MovieChat Forums > Tales of the Gold Monkey (1982) Discussion > My uncredited acting career.. WHERE'S M...

My uncredited acting career.. WHERE'S MY MONEY

posted 14 years ago by acecrisp-1
7 replies | jump to latest

When i was 9 years old my family and i were out in California to visit my cousins who lived in LA. One day we visited the Queen Mary which is permanently docked there as a museum.

While walking around the main deck i decided to sit down by one of the funnels on a ledge. As i was siting down, I noticed a dog with a patch over one eye, and I was like, I know that dog. But I couldnt think of where right then.

After a minute i realized it was Jack from Tales of the Golden Monkey and the entire crew was there filming a scene from "God Save the Queen" a story of Jake having to stop terrorists from kidnapping a royal family member on board a cruise ship.

As I talked to some of the cast by charector name (i didnt know their real names) I would later find out, the whole thing was being filmed.

3 weeks later I was told by a friend, I appeared on that episode.

To this day ive never gotten paid lol

[–] ferfer72 14 years ago

I find it hard to believe that the producers on that show would allow this to happen. It's illegal now and was illegal then. I think your friend was mistaken.

[–] parkpunk 11 years ago

Plus, wouldn't your 1982 clothing be out of period for the show?

[–] f-ascaso 11 years ago

It was a TV production before high def and big screens. They really didn't sweat the little things in editing, continuity and anachronisms, so it's not that far fetched that if folks got in the back ground they'd just let it go, nobody would notice.

I don't recall which episode it is, but you can actually see the Universal Studios Tour going through the scene if you pause the image.

They're showing episodes from the original Hawaii 5-0, the back ground is more fun to watch than the actors, you have a bunch of tourists smiling and pointing etc., you can see the crowd control tape in many a scene too.

"if it was any good they'd have made an American version by now." Hank Hill

[–] phantomemail 10 years ago

Just watched it. There was not a single person who wasn't in 1938 vintage clothing, unless you wear 1938 vintage clothing as a rule in your daily life. The editors wouldn't be that stupid to include shots not in the script. That's my two cents. There, now you just got paid. On the other hand, for some truth this time, I regularly visited the Black Sheep set at Indian Dunes since I knew one of the pilots and for several episodes they put me in period coveralls as a background mechanic. You don't get paid for nonspeaking roles, genius. Of course, you wouldn't know since you've never been on.

[–] mikeflw1 9 years ago

You don't get paid for nonspeaking roles, genius.

And what period of time do you believe the "nonspeaking roles" didn't get paid?
I lived in an area where there were a lot of movies filming, and an acquaintance played a part in a TV movie, and did get paid, (basicly a "big guy guarding the door" as some of the main actors entered the room, and was easily recognized; he was on the semi-pro bull riding circuit, so he fit the part...).

In fact, there were regular "help wanted: movie extras" ads in the local newspapers at least every other week. (Obviously predating Craig's List, etc.) Those were paid jobs. The bad news was they were mostly low wage, required a LOT of standing around (paid), and you had to be signed up for the work as much as eight months ahead of the time of the filming, and usually no less than three months.
Some work required wearing costumes and make-up, (more pay for costumes, more for make-up), some simply told "you" to wear typical street clothes, with some minor stipulations, like no product advertising on them.

A guy on my softball team was apparently included in a crowd scene outside the building where he had an office as a college T.A., and he was recognizable by the ball-cap he always wore. Apparently the gathered crowd was not planned to be nearly as large as it got, but the word spread quickly on a college campus that several movie stars were filming a movie (yes, a "real" Hollywood movie, with Peter Fonda as one of the stars), and it added to the several dozen actual extras that were inside the building, with their faces being filmed. It was days later that he found out the crowd was due to the filming; because he had an appointment, he worked his way into the building to get to his office, and didn't even see any cameras. The college had offices in the upper floors, and there were retail stores on the ground level, that sometimes drew crowds for their promotions, so it wasn't that uncommon to see a big crowd there.

Suffice to say, he certainly didn't get paid, and probably most, or all of the crowd outside the building didn't get paid, and their faces were not visible in the film anyway, but several hundred people definitely enhanced the movie...

[–] phantomemail 10 years ago

And here's why your phony claim doesn't hold up. A friend has to tell you this information, when you say you recognize the dog so that means you watch the show, and then you don't watch the episode you claim you're in? Try harder next time, magumba.

[–] silvercometred1 9 years ago

To this day ive never gotten paid lol

Did you sign any paperwork?

Do they have your name, address, SSN?