Christian Long tells us about the time he got a job as a movie extra on the 2010 film Machete. If you’ve seen the movie, you know it’s full of violence, gunfire, and explosions, just what you’d expect from Robert Rodriquez. What goes on behind the camera may be boring compared to the finished product, but it’s a lot more exciting than sitting at a desk all day.
There were a few explosions during the shoot, and they were all treated much more casually than I’d imagined. At random times, we’d be told things like “stay away from this barrel, we’re blowing it up in a few minutes.” On camera, we’d carry weapons made of rubber and plastic while the stunt coordinators would run around firing blanks. Off camera, they’d teach us how to fall like we’d been shot and how to land without getting hurt. This came in especially handy during this scene.
I do have to admit to feeling some disappointment when I asked about squibs and was told that all our blood was going to be added digitally in post-production.
See the scene he referred to (and others) and read the rest of the story at Uproxx. It turns out that Long was eventually promoted from extra to Robert DeNiro’s stand-in’s stand in. Go figure.