Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Casting call in Oceanside for Animal Kingdom

“We want people from here to watch the show to say, ‘Hey, that’s my town!’”

Over 1000 people showed up. A Central Casting rep said they were expecting around 500.
Over 1000 people showed up. A Central Casting rep said they were expecting around 500.

For the possibility of fame and fortune, or just plain fun, over 1000 people showed up on April 1 for an open casting call for extras on a new TV show, Animal Kingdom, to be shot in Oceanside. Central Casting, the catch-all casting agency for Hollywood films, was expecting around 500 people.

Doors opened at 11:00 a.m. at the Oceanside Civic Center Plaza; by then the line had already wrapped around the center’s courtyard area. By noon, over 600 people wrapped around the block. Central Casting had to close down the line, advising the hundreds who arrived throughout the day that they could go online if they still wanted to register.

“We want people from Oceanside. We want all kinds. We want people from here to watch the show to say, ‘Hey, that’s my town!’” said Josh, a production assistant.

Central Casting got its wish: surfers, kids, families, bikers, skaters, students, homeless, hippies, and a business suit or two showed up.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Once inside, each person had to fill out a nine-page application packet. Daily pay would be discussed if one receives a call-back. According to the website TVTix.com, base pay for non-union extras is $54 for up to an eight-hour day. Union members, of which a certain number are required to be hired on set, are paid double the non-union rate. There are significant pay-rate increases for overtime, wardrobes changes, or hazardous conditions. Film sets usually include free food.

After waiting in line for hours, there were no interviews or discussions with casting directors, other than taking one’s picture for Central Casting’s Southern California database, which, according to their website, totals over 60,000 extras.

Tyson, Gary, and Joseph

Oceanside’s Tyson said he had some time on his hands, now that he’s between jobs, “My wife thought I’d fit the gritty Oceanside image,” he said. MiraCosta College student Joseph wants to be an actor and hoped becoming an extra would get him some notice.

Gary from Cardiff has had plenty of acting experience, but decades earlier. “My biggest claim to fame was my mom being told that I wasn’t fat enough to play the role of Tanner Boyle, the overweight catcher in the Bad News Bears [1976],” said Gary. “When I did Hot Wheels commercials, they didn’t like my fingers, so they brought in a kid hand model.”

The dark drama for TNT will need from 20 to 100 extras per day for their shooting schedule: April 19–22 and June 14–18.

Show producers, while welcomed in the city, had an issue with city officials the previous day over their YouTube trailer and advance press, which referred to Oceanside as “gritty.”

City councilman Jerry Kern said, while checking out the seemingly endless line, “We worked it out.” (A decade ago, city officials were up in arms when a sports TV biography on NFL star Junior Seau called his Oceanside hometown “gang-infested.”)

The trailer on the new TNT show was filmed in Oceanside last fall.

Footnote: In the first group of 200, the writer spent three and a half hours standing in line, finally completing the casting process. To one question on the application, “Would you appear nude?” the writer answered “no.”

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

3 Tips for Creating a Cozy and Inviting Living Room in San Diego

Next Article

Live Five: Rebecca Jade, Stoney B. Blues, Manzanita Blues, Blame Betty, Marujah

Holiday music, blues, rockabilly, and record releases in Carlsbad, San Carlos, Little Italy, downtown
Over 1000 people showed up. A Central Casting rep said they were expecting around 500.
Over 1000 people showed up. A Central Casting rep said they were expecting around 500.

For the possibility of fame and fortune, or just plain fun, over 1000 people showed up on April 1 for an open casting call for extras on a new TV show, Animal Kingdom, to be shot in Oceanside. Central Casting, the catch-all casting agency for Hollywood films, was expecting around 500 people.

Doors opened at 11:00 a.m. at the Oceanside Civic Center Plaza; by then the line had already wrapped around the center’s courtyard area. By noon, over 600 people wrapped around the block. Central Casting had to close down the line, advising the hundreds who arrived throughout the day that they could go online if they still wanted to register.

“We want people from Oceanside. We want all kinds. We want people from here to watch the show to say, ‘Hey, that’s my town!’” said Josh, a production assistant.

Central Casting got its wish: surfers, kids, families, bikers, skaters, students, homeless, hippies, and a business suit or two showed up.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Once inside, each person had to fill out a nine-page application packet. Daily pay would be discussed if one receives a call-back. According to the website TVTix.com, base pay for non-union extras is $54 for up to an eight-hour day. Union members, of which a certain number are required to be hired on set, are paid double the non-union rate. There are significant pay-rate increases for overtime, wardrobes changes, or hazardous conditions. Film sets usually include free food.

After waiting in line for hours, there were no interviews or discussions with casting directors, other than taking one’s picture for Central Casting’s Southern California database, which, according to their website, totals over 60,000 extras.

Tyson, Gary, and Joseph

Oceanside’s Tyson said he had some time on his hands, now that he’s between jobs, “My wife thought I’d fit the gritty Oceanside image,” he said. MiraCosta College student Joseph wants to be an actor and hoped becoming an extra would get him some notice.

Gary from Cardiff has had plenty of acting experience, but decades earlier. “My biggest claim to fame was my mom being told that I wasn’t fat enough to play the role of Tanner Boyle, the overweight catcher in the Bad News Bears [1976],” said Gary. “When I did Hot Wheels commercials, they didn’t like my fingers, so they brought in a kid hand model.”

The dark drama for TNT will need from 20 to 100 extras per day for their shooting schedule: April 19–22 and June 14–18.

Show producers, while welcomed in the city, had an issue with city officials the previous day over their YouTube trailer and advance press, which referred to Oceanside as “gritty.”

City councilman Jerry Kern said, while checking out the seemingly endless line, “We worked it out.” (A decade ago, city officials were up in arms when a sports TV biography on NFL star Junior Seau called his Oceanside hometown “gang-infested.”)

The trailer on the new TNT show was filmed in Oceanside last fall.

Footnote: In the first group of 200, the writer spent three and a half hours standing in line, finally completing the casting process. To one question on the application, “Would you appear nude?” the writer answered “no.”

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Born & Raised offers a less decadent Holiday Punch

Cognac serves to lighten the mood
Next Article

3 Tips for Creating a Cozy and Inviting Living Room in San Diego

Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader