Pennyworth Season 3 (HBO Max)

ON SET AT WARNER BROS.

The final episode of season three of Pennyworth aired today. I have yet to watch the series – and I don't have particularly high hopes for the plot, but I'm excited to finally share a little about my experience as a recurring extra. 

I worked as a Supporting Actor on Pennyworth from the beginning of October 2021 to end of January 2022. I worked on location in London and in Warner Bros. Studios. Our group was called P.W.E.: People with Enhancements; there were roughly 20 of us and we forged a great bond as a group. We would do the Wordle and NY Times crosswords in the morning and still message on our group chat today. This was my first time working as as Supporting Actor and I loved meeting and learning about people from all walks of life who fill their time or earn their income through being an extra. So many of the crowd had worked on major scale productions in the UK. 

It was a great opportunity to see how a set is run and learn about the various roles – without the stress of working on the production. I learned about the responsibilities of the AD team, notably the Crowd PAs, as they were in charge of our group. I got to attend fittings, witness first hand the procedures put in place because of COVID (tests in between and on shooting dates), and see how catering / transportation were coordinated for extras. We were collected from locations in minibuses and were fed breakfast and lunch. 

It was often very cold on set (it even snowed) and we did not have warm costumes. I quickly learned to wear thermals under my top and to put hand warmers in my shoes. We were occasionally given blankets and sometimes had heating in the crowd tent. The lack of heating, snacks, and hot water were the most disappointing parts of the experience. It led me to wonder whether this resulted from a lack of budgeting or organisation. 

The lack of organisation in general was an issue. They were constantly changing our dates and cancelling days. Of course film shoots will always encounter issues and need to reschedule but it was very difficult for us to plan our lives with the little notice we received. In the final week of filming our agency re-added a date to our diary that had been removed about a month prior. The agency claimed this date had never been cancelled, and I am shocked at the dishonesty and how they handled their disorganisation. It was also very disappointing to see how they spoke to their extras; we were replaceable and treated as such. It was a great learning experience and insight into the industry. 

I wore claw hands – like Edward Scissorhands – which was a fun and unique costume item; however, I could not remove them myself, and while I was wearing them, I could not remove my mask, hold anything, or open doors. I had to make sure a Runner was aware of my needs at all times.

I also learned that several Crowd PAs had secured their role by being extras on another production and asking the AD team for future jobs. I will encourage myself to do this in the future. This was the coolest first job experience ever and I look forward to working on more productions.