MovieChat Forums > Once Bitten (1985) Discussion > I was an extra in this film

I was an extra in this film

posted 11 years ago by art6602
14 replies | jump to latest

The casting company that I was signed up with sent a bunch of us out for a day to film the school scenes. They were filmed at a junior high school in Venice, Ca. I can be seen for few seconds in the scene where Jim Carrey comes to school and is grilled by his friends about the woman he was with the night before. He says he doesn't remember anything and gets up to leave. His girlfriend, sitting at the table behind him gets up to confront him. If you look over her left shoulder, you'll see me on the other side of her steal her apple off of her lunch tray while watching her to see if she catches me. They did about 10 takes of that scene. I earned $50.00, (which was great because I was starving), and got to meet Jim Carrey before he was anybody. He was a pretty cool guy. Easy to approach.

[–] BoyToy84 11 years ago

Any interesting stories from your time on set? I actually heard that Jim Carrey was going through a boat load of personal problems while filming Once Bitten and evidently he wasn't great on set. I read that in an interview from someone involved in the production. In addition to that, he also has a reputation for being a jackass anyways.

[–] art6602 11 years ago

I didn't notice that he was difficult or anything. He was cool to those of us who spoke to him. The woman playing his girlfriend seemed somewhat aloof; between takes she would sit and read. She wasn't interested in talking to any of us. I mean, that's fine. She was under no obligation to get all chummy with us extras, but it would have been nice. She certainly wasn't mean to anyone. The whole thing was surreal.

[–] BoyToy84 11 years ago

What about the two guys who played Jim Carrey's friends? Were they cool?

[–] art6602 11 years ago

I never had a chance to talk to them. I just happened to be in a position to talk to Carrey. It was a pretty active day. They had us going here, going there. And I was only on that set for one day.

[–] BoyToy84 11 years ago

Surprised you were not in the gym for the dance...I always thought most low production movies use the same extras over and over for the duration. I guess that saves them for having to keep paying new people. Did they film all of the outside shots for the school that day? Sorry for all the questions, but I love hearing from people like yourself who were there during filming.

[–] art6602 11 years ago

No, I didn't see the gym at all. I haven't seen the film in quite awhile, but if he was "vampired out" make-up wise, then those scenes were shot at a later date for the purposes of keeping the make up consistent. But no, all of the scenes we did on that day were just centered around the scene that I'm in and the moments just before and just after it.
Hey, no problem with the questions. It was fun to be a part of. It was in February or so of '85 when I did that and this is the most I've ever spoken of it. 29 years!

[–] BoyToy84 11 years ago

That's awesome man. I myself was born in October '84 so it's cool being able to watch this movie and seeing what life was like at that point, same with Back to the Future, I believe I was born while they were filming that, so it's always great to see life on screen at that point.

I will never forget the first time I saw Once Bitten. As I'm sure you remember, Jim Carrey was 'the guy' in the mid nineties. After Ace Ventura he really caught fire. I was home sick from school in 95 or 96 and of course I was a massive Carrey fan at that point and a movie came on HBO with Jim Carrey looking like a very young guy with vampires. I think at that point no one had heard of Jim Carrey prior to In Living Color, so it was cool to find Once Bitten, a movie that seemingly no one had ever heard of at the time and honestly I believe most people still have never heard of this movie.

To me it really is a hidden gem of the 1980's. Is the movie a bit corny at times, absolutely, but that is really part of the charm. I imagine it would be hard for you to speak of your time on set with your family/friends, b/c again I still think most people have never heard of this movie even though Jim Carrey is a massive star today.

What are your thoughts on the movie, having been part of it? Do you watch it often, even if it is just to check out your scene? Have you been an extra in any other films?

[–] art6602 11 years ago

As far as that film went, my favorite character was the gay butler. I was destitute at that time, so if I didn't have money to see a film, I missed it. VHS was in its infancy and HBO was very limited as well. Needless to say, it was a few years before I saw it. It was cool to see myself in it. The Beatle haircut just sort of happened so my family always gets a good laugh when they see it.
Yes, I was also in The Best of Times and added a post there as well. I was in that one before Once Bitten, actually.

[–] art6602 11 years ago

Yeah it was cool to see what became of Jim Carrey after that. I met him when he was a complete unknown. As far as I know, he had been doing stand up at the time. I liked him in The Mask, Liar, Liar, 23, the Batman movie he did. I never got into In Living Color, so I didn't see much of that.

[–] tdl797 11 years ago

I didn't catch the apple thing at all, but rewound it and saw it.
They told you to do this or did you just improv?
It's the kind of thing no one would notice unless they had seen the movie 100's of times.

[–] largo-9 10 years ago

Thats really weird, i just caught this movie on a Turkish satelite channel and recognized the young Jim Carrey in it. I never heard of such a movie and seeing this was probably one of Carrey's first leading roles, i decided to give it a shot. And then i imdb'ed this flick to get some info on it. When i was checking the message boards, i came across your post and as soon as i finished reading it, i looked at the screen and at that exact time i came across the scene you were in. Actually, as one other poster also pointed out you were really good in that one second scene and just like him I also wondered if that apple thing was an improvisation on your behalf or the director had asked you to do it. Anyway just wanted to share this bizarre but enjoyable moment. You gotta love that internet man; it really connects people:)

Btw; that prom scenes were off the hook!!

[–] art6602 10 years ago

No, the director didn't say much to the extras except to remain quiet. We were told to pretend like we were conversing, but not to speak. They dubbed in the background hum of conversation later. The apple stealing bit was my own idea. I got away with it. No one tossed me off set, so I guess it was cool. Unless you look for it, you can't tell what I was doing. I don't even think you can see the apple.