My work as a TV and film extra was a dream come true. My look – skinny and not too good-looking – was in high demand
I
have always been a television addict. As a young boy growing up in Bath, I’d devour programmes such as Doctor Who, desperate to know how they were created. At 16, I dared to tell a school careers adviser that I wanted to work in TV; she laughed and said a career in television was for people who went to university. She suggested I get a job in retail. Dejected, I reluctantly took on a job at a supermarket, but made my way up through the ranks. They had a budget for making corporate films, and I ended up directing and producing their training videos.
Then, in 1998, I saw an advert in a sci-fi magazine for unpaid extras for Auton, a Doctor Who spin-off. I dashed off an application and was thrilled to get a call weeks later, offering me a role as a villager.
Walking on set the first time, I was like a kid in a sweet shop; it was everything I’d dreamed it would be. I was desperate to do it again, and signed up to an extras agency. I hoped to get the odd role, but to my surprise the bookings started flooding in, and I realised I could make more money being a full-time extra – or “background actor” – than in my retail job.
