- 2 days ago
These background artists all absolutely stole the show.
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00:00From that time, a mesmerizing wedding guest completely overshadowed one of the MCU's most
00:05powerful heroes, to the moment audiences found themselves being hypnotized by a brusher in the
00:12background. These are some more utterly wonderful pieces of extra work. I'm Gareth, this is What
00:18Culture, and here are 10 more of the greatest movie extra performances ever.
00:2310. Sweeping His Way Into History – Quantum of Solace
00:27Throughout his time playing the most iconic secret agent on planet Earth, the blonde Bond shell known
00:33as Daniel Craig rarely found himself being upstaged by anyone he was sharing the screen with.
00:38However, there was a moment during easily the least adored of his 007 flicks, when one hilarious
00:44extra did exactly that in Quantum of Solace. As James Bond sits on his motorcycle and unleashes
00:51his best broody stare, it's simply impossible not to turn your attention to the bloke to the left of
00:56Craig doing a bit of sweeping. Only this particular quick brushing down of the dock floor bizarrely
01:02appeared to involve the scrubbing of thin air. Maybe that dude was just practicing his cleaning
01:07technique in the middle of his shift. Perhaps he was simply rehearsing a dance number for a musical
01:12he was about to star in. Either way, this guy managed to become a background superstar through
01:17his curious sweeping method, with his strange brush with Bond being one of the most memorable moments
01:22to come from the otherwise forgettable 2008 feature. And while we're on the subject of Bond,
01:28what is your favourite Bond film of all time? It's probably not Quantum of Solace,
01:32but you let me know what is in the comments section down below.
01:369. Hey Malkovich, Think Fast – Being John Malkovich
01:39Contrary to popular belief, the wonderful moment when John Malkovich gets rocked by a beer can sent
01:45flying out of a car by a passenger was not a completely improvised one. But that still doesn't
01:51change the fact that it's one of the finest extra performances ever to speed past a camera.
01:56According to the titular star himself, director Spike Jonze actually almost deleted the throw in the
02:02script due to time constraints. However, after claiming no one would be able to nail Malkovich in
02:07the head with the tin in a moving vehicle, a number of folks nearby offered to try, with John
02:13Cusack's writer partner then eventually being given the chance to hit the actor.
02:17And on top of the brilliant delivery of Hey Malkovich, Think Fast, followed by the terrific
02:22sound of the can connecting with an infuriated Malkovich's noggin, that this chucking was actually
02:27brilliantly captured on the first try, simply makes an already superb and quite iconic moment
02:33that little bit more fantastic.
02:358. The Force Kick – Return of the Jedi
02:38There are some out there who would have you believe that the visual of a dude on Tatooine being seemingly
02:43knocked over by a gust of wind during Star Wars Episode VI Return of the Jedi was little
02:49more than a combination of bad choreography and camera positioning.
02:53But they be wrong!
02:54Instead, when Luke Skywalker lets loose his boot whilst attempting to fight his way through
02:58Jabba the Hutt's goons, what you were actually watching was the result of one particularly
03:03committed extra making the absolute most out of a ridiculously powerful force kick, folks.
03:08Hell, Mark Hamill himself even confirmed it. And this Jedi Master wouldn't lie to his
03:13Padawans all over the galaxy now, would he? You know you've accidentally produced a special
03:17and properly unforgettable Star Wars moment when folks are talking more about you being
03:21force-booted in the face than Boba Fett being sent flying to his Sarlacc Doom.
03:26And after taking one of the silliest looking kicks in movie history, it's safe to say this
03:31extra will be remembered for a long time.
03:337. So Many We're Gonna Need a Bigger Entry
03:38Jaws
03:38The folks of Amity Island could regularly be seen gathering and sprinting for their lives
03:43around the likes of Martin Brody and the rest of the memorable characters found in Steven
03:48Spielberg's horrifying 1975 blockbuster Jaws. And with so many extras being needed to fill
03:54out these beach town crowds, a few of those background artists diverting attention away from
03:59the main figures in front of the camera was pretty much inevitable.
