Film Career · Cast
Background Actor
Cast · SAG-AFTRA
- Union
- SAG-AFTRA
- Day rate
- ~$208/day
- Experience
- Entry level
What does a Background Actor do?
Background actors, also called extras, populate the world of a scene: the diners in the restaurant, the pedestrians on the street. Union background work is covered by SAG-AFTRA with set rates and conditions, and three or more union background days is one of the classic qualification paths into the union itself.
What does a Background Actor make?
- SAG-AFTRA scale is $208 a day for general background (2024-25), with bumps for wardrobe, mileage, and special abilities; non-union runs about $100-$150.
- Roughly $15K-$45K a year for those working steadily.
Film work is gig based, so crew are paid a day or weekly rate rather than a salary. These are realistic 2024-2025 ranges grounded in union rate cards and industry data; actual pay swings with budget tier, market, overtime, and reputation.
Sources & how we estimate pay
Union scale is the floor; the ranges above also reflect market day rates above scale. They are grounded in the following 2024–2025 sources:
Union rate cards & wage schedules
Official guild scale — the floor each craft is paid from.
- IATSE — 2024 Basic Agreement wage scales (PDF) ↗
- IATSE Local 600 (International Cinematographers Guild) — camera rate cards ↗
- DGA — minimum salary rate cards (director, unit production manager, assistant directors) ↗
- WGA — schedule of minimums (writers) ↗
- SAG-AFTRA — theatrical & background rate sheets (cast, stunts, background) ↗
- Teamsters Local 399 — basic feature wage rates, 2024–27 (transportation, locations, wranglers) (PDF) ↗
Government wage data
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, for the closest federal occupation.
On the job
- Perform natural, repeatable background action exactly as the AD directs
- Hold continuity across takes: same path, same timing, same business
- Provide appropriate wardrobe options and arrive camera-ready
- Work within the voucher and sign-in system that documents your days
You’ll like and be good at this job if:
Hard skills
- You can repeat an action naturally and hit a mark take after take
- You take direction quickly
Soft skills
- You are reliable and patient
- You blend into a scene without pulling focus
Career progression
Background work is both a job and a doorway. Three days of SAG-AFTRA-covered background work make you eligible to join (though the vouchers themselves are not accepted as proof — you submit paystubs), and background days are where many working actors learn set discipline. Some background actors move into stand-in and photo-double work, which pays better and builds relationships with the camera department.
A typical path, from entry to the top of the craft. Times are rough and vary by market, luck, and how steadily the work comes.
- Background Actoryou are here· entry
~$15K–$45K/yr
- Actor· toward principal roles
How do you become a Background Actor?
Register with the background casting agencies in your market; nearly all hiring flows through them. Reliability is the entire game: people who show up early, follow direction, and never sneak phone photos get called back until the union days accumulate.
On covered productions, rates, hours, and conditions for the role are set by SAG-AFTRA contracts.
Covered by a union? The joining a film union guide explains how each one takes members.