In the Background: An Extra's Handbook

In the Background gives advice on courses and casting, and how to prepare before shooting begins. It describes the joy and the fear, the pleasures and the pain, the challenge and the boredom of life on set. Wardrobe, taxes, files, resumes, the myriad details of the performer’s life – here are practical details and information that can make the professional difference.

Bill Tarling is a performer extras' agent and has been making his living for many years on sets in Toronto as an extra and principal performer. This book grew out of his answers to the thousands of questions he fields from people on set.

A full-time actor and occasional extra, Peter Messaline has a wide range of film and theatre credits. He is a tax consultant for arts professionals and conducts seminars on tax and the business of acting. He is co-author with Miriam Newhouse of The Actor's Survival Kit and Thhe Canadian Performer's Tax Kit.

Peter Messaline voiced the Daleks in the 1972 Dr. Who serial Day of the Daleks and has worked in England, Canada, and the United States. After the Stratford and Shaw Festivals, he has principal casting in series and MOW. He hasn't had a joe job in 40 years.

Bill Tarling is a performer extras' agent and has been making his living for many years on sets in Toronto as an extra and principal performer. This book grew out of his answers to the thousands of questions he fields from people on set.