# How much does a "corpse" on TV get paid? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 23, 2015, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-corpse-on-tv-get-paid/715795 "2015-03-23T17:03:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-corpse-on-tv-get-paid/715795/21 "2015-03-24T03:52:42Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Are we assuming, or do we know, that a corpse must be played by a live human? Wouldn’t a doll/model be a better choice in some cases (no worry about accidentally breathing or blinking)? We used actual live humans for anything medium or close. Mannequins were also used, usually in the background of long shots. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-corpse-on-tv-get-paid/715795/22 "2015-03-24T11:41:03Z")
> [@Belowjob2.0](#): > > They’re background actors, aka extras. (Unless the corpse in question is also alive in a speaking role at some point in the episode. Then they get paid like any other actor, whatever their agent can negotiate above the minimum.) > > The pay depends on whether the extra is union, that is Screen Actors Guild, or non-union. Union rate looks to be $145 per day now: > > [http://www.sagaftra.org/files/sag/Digest\_Background\_Actors\_LA\_Zones\_8\_4\_0.pdf](http://www.sagaftra.org/files/sag/Digest_Background_Actors_LA_Zones_8_4_0.pdf) It seems like NY is different from LA. My non-actor, non-SAG member son got union rates for union productions in NY. Of course, after a certain number of them ( 3?) he had to join the union if he wanted any more union jobs. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-corpse-on-tv-get-paid/715795/23 "2015-03-24T12:09:02Z")
> [@Karen\_Lingel](#): > > Wow! Wouldn’t it be fun to put “TV Corpse” for “occupation” on your tax returns? You could also put “working stiff”. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-corpse-on-tv-get-paid/715795/24 "2015-03-24T13:30:24Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > If someone doesn’t recognize her, that is “Lily” from the Verizon commercials. For what it’s worth, I saw an interview with Vayntrub where she was talking about her “Lily” commercials. She said she got paid $800 a day for filming those. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-corpse-on-tv-get-paid/715795/25 "2015-03-24T16:17:54Z")
She probably already had the unlimited everything plan. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-corpse-on-tv-get-paid/715795/26 "2015-03-24T17:19:32Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > If the corpse has to spend a lot of time in the make-up chair, and more time on the ME’s table, in you different make-up, and perhaps even have to endure going through part of the exam, like being sprayed all over with water, a la _Law & Order_, or _CSI_, the actor is going to be a SAG member. That’s actually pretty hard work, and you want a professional. > > _L&O_ actually has a rule that someone who appears as a corpse, even if they don’t have any lines in the opening, or flashbacks (or surveillance tapes) can’t appear in another role for a year. That seems to indicate that that use union actors. I always wanted to be a corpse on the original L&O, in one of the Jerry Orbach-Angie Harmon-Sam Waterston episodes. That was going to be my Make a Wish wish if I ended up with a horrible disease. (Yeah, I’m a horrible person to be thinking that…) Now I want to be a zombie on TWD. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-corpse-on-tv-get-paid/715795/27 "2015-03-24T17:21:18Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Are we assuming, or do we know, that a corpse must be played by a live human? Wouldn’t a doll/model be a better choice in some cases (no worry about accidentally breathing or blinking)? My intended was an MD and coroner. We used to have a great time playing “spot the dead body breathing” while watching shows like L&O, NCIS, etc. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-corpse-on-tv-get-paid/715795/28 "2015-03-24T17:27:57Z")
If the corpse is in a zombie movie they get paid a little bit of “walking around money”. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-corpse-on-tv-get-paid/715795/29 "2015-03-24T17:37:11Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > I always wanted to be a corpse on the original L&O, in one of the Jerry Orbach-Angie Harmon-Sam Waterston episodes. That was going to be my Make a Wish wish if I ended up with a horrible disease. (Yeah, I’m a horrible person to be thinking that…) > > Now I want to be a zombie on TWD. Better be skinny. Atlanta Movie Tours does a Walking Dead locations tour hosted by a professional extra whose career highlights included Andrew Lincoln accidentally slamming his head against an unseen rock in a scene from Season 1. He told us that this far into the story, most of the zombies are supposed to be emaciated and skeletal, so the producers look for the skinniest extras they can find. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-corpse-on-tv-get-paid/715795/30 "2015-03-24T17:45:08Z")
