Paid to Disappear

You may of heard of celebrities earning an appearance fee – but did you know that MCTV members often do work that will never be seen?

Stand-ins perform an important role in the film making process. They substitute for the real actor so that the crew can get the lighting and camera setup right while the actor is away from set. The director will often ask stand-ins to deliver the scene dialogue (‘lines’) and walk through (‘blocking’) the scenes to be filmed. This saves lots of money, time and hassle on filming days.

Stand-ins are distinguished from doubles, who replace actors on camera from behind, in makeup, or during dangerous stunts.

Stand-ins do not appear on camera. Stand-ins do not necessarily look like the actor, but they must have the same skin tone, hair color, height and build as the actor so that the lighting in a scene will be set up correctly.

A MCTV member recently scored a role as a stand-in for a lead actor in Stan’s new mystery-thriller ‘Exposure’.

Congratulations to all our MCTV members who have worked as stand-ins – we appreciate your effort even if no-one else will ever get to see it!!

📷: Scarlett Johansson in ‘The Prestige’ 2006