''The Extra'' is a 2005

Australian film The cinema of Australia had its beginnings with the 1906 production of ''The Story of the Kelly Gang'', arguably the world's first feature film. Since then, Australian crews have produced many films, a number of which have received internati ...

starring

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

comedian

Jimeoin James Eoin Stephen Paul McKeown (born 24 January 1966), better known as Jimeoin (pronounced "Jim Owen"), is an English-born Irish comedian and actor. Jimeoin rose to prominence in the early 1990s in Australia, where he had his own TV show and ...

. At the

ARIA Music Awards of 2005 The 19th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAS) were held on 23 October 2005 at the Sydney Superdome at the Sydney Olympic Park complex, thus continuing the pre ...

the soundtrack was nominated for Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album.ARIA Award previous winners.

Plot

Jimeoin, in the title role, plays a man obsessed with becoming famous. He is passionate about being a celebrity, but unfortunately he just isn't very talented. After trying to secure roles in myriad productions he finally finds employment as an extra, and what follows is his misadventures as he becomes involved with shady business men, producers and mobsters, all of whom are fixated with show business.

Production

Jimeoin was interested in writing the film because he wanted to explore the nature of fame. He says it took five years to write the script.

I work on them really slowly. I do a lot of stand-up, so time's at a minimum, and then, after two years I looked at it and thought it was the wrong thing I wanted to do - so I started again, and got it done within a year and a half after that. I then noticed I had two stories mixed into one, so I had to pick one story over the other - that's probably why it took five years, I had to realise that... I wanted the second film to have a broader appeal, then I could get more money to make it - so it would be a better looking picture. It's not a film about films - there's not a lot of film jokes in it. I'm really hoping people discover it.Clint Morris, Jimeoin Interview
Retrieved 6 April 2015

Jimeon was integral to the casting progress.

Katherine Slattery, I hadn't met before, and I remember she came to the audition process and just nailed it. Everyone else
n the film N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...
I knew pretty well, but I still had them audition for it. That's the only way you know whether they're going to work as their characters. I actually removed things from the script after the audition - because they didn't work.

It was the first movie shot at Melbourne's Docklands Studios.

Reaction

Box office

''The Extra'' grossed $749,113 at the box office in Australia.

Overseas Release

While this film was considered a

box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicke ...

flop in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, in 2007 it became the first Australian film to receive a general release in the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

since ''

Crocodile Dundee ''Crocodile Dundee'' (stylized as ''"Crocodile" Dundee'' in the U.S.) is a 1986 action comedy film set in the Australian Outback and in New York City. It stars Paul Hogan as the weathered Mick Dundee, and American actress Linda Kozlowski as rep ...

''. The film was picked up by a Chinese distributor following a series of film festivals organised in the country by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 2006. The Chinese distributor contacted the producers and brokered the deal. "People in China are attracted to the dream of fame and celebrity like everyone else ''The Extra'' treats the aspiration in a way Chinese audiences will respond to", said a spokesman for the distributor. "It is a cleverly structured film with some wonderful performances and a lovely balance of drama and humour". "When you put a lot of work into something and it doesn't do very well it can be disheartening," said Jimeoin. "There are some many films in the world and when you release an Australian film you're up against all of them. ''The Extra'' is a simple film and it was released with no fuss, we paid for that but it shows every cloud has a silver lining". "Jimeoin's flop gets new lease" by Michael Gadd ''The Australian''6 April 2007
Retrieved 6 April 2015

References

External links

The Extra at the national Film and Sound Archive
*
Trailer for film
at

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

Review of film
at At the Movies
Review of film
at

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

Review of film
at

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...

Review of film
at MC Reviews {{DEFAULTSORT:Extra, The APRA Award winners 2005 films Australian romantic comedy films 2005 romantic comedy films Films shot in Melbourne Films scored by Roger Mason (musician) 2000s English-language films Films directed by Kevin Carlin