This calls to mind an earlier [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=662433&highlight=corpse) of mine. ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-corpse-on-tv-get-paid/715795/31 "2015-03-24T18:06:49Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > You could also put “working stiff”. LOLOL! That’s even better! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-corpse-on-tv-get-paid/715795/32 "2015-03-24T19:10:43Z")
This thread reminds me of the hilarious Ricky Gervais/HBO series “Extras”. If you haven’t seen it, give it a shot. The series was also full of big name actors playing themselves, but acting like total tools. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-corpse-on-tv-get-paid/715795/33 "2015-03-24T20:38:04Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > For what it’s worth, I saw an interview with Vayntrub where she was talking about her “Lily” commercials. She said she got paid $800 a day for filming those. For some reason I said Verizon when it is AT&T. Trying to find the article I saw a little while ago about the faces of various ad campaigns like Flo and Jan from Toyota. I think she is probably making considerably more than $800 a day now. In the beginning of an ad campaign they are not sure how long it will go. Once the company decides to turn an actor into the face of the company their price goes up. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-corpse-on-tv-get-paid/715795/34 "2015-03-24T22:44:12Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Trying to find the article I saw a little while ago about the faces of various ad campaigns like Flo and Jan from Toyota. I think she is probably making considerably more than $800 a day now. In the beginning of an ad campaign they are not sure how long it will go. Once the company decides to turn an actor into the face of the company their price goes up. Dean Winters, who played [Mayhem](https://www.allstate.com/mayhem-is-everywhere.aspx) in the Allstate Insurance ad campaign was paid more for playing that character than he was for any role he had played up to that point in his career. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-corpse-on-tv-get-paid/715795/35 "2015-03-24T23:06:15Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > For some reason I said Verizon when it is AT&T. > > Trying to find the article I saw a little while ago about the faces of various ad campaigns like Flo and Jan from Toyota. I think she is probably making considerably more than $800 a day now. In the beginning of an ad campaign they are not sure how long it will go. Once the company decides to turn an actor into the face of the company their price goes up. Was it [this one?](http://www.therichest.com/rich-list/world/5-richest-commercial-actors/?view=all) ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-corpse-on-tv-get-paid/715795/36 "2015-03-24T23:19:00Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Dean Winters, who played [Mayhem](https://www.allstate.com/mayhem-is-everywhere.aspx) in the Allstate Insurance ad campaign was paid more for playing that character than he was for any role he had played up to that point in his career. Yeah but he has to be blown up, burned, crashed, run over… I hope he doesn’t have cut rate insurance? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-corpse-on-tv-get-paid/715795/37 "2015-03-24T23:53:14Z")
> [@Hey\_Hey\_Paula](#): > > The SAG (now SAG-AFTRA) commercials contract is different from the TV/Movie contracts. In TV/Movies, an actor can be very featured in a scene, but without lines, they are simply paid as a background actor. Been there, done that. In commercials they have the focus of attention or handling the product rule that makes the actor a principal player, with the much bigger bucks and possible residuals that entails. Maybe it has changed. My daughter was an extra - no lines, no focus- on a soap, and got residuals. A whole 30 cents when it ran in Italy. If you aren’t SAG then I’d suspect you get nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-corpse-on-tv-get-paid/715795/38 "2015-03-24T23:57:19Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Dean Winters, who played [Mayhem](https://www.allstate.com/mayhem-is-everywhere.aspx) in the Allstate Insurance ad campaign was paid more for playing that character than he was for any role he had played up to that point in his career. Cartoon I saw in an agent’s office: Typical starlet on a couch snuggled up to typical producer. Her line " Tell me again about residuals." Worst commercial is Hess toy trucks. Nowadays they sell out in a day, so they run the commercial on Thanksgiving and that was about it. Hardly worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-corpse-on-tv-get-paid/715795/39 "2015-03-25T00:21:35Z")
A few years back I was a background extra (although not a corpse) in a Hollywood movie that was doing some location shooting in the town where I lived. I made $9 an hour for a long day of shooting, plus lunch, snacks, and soft drinks throughout the day. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-corpse-on-tv-get-paid/715795/40 "2015-03-25T00:25:42Z")
A very early role of Kevin Costner was a corpse in the Big Chill. He had a speaking part but all of his live scenes were cut from the movie. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-corpse-on-tv-get-paid/715795.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-corpse-on-tv-get-paid/715795.md?page=3)