The FAN forums are filled with thousands of interesting people with varying lives and opinions. We read the latter daily, but don’t tend to delve into the former a lot. That’s a shame, as there’s a bunch of talent on there going unnoticed. Case in point; did you know an actor posts on the forums? If your answer was no, please read the following interview to learn more about Alec Newman a.k.a Cela. If your answer was yes, please read anyway. It’ll help my self esteem.
1) What made you want to be an actor?
When I was in high school, I did a lot of Forensics and grew to love the performing aspect of it. About midway through college, I figured I would give Hollywood a try for a year, years later, I’m still hooked.
Forensics made this man!
2) Is it harder to get work as an extra?
My typical finding work day:
Postings begin at 11am usually. From then until around 6pm, you call hotlines every 15 minutes. If you hear something that fits you, you follow up in the following manners depending on the agency.
Message Submission: You call in and leave a message; if you’re lucky they call you back.
Internet: You click submit and can add 150 characters as to why you should be chosen. If you’re lucky, they call you back.
Note: For the above, they can call you at one in the morning for a six am call time.
Central Casting (the one I got the most work from): You call the casting directors phone the same time as 1000 other people doing the exact same thing for an hour straight. If you hear a busy signal, you hang up and try again. If you hear ringing, hope they pick up within 5 minutes before your phone cuts you off. Then, even if they do get to talk to a person, you might be an inch too tall or not be the right ethnicity anymore.
You can also use a Call In service to do all this for you, but they cost money and make no guarantees on getting you employment.
On average, I got 2-3 days a week. Of course there are three major off seasons where at most one movie is working.
It's hard to decipher whether or not he got the job.
3) Have you done any major or supporting roles?
Just got my first speaking role last week on a student film, hopefully more will follow.
Extras don’t get upgraded as often as they used to, and even if you do get chosen, a producer can always veto you without warning.
Voice soon to follow (though the outfit most likely not).
4) What is the best film you worked on?
Water for Elephants. It was a month solid of booking with a very friendly cast and crew. The food was great, the hours were long, and I got to spend hours watching circus acts or standing shoulder to shoulder with an elephant.
For pure marking out purposes: Iron Man 2. I worked the medal scene at the end of the movie and the cast spent much of the playing off each other. Then later on that night, they gave me a repulsor glove and I got burned by Olivia Munn in a pickup scene.
Doing stock footage for Private Practice. We spent the entire day driving around famous landscapes of Los Angeles. Morning on the Beach, Lunch in Beverly Hills, and watching the sunset on Mulholland.
Water for Elephants; Food for Cast
5) What is the worst film you worked on?
I can’t remember any bad films, Captain America was a little disappointing, but luckily there are many other mediums. I’d prefer not to name names for obvious reasons.
Worst TV show: There is an infamous show about fraternity life that has the worst reputation among extras. They don’t feed you, they rarely water you, and the crew were utter monsters. When they were nice, they talked to us like children. When they weren’t, they would yell and insult us for seemingly no reason other than to express dominance.
A Canadian Beer Commercial takes the cake though. I think it was 150 extras crammed into a tiny bar filled with smoke for a mosh pit. The crew seemed to take great pleasure in yelling at us, and it was only when some people started fainting that they would give us an air break.
Disappointing, but at least it's not a fraternity or Canadian beer.
6) Who is the friendliest actor/actress?
It’s a business, so usually Principal actors don’t associate with the background. But the less famous ones will usually say hi or have lunch with everyone else.
Jason Segal on the Muppets got cornered by an aspiring extra and actually listened to him for a while without putting him in his place. I was impressed.
Reese Witherspoon on Water for Elephants was very impressive with the cheer she brought to set at four in the morning.
Friendlier than a Muppet.
7) Who is the rudest actor/actress?
I am lucky to have never been around a primadonna on the rampage. But the worst story I have heard (which I can’t confirm) was about Leah Michelle on Glee, but she has apparently toned it down in recent years.
Somebody on this show was a diva?!?
8. How long have you been acting?
My first job was two years ago, but there was a lot of training before that.
Two years going strong.
9) Any crazy stories you want to share?
We were filming an FBI training camp scene at a Summer Camp for Flash Forward. The first part of the day was relatively easy jogging up and down a hill. Then we had a break for a while and they asked for volunteers. I leapt at this and found myself to have volunteered for a barbed wire mud pit crawl. This didn’t faze me in the slightest, which confused some of the other background who immediately regretted raising their hands. This was going to be fun.
But, by the time we had gotten there, it had started to rain-hard. They had electrically powered outdoor heaters set up for us under tents and the pit itself was filling up fast. A heavyset fellow and I volunteered to go in ahead of the stars. We did a run through, and it was frikkin freezing, but it looked good. We dove in again for the actual take, but the Principals weren’t quite psyched up to go through it again.
So there I am, nose deep in the middle of a barbed wire mud pit with steadily rising water, wearing nothing more than a t-shirt and gym shorts, and I’m waiting for the talent to think warm thoughts. Finally, after I couldn’t feel my hands, they were ready to roll. I turned to the shivering mass next to me and yelled out, “I LIVE FOR THIS!”
We did this a few more times, and I probably got a tan from those heaters. Sadly, as is often true of filmmaking, they cut most of that scene, but it was the time I was most assured that this is what I wanted to do with my life.
Otherwise I’ve been in the middle of a circus stampede, been surrounded by voluptuous nude “aliens” from another dimension, been blown up by Justin Bieber, been a guest at a reality tv wedding, and had gigs that I never tell without one or two drinks. Every job is an adventure.
Alec Newman lives for this!
10) Do you have any advice for those wanting to get into the acting business?
Don’t hesitate and be fearless. Join a lot of agencies and get on set. See if you can stand 14 hour days for less than stellar pay. You will get sick, yelled at often, and inhale more mood smoke than can be possibly good for you. But there is nothing quite like seeing yourself on the big or small screen. Honestly, just go for it.