $15, but I had never worn them. I got them just because they were basically my size, and I figured they might be good for a Halloween costume one day. I never imagined I would be using them for the first time on a tv show! Kristen, Charlie, Dustin, and I were starving...we were the only people who weren't allowed to eat, because we were the servants. The guests gorged themselves on barbecue ribs, brisket, sausage, and potato salad. Thankfully, they had yummy Chipotle burritos waiting for us as we left at midnight.

Although my outfit was completely ugly and embarrassing, it was such a fun and exciting experience. Hopefully I can soon cross my goal of being on national tv off of my lifelong goal list! Don't forget, season 3 of "Friday Night Lights" premiers on October 1. Watch for me!!!

Last night, I finally got to be an extra on the NBC show "Friday Night Lights". I've honestly never even seen the show, but it's the only show to my knowledge that is filmed in the Austin area. It gets great reviews from critics, but it has pretty low ratings, so it's a miracle they came back for a third season. I figured this could possibly be my chance to accomplish one of my lifelong goals of being on national tv. I was booked as a football fan, and I knew my chances of actually being seen on camera were very slim, since there were probably 200 other fan extras there. I got there promptly at 5:45, and stood around in the check-in line for an hour. When I was approaching the front of the line, the casting director approached me and asked how old I was. I told him the truth, that I was twenty-seven . After I told him, he said, "Hmmmm. I might need you to be a cheerleader...I'll come find you if I end up needing you." I got super excited, until I realized that I had probably squashed my chances of being a cheerleader on camera (and most likely being seen on tv) when I told him the truth about my age. I can add that to my list about bad things about getting old (even if I do look like I could pass for a freaking high school student!). Alas, he never came back.

We sat around for another two hours, while people continued to get checked in. They had lots of food, none of which I was interested in...meatloaf, mashed potatoes, veggies, and salad. I was satisfied with my 100-calorie pack of Cheese Nips (ew, I hate that name) and peanuts that I had gotten from my plane trip last weekend. The most repulsive, nerdiest guy came and took the seat next to me and proceeded to shovel food in his mouth, without ever even taking a breath. It was absolutely repulsive. Thank God I had my iPod on, so that he wouldn't try to talk to me. He really grossed me out so much that I had to turn my body in the total opposite direction from him. I was relieved when he got up to get seconds, and some other guy came and took the original dude's place.

We made our way to the stands, and I actually got a pretty good spot--relatively close to the 50 yard line, and about the fifth row of people up. (However, wouldn't you know...the disgustingly obnoxious nerd who had sat next to me back at the food tent was one row ahead of me...so I had to hear him talking to himself and making stupid comments and arm movements that a 5-year-old would make.) I was even more excited when they took some of the real actors from the show and placed them in the crowd...I was about two people away from some of the actors (I think they were supposed to be the players' family members--one was Brooke Langton, who had been on shows like "Melrose Place", according to my obsessive celebrity research that I did when I got home early this morning). Minka Kelly and her tv dad, Brad Leland, and Aimee Teegarden and her mom, Connie Britton, were a few rows ahead of me. Minka is just as flawless as she appears on tv and in photos. Aimee is beautiful too--her hair is pure silk--but I was surprised by her body type...definitely not the typical tv actress body type. I guessed her to be about a size 6 or maybe even larger, when I saw her on the field in her tight jeans.

They had us just wave pom-poms and signs and cheer (although, for several shots, we had to pantomime and not make any noise...but proceed to pretend like we were cheering--which must've looked pretty stupid, but obviously on camera it won't be like that). We had to first dress in the home team's colors and be on the Dillon Panthers' side. Then, we changed into the opposing team's colors and were fans for that team as well. They had to keep us entertained between all the relentless standing up and sitting down by giving away free iPods, sunglasses, and t-shirts (of course, I didn't win any). We finally got out at 3:30 am (I was one of the first people in the check-out line...I assume the people who hadn't been as swift as I was probably got out an hour later). I forgot to find out when this episode will be shown on tv. According to tvguide.com, season 3 doesn't start airing until October 1...and it's only shown via Directv? I'm confused. Luckily, NBC posts full-episodes on their website, too, so if I happen to be on screen for some reason, I will let everyone know. It was a cool thing to do, but it would've been a lot more fun if I had a friend with me. If I can wrangle someone into going with me next time, I'll do it again.

Source: K. Funk