04:02Sure enough, on multiple occasions in Spielberg's classic flick, extras stole the spotlight in
04:07various different ways. There was the bloke who decided to wear a blatant smile across his mug
04:13during one of Bruce's first attacks, while the rest of the folks at the beach were losing their
04:17minds over the shark. Then you have the peculiar guy in a bucket hat, trying to squeeze his way into
04:22as many frames as possible when Brody and Hooper are checking out the tiger shark.
04:27Mayor Larry Vaughn regularly finds himself having to deal with a few background performers attracting
04:31viewers' wandering eyes too. A young child works his way into shots with a noticeable frown,
04:37as Larry asks why someone isn't going for a dip. And one particularly excited extra also steals all
04:43the attention away from the mayor when he's letting folks watching the news know that Amity means
04:48friendship, giddily waving her arms and distractingly throwing up a peace sign during her big moment.
04:53Put simply, none of these extras wasted their opportunity to be remembered in what turned out
04:58to be one of the most famous movies of all time.
05:01Number 6. Stealing the whole damn scene, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
05:05There was only one cameo MCU fans couldn't stop talking about after last year's Doctor Strange
05:11in the Multiverse of Madness. Sure, the arrival of a certain Reed Richards in full Fantastic Four
05:16attire was a fun addition to the multiversal mayhem, but John Krasinski's brief performance as the famous
05:22Marvel figure paled in comparison to one outstanding wedding guest. As the titular sorcerer waited for
05:28Christine Palmer to walk down the aisle on her wedding day, Stephen Strange began chatting with
05:33his fellow Doctor Nicodemus West. And it's here when the two Docs were completely overshadowed by one
05:39absolutely hypnotic extra perched on the bench behind them. Rather than taking the safe approach of
05:45just having a basic conversation with another guest, this background performer shines during the
05:50moment she knows she's in shot, pulling many an expressive face and just generally being as
05:55hilariously animated as possible over Strange's shoulder. Sure, her colourful display ever so
06:00slightly undermines Strange's serious chat, about his part in causing half of life in the universe
06:05to be dusted away for five years before Thanos was ultimately defeated, but she certainly made the
06:10most of her MCU moment. And then some. And also, just a quick thanks for making WhatCulture a part of
06:16your day today. And if you like what you see, then go and tap on that subscribe button, you lovely
06:21person. Number 5. The Goon Who Kicked Their Own Ass The Dark Knight Rises
06:25Keeping in the world of superheroes for this next tremendous piece of extra work,
06:30Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy possesses some of the most gripping fight sequences ever to
06:34grace the genre. But while The Dark Knight Rises in particular certainly boasted some of the more
06:39brutal and jaw-dropping punch-ups the franchise had to offer, that threequel also contained one of the
06:44funniest mid-fight moments too. As Batman and Catwoman kick and thump their way out of trouble,
06:50Bane's henchmen find themselves being taken out one by one by the hard-hitting twosome.
06:55Well, most of them do anyway. One over-enthusiastic baddie appeared to have strangely got a little
07:00lost in the moment, and simply threw themselves to the ground whilst the Bat was occupied with a few
07:05other goons. Maybe the fear of tangling with the caped crusader was enough to make this Bane
07:10soldier crumble to the ground. Or perhaps one of the stunt workers involved in the multi-person skirmish
07:15simply forgot a piece of the fight routine, and this awkward tumble was the only way to save the
07:21rest of the take. Whatever the reason, the henchmen who conquered themselves quickly became a legend in
07:26their own right after this silly moment.
07:28Number 4, Batman! Yeah! Batman Forever!
07:32That stumbling Dark Knight Rises background performer wasn't the first extra to make a noticeable impact
07:37during a Bat film. Back during the far more cartoonish era of Dark Knight Pictures,
07:42Joel Schumacher's Batman Forever included a scene which involved Batman crashing through the ceiling
07:47before hunting down Two-Face. And while that may initially sound like your average moment of
07:52caped crusader crimefighting, one side-splitting extra ensured that this specific Bat arrival would
07:57never be forgotten. In the seconds before slow-mo Batman touches down on the floor, one carefree party
08:03guest can be found pointing up to the sky and letting out an exuberant Batman!
08:08Yeah!
