“Listen. I’ve been an actor in an Emmy-winning series. I think I know what I’m talking about here.”
I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t used that phrase on more than one occasion. It’s crazy to think that is technically true, although I’d hardly call what I did “acting.” Like many other ordinary people, I was an extra on the show House of Cards. For those of you who have never watched it, I ask that you stop reading, drop what you are doing, and begin watching the series now as you will never want to stop. That was me when I first started watching it when the first season aired in 2012, and I never would have dreamed that I would actually appear on season 4 of the show, albeit briefly and barely visible.
It all started in the summer of 2015, when I saw an ad online for a casting call seeking extras for a “political drama.” This was perhaps the most thinly veiled attempt to keep the identity of the show a secret. I was in Annapolis, and everybody knew that Kevin Spacey and company filmed House of Cards scenes in our statehouse. So I did what anybody would do. I threw on my prom tux, hopped in my car, and waited three and half hours in a jet black tuxedo in 85-degree heat so my picture could be taken to maybe, possibly, get a chance to be a nameless extra on an internet series. Well as it turns out, House of Cards was in the market for a tall, plain looking 18-year-old guy to stand behind a fake camera. They were willing to pay top dollar too: $10 an hour plus free lunch. I was in heaven.
I got an email saying that they were filming in Aberdeen, MD, and that I needed to arrive that day at 7 a.m. I was actually slightly late, which didn’t please the production assistants but hey, I’m a TV star now. I arrive when I please. They verified that I was me, gave me a wristband, made sure I had the right clothes, and then directed me to a table in a crowded room where I sat for around 6 hours until my scene was called. It was game time. The scene was in a church where Frank Underwood is giving a stump speech and my role in the scene was “videographer,” alongside a veteran extra named Joe. I, along with Joe, got in position in the back of the church acting as cameramen filming the speech. The anticipation was building, and building, and building, and building. The anticipation built itself for almost two hours to the point where I began to have serious thoughts about whether or not this was a massive prank being pulled on me by Hollywood. If that would have been true; I mean damn guys, hats off to you for the effort. However, Kevin Spacey eventually entered the building. He walked to the front. The church was totally silent as he got in position. You would have been able to hear a pin drop if the production assistants had allowed one on set. Then, Spacey began. This was probably the coolest moment of all: getting to watch a world famous actor in his element. The scene was run several times and then we were dismissed. That was my brush with fame, and my god was it worth it.
Now that the season is out and my scene is in the show, I have not been getting the critical acclaim that I was expecting. To date, my total number of award nominations is zero and I have yet to be approached on the streets by any fans of the show. Although I hope this will change, I have a bad feeling it will not. Oh well, here’s to next time, as your favorite videographer vies for an opportunity to return in season 5.
