MARY WILSON
Dear Mary,
I
feel like I have been a Supreme all of my life, because I grew up with very
little and dared to dream of a better tomorrow. I wanted to experience success. I wanted to see my picture in magazines and be interviewed
on television. I learned about the ups and downs of show business by watching
the Supremes go through personnel changes. And you in particular inspired me. You faced your fears, went out on stage alone, and fought
for recognition. You survived an abusive relationship and helped others trapped
in similar situations. You went
back to school as an adult and triumphed.
You brought honor to being a performer “in the background.”
I
understand what you have gone through.
You’ve paid your dues singing background with the Supremes. As a struggling actor, I have also paid
my dues doing background work, also known as “extra” or “atmosphere”
work. Just as background vocalists
support the lead singer, background actors support lead talent.
When
I lived in Baltimore, many actors did background work to break into the
business. Most agencies outside of
New York or Los Angeles will book actors for both speaking and non-speaking
roles. Working in Baltimore, I’d
get a call from an agent who would ask me to read for a speaking role, but also
ask if I’d be willing to do background work in the event that I did not get the
speaking role. Most of the time,
you grab any union check available to you, because it helps pay into your
pension fund and health benefits.
The acting world that thrives in New York and Los Angeles is a different animal. Actors should only seek speaking roles because background work can be the “kiss of death” to your career. An actor once told me, “If casting agents learn you have done extra work, they will consider you ‘just background’ and won’t look at you for featured roles.” Faced with a dilemma, you then ask yourself, “Do I make this quick money doing extra work, or do I hold out in case a ‘real’ role comes along?”
However,
the extras in Los Angeles take their work seriously. For some, that’s all they
do. There are specific agents who
specialize in background work, and years ago the industry introduced separate
(but not equal) unions for background and non-background actors. Background actors who intend to work
regularly must provide agencies with photos that show their various “looks” or
“characters”: policeman, homeless person, hooker, punk, goth, drag queen,
doctor, nerd, business person, biker, etc. In order to stay competitive, a background actor should own
his or her own costumes, and their resume should note any special skills that
he or she has like surfing or horseback riding. Any tattoos or body piercings
should also be noted on their resume, with the location of such body art
identified and the number of incidences tallied. Background actors arrive on the set with a chair and a good
book, or just about anything to fill the long waiting periods. They settle down and call the job
hotlines, hoping to fit one of the stereotypes listed in the breakdowns so they
can get work the next day:
-18 to “look younger”
-Upscale
-Downscale
-Caucasian
-African American
-Mixed ethnicity
-Latin thug
-Hot Bodies
-Character face (usually means UGLY)
I
read somewhere that Robert Townsend did a lot of extra work when he started
out. He partially appears in the
scene in Mahogany where Billy Dee and
Diana are arguing outside of an abandoned building. (Townsend tells his friends to watch for his shoulder.) He inspired other actors by sharing
tales of his days as an extra, and used the money he earned from his background
roles and character roles to fund his first film project, Hollywood Shuffle.
Many other famous actors started out doing background work, including
Dorothy Dandridge and John Wayne.
Likewise, many successful singers first worked as background vocalists
before stepping out into the limelight: Luther Vandross, Dionne Warwick,
Whitney Houston, Darlene Love, Nona Hendryx, and you, Mary Wilson. Timing is crucial.
When
I moved to L.A., I was ambivalent about taking background work. I had been a well-known TV host, albeit
in the world of home shopping, but the job had required the same skills as any
other acting gig. I had also just
come off a successful four-month run of FREEda
Slave, my one-man show. I had gotten good reviews and was even cast in a
pilot. Then the money ran out and
the bills needed to be paid. My
agents were not getting a forty-something black actor enough “featured role”
auditions, so survival overrode pride and I went back to being an “extra.”
Mary,
I remember seeing you do a hilarious tribute to background singers in your live
shows. You would perform a medley
of Supremes hits, singing only the background vocals. You would joke, “Honey, my ‘ooooh baby, baby(s)’ took me
laughing all the way to the bank!”
For you, there was no shame in it.
Even though I didn’t always like background work, there was no shame in
what I had to do either.
As mentioned in an earlier chapter, my favorite
background experience was on the film Homicide,
because of the kindness shown to me by David Mamet. My work on Boomerang, starring Eddie Murphy, was also a lot
of fun; besides loving the soundtrack to the movie, I was able to wear one of
own African designs in my scene. Some movie titles on my resume I have actually
gone out and purchased, just so I can pause my scene and prove to myself that I
really do appear in the film. One casting director told me I would stand out in
the Snoop Dogg/Dr. Dre film The Wash,
because I was the only background actor dressed professionally in suit and tie,
and I drove a high-end, luxury car in the scene. She was right.
Although most films I have appeared in for only
seconds, I do feel a sense of pride when a movie I have worked on wins a major
award. These include:
Broadcast News (Academy Award)
The Accidental Tourist (Academy Award)
Dreamgirls (Academy Award)
Philadelphia (Academy Award)
Other
movies on my resume I treasure for their gay themes, such as:
Stonewall (birth of the gay rights movement)
To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything,
Julie Newmar (drag queen road trip,
starring Wesley Snipes)
The Jackal (gay niteclub scene with Bruce Willis)
I
laugh at this next list of films because they were huge flops, but I tell
myself, “At least I got a check out of it!”:
Showtime (starring Eddie Murphy & Robert DeNiro)
The Distinguished Gentleman (starring Eddie Murphy & Sheryl Lee Ralph)
Gigli (starring “Bennifer”)
The Meteor Man (starring Robert Townsend)
Species II (just a bad horror movie)
A Man Apart (appearance by Karrine “Superhead” Steffans)
I
was fortunate enough to be cast as a stand in for three actors on three
different projects. These include:
Men (double for Ving Rhames, television pilot)
Mission Impossible III (double for Laurence Fishburne)
Robbery Homicide Division (double for Barry Shabaka Henley, television pilot)
Some
film projects I completely forget about, because I can hardly be seen in them
or I don’t even remember my scene:
Training Day
Baby Boy
Random Hearts
Tin Men
Twelve Monkeys
Suspect
Washington Square
Dark Blue
Diner
Clara’s Heart
The Bedroom Window
Enemy of the State
Guarding Tess
He Said She Said
Her Alibi
Home for the Holidays
Ladder 49
Since
television shows are less busy and elaborate, visually speaking, my scenes
usually stand out and friends call me when they see my appearances. If I got a
check for every time I was seen in one of these projects, I’d have a nice nest
egg:
The Steve Harvey Show
The Parkers
Moesha
One on One
City of Angels
Looking at these lists, I am proud of the work I have
done. However, I would still like
to one day appear in a featured role.
Some background actors, like some background singers, are content with
standing a few feet behind the “stars.”
They work steadily and are well known in the business. Then there are
people like me, and you, Mary, who respect background work but also want to
graduate.
Mary, the lives and experiences of the Supremes have made an indelible
mark on my life. As Flo used say,
“Chile, we is terrific.”
With Parnell Damone, who has sung background with Mary Wilson for over 20 years |
I have written
my memoirs as a tribute to all the former ladies of The Supremes, to every
Dreamgirl (past & present), and for every gay man who dares to dream.
Touch
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