JLS (jlsjlsjls) wrote,
JLS
jlsjlsjls

Acting from behind ...

Watching the first season Extras, brought to the small screen by the same team that created The Office, and using the same documentary-camera-POV and script-how-real-people-really-talk techniques. And just as very very good and funny. Ricky Gervais, sans his "The Office" facial hair (and somehow managing to look simultaneously ten years younger and ten years older without it), plays Andy Millman, a film extra who claims to be a "real" actor fallen on hard times and trying to get into speaking parts again. Every episode has a RL star as guest, playing over-the-top versions of their behind-the-scenes selves (see if you can imagine Kate Winslet, costumed as a nun, giving phone sex advice to a fellow performer ... and that's just episode one!

The six-episode first season features shining guest appearances by 1) Kate Winslet, 2) Ben Stiller, 3) Ross Kemp, 4) Samuel L. Jackson, 5) Les Dennis, and 6) Patrick Stewart. So far (I'm on episode 4), both regular cast and guests seem to be having a ball, which always shines through and enhances any performance.

What can I say ... yet another for your must-see lists. :-)

P.S. Peeking ahead via IMDB ... season two includes Orlando Bloom, David Bowie, Daniel Radcliffe, Diana Rigg, Warwick Davis, Ronnie Corbett, Stephen Fry, Ian McKellen, Germaine Greer, and Robert De Niro (and those are just the instant recognition names)
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