I just saw that movie (for like, the 10th time) last night! They show that on TV a lot.
You get paid residuals?
I’ve been an extra in two Sissy Spacek movies, both filmed in the Montgomery, AL area. The first was THE LONG WALK HOME. It was long and boring (though not very demanding) work, but I did get to meet Whoopi who was a blast (unlike her sorry ass brother who went around pimping her autograph like the crackhead he was, but that’s another story). I also got to meet Dwight Schulz, who is extremely intelligent. I’ve watched the movie about 10 times and have never seen myself.
The second movie was THE GRASS HARP and I have LOADS AND LOADS AND LOADS of stories about that one because I also worked in the hotel where the actors stayed. The short version:
Walter Matthau, who always seemed like he’d be a complete horse’s arse, was probably the nicest celebrity I ever met*
Jack Lemmon was one of the most, ahem, shall we say “feline-lashed” men I ever met, famous or otherwise- we learned to despise his wife with a passion
Sissy Spacek has about as much sense of her own stardom as the checkout lady at your local Kroger- totally down to earth
Roddy McDowell was the coolest human being who ever lived barring none period
Edward Furlong literally stank and gave every impression of being continually under the influence of something (including his much older girlfriend, who was just as filthy as he was- their room had to be closed down for two weeks to clean after they left)
Mary Steenburgen, probably the least famous member of the cast (although she is an Oscar winner), was by far the most “Hollywood” (complete with the sunglasses in doors on overcast days)
Nell Carter was completely sweet and pretty much exactly like most of the characters she played (I was so sad to learn she died broke and deeply in debt)
Bonnie Bartlett is exceptionally charming
Charles Durning tells some fascinating D-Day Stories
Unfortunately, I never got paid for my time. Bunches and bunches of people never got paid for being extras, bit players, renting houses, loaning cars, etc., to the film. The entire thing was done by Matthau’s son Charlie, he went overbudget, it was a box-office bomb, and the company that made it declared bankruptcy, so more people got screwed than at Messalina’s Sweet Sixteen. It was fun, but if you ever see Charlie Matthau please tell him I want my $90. NOW!
The * from above: the other exceptionally nice celebrity that I expected to be obnoxious was Tony Randall. At the time he was a newlywed who’d just learned that his wife was pregnant, which could explain the happiness. You’d never guess he was almost 80 at the time either- he looks 55 tops.
I was an extra back home in France. The movie was a giant flop, “l’homme aux yeux d’argent”. I was 10 years old, we filmed for 3 or 4 days, one day was just waiting around as the weather wasn’t nice and couldn’t fit in the previous scenes. The director was very nice, we ate with the actors, the crew, it was great. One of the actor was Alain Souchon who’s also a singer, it was neat to be with him as I knew who he was even at 10 years of age.
I got paid around $20 and missed school, it was perfect.
Oh, by the way, they cut so many scenes, you must see me for half a second 500 feet away 
My uncle was an extra in Tucker: The Man and his Dream. In the scene where Tucker is showing the auto executives gruesome accident photographs. He’s the skinny guy with glasses who quickly leaves the table, apparently nauseated.
There was a tv show in 1995 called…Night Stand I think. But it ran only briefly. It was a sitcom that parodied daytime talk shows. Anyway, me and my dad were audience members of an episode. Since it was an actual studio audience that was used, noone got paid. But I got my face on tv for awhile.
I was almost a paid extra in You’ve Got Mail. I belonged to an extras agency at that time and it was the only job they ever called me for. I didn’t end up going because they gave me just two hours notice to get to a bad neighborhood in brooklyn at 2am that I wasn’t sure how to get to. In the rain. I had finals or something in college that next morning so I didnt go, since there was also no guarantee that I’d get in anyway.
I still regret it because it could have been cool and I didn’t end up staying in college much longer anyway.
I was an extra in a made for TV movie called “Without Consent”. It’s about “troubled teens” who get sent to “treatment facilities” until “their insurance runs out”. Jennie Garth was in it, and possibly that guy who played Darlene’s boyrfriend from Roseanne. It sure looked like him.
I’m the guy with long hair whose face you can’t see in the scene where Jennie Garth is eating in the cafeteria.
That MUST be where you recognize me from.
Yes, I remember that day. I’m a Columbia student, and my experience was about the same as yours. . . except that I was allowed to stay in the background when they started filming. The production crew had set up all kinds of extras to set the scene: groundskeepers with rakes, chatting faculty, kids on skateboards, and a van that kept driving up at the end of every take. When the movie comes out, look for a group of chatting students sitting on the steps - I’m in there somewhere.