08:09That drunken wonder in this extra's voice as Val Kilmer's superhero slowly dropped out of the sky,
08:15combined with the hilariously dramatic stare Nicole Kidman's Dr. Chase Meridian shoots the badass,
08:20as the guest's arm remains awkwardly aimed at his favourite hero,
08:24makes for one of the most glorious pieces of silly 90s action you'll find in the otherwise quite disappointing flick.
08:30And after catching this wonderful moment of strangeness for the first time,
08:34you'll likely struggle sitting through your next viewing of Batman Forever without letting out your
08:38own random party extra, yeah, during his shot-stealing performance.
08:43Number 3. Oh God, I Can't Feel My Legs, Spider-Man
08:46When the scene which sees Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker giving that professional wrestling stuff a try,
08:52during Sam Raimi's first Spider-Man comes up in conversation,
08:55most folks will be quick to remember the brilliant performance given by real-life wrestling icon Macho Man Randy Savage.
09:02Oh yeah!
09:04But before Bonesaw McGraw was ready to murder Spider-Man in the middle of the squared circle,
09:10a wonderful wrestling extra came along and offered another comical moment,
09:14in the wake of being sent flying by the aforementioned Macho Saw.
09:17As Parker makes his way to the ring for his debut as the amazing Spider-Man to the sound of booze,
09:23Bonesaw's last victim, a luchador who'd been smashed through a table,
09:27let Parker know what hell could be heading his way.
09:30Oh my God, oh my legs, oh God, I Can't Feel My Legs were the memorable words that left Pete wondering
09:35whether he'd just made a monumental mistake, choosing to take a few bumps for some dollar.
09:40Macho Man and Maguire certainly provide their fair share of amusing moments
09:44throughout this much-loved wrestling superhero mash-up,
09:47but it's this extra superb commitment to flailing around on a stretcher
09:50like he'd just lost a fight with King Kong
09:52that still sticks out as one of the funniest of the entire sequence.
09:56Number 2, Hold Your Horses, The Last Samurai.
09:59Animals, like children, are known for being somewhat unpredictable on a film set,
10:03and that's something you definitely don't need to tell one of the unfortunate extras
10:07pretending to be a soldier during one rather awkward scene in The Last Samurai.
10:11As Tom Cruise's Captain Nathan Algren dismounts his steed in the middle of some nearby troops,
10:16said horse suddenly decided it had a problem with one of the extras
10:20just trying their best to stay as still as humanly possible.
10:23Rather than throwing a tantrum, dropping his spear,
10:25and demanding a word with the director after being kicked by the agitated animal, though,
10:30this nut-cracked soldier kept his composure
10:32and resisted the urge to fall to his knees in agony.
10:35You can hardly blame the horse for being a bit freaked out
10:38by the sight of so many armored blokes holding weapons around it, can ya?
10:41But that doesn't change the fact that in the time it takes to lift your boot off the ground,
10:45this extra likely went from being excited about the idea of possibly sharing a frame
10:50with the mighty crews,
10:51to cursing the moment they were nudge to the front of their particular unit in the first place.
10:55And number 1, Running Away With The Sword, Raiders of the Lost Ark.
10:59Easily one of the most iconic pieces of action in big-screen history,
11:03the visual of the legendary Indiana Jones deciding to simply gun down a giant sword-wheeling enemy
11:09is cinematic perfection.
11:11And the fun simply does not stop after a genuinely sick Harrison Ford
11:15fires a bullet through the intimidating man in black,
11:18with one side-splitting extra adding another magical detail to the already stellar scene.
11:23Keep an eye on the folks surrounding Indy's fallen foe in the seconds that follow the pistol being fired,
11:28and you'll spot one of the overjoyed civilians reaching right for the baddies' massive weapon.
11:34Instead of suddenly taking the scene down a much darker road by seizing the weapon
11:38and turning on Jones or anyone else in the area though,
11:41this extra proceeds to celebrate like they've just won the World Cup,
11:44and runs away with the huge sword waving in the air as the euphoric crowd cheers them on.
11:49It's a little performance that can easily be overlooked during your first few watches
11:53of the effortlessly cool moment.
11:55But once you spot it, an already riotous event is made even more absurdly comical.
12:00Lovely stuff.
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