It takes a lot of people to make a movie. Lots of people on the crew, lots of actors (people with lines to say, or featured actions selected by a casting director are called “actors”), lots of extras (extras seldom have lines, and are usually hired based on a photo instead of an audition), and lots of behind-the-scenes workers. This is just part of the crew working to set up on the set of Color Me You yesterday in Flower Mound, Texas.

Yesterday, my grandpa and I were in a movie. So were several dozen other people — some of them are actors, and others are just people who showed up to be in the film. The truth is, anybody can be in a movie or TV show if you’re willing to work as an “extra”.

Extras are those uncredited people you see in the background of nearly every scene…