There’s audio and video commercial outtakes floating around the Internet featuring an irritated and/or inebriated Orson Welles.
This is a pretty popular video. It’s funny. Watch one time for Orson Welles, then watch it again. Let’s focus on something else the second time around.
You probably know what an extra is — a person in a non-speaking role in a TV show or movie, typically used to decorate the frame around the main characters. They are frequently used in settings where a lack of people would be distracting. For example, restaurant scenes typically have extras.
Extras are also commonly known as “background actors”, and in these commercial outtakes, you can see people behind Orson Welles pretending they are having a delightful time.
But WAIT. There are two people AT HIS TABLE. They aren’t talking. If you were talking about champagne to them and they started acting like that you’d say “WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?”
These people are FOREGROUND EXTRAS. I don’t know if foreground extras are something you’d ever find in a television show or a movie. I think they are pretty common in commercials.
Look, here’s a voiceless Paul Rudd selling Super Nintendo. Sure, he’s the star of the commercial. But he has no dialogue. He’s doing some pretty solid foreground extra work here.
Now look at these weirdos. They are all apparently talking, but we don’t hear any of it. It’s all YAHTZEE YAHTZEE YAHTZEE music and singing. All the actors are foreground extras.
What I find so weird about the Orson Welles commercial is that there are literally silent foreground extras interacting with the star of the commercial. It’s clear these aren’t actors at the same level as Welles. I don’t mean acting ability, I mean like its some kind of status hierarchy within the commercial itself.
Orson Welles > Foreground Extras > Background Extras
Notice that the two foreground extras don’t crack up, don’t do anything as Welles completely bombs his lines. They stay focused on doing what they are supposed to do. They can’t risk being unprofessional. They’re foreground extras.
