PODCAST · tv
The Background Scoop
by D. J. Stavropoulos
This podcast will to help you understand the ins and outs of background acting, what it takes to get started, and how to manage the complexities of making a living or just some extra cash. My goal is to educate you based on my personal experience as a background actor here in the ATL, where I did 30 projects in my first six months after stumbling into the industry in October of 2019. So, sit back, listen, and learn. On your own time. At your pace. Whenever you want to. I'm hoping you enjoy it and can learn from what I have to say. It's my own personal scoop on the world of background acting. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thebackgroundscoop/support
Episodes
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S2 E17: The Catcher In The Rye
In this episode I talk about my Voiceover and Advanced Audition Techniques classes at The Alliance Theatre, a BankofAmerica gig I did, the Love Is Illusion movie I recently shot, Herbal Tea Therapy, coloring my hair for Colorsmith, and my thoughts on Squid Game. If you like what you heard and…
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S2 E16: Little Friskies
In this episode, I talk about Snake Oil, a new game show on Fox, my commercial auditions class at The Alliance Theatre, followed by another class called Voiceover: Audiobook Narration. And how I finally, finally, finally landed an agent. Plus my day filming a Popeye's commercial and what happened...
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S2 E15: Cutlers Court
In this episode, I talk about two different court TV shows I worked on recently, a user generated content project I did (otherwise known as UGC), visiting a college campus where a TV show I worked on was set, doing my first web series, and the start of a Commercial Audition class I'm taking at…
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S2 E14: Ally Bank
In this episode, I talk about an Ally Bank commercial, my Film III Class at The Alliance Theatre, a weird Booth Filler Job I did at a convention in downtown Atlanta, and a few odd background jobs I've done, although I have pretty much stopped doing those. And then there may or may not be content...
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S2 E13: Hang Up The Gloves
In this episode, I talk about a student film I just worked on called "Hang Up The Gloves," which I didn't even have to audition for, another student film called "The School Mistress," playing Abraham Lincoln in an independent film called "American Civil War," completing my Film II class at the...
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S2 E12: You're A Movie Star!
In this episode, I talk about group coaching with Amy Jo Berman, which I just signed up for. I'm in her Unstoppable Actor Next Level program. This woman is amazing, and she's not paying me to say that. My 16 days as Secret Service on a project that just wouldn't end. A funny experience with…
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S2 E11: Britni Who?
In this episode, I recap the end of my five month stint on "The Resident," distinguishing between the actor and the character they play, a random newbie named Britni whom I met in the real world, a bad stand-in experience, making a movie within a movie, cat actors, and working the same project...
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S2 E10: The Final Resident Days
In this episode, I talk about The Resident, my Film I class at The Alliance Theatre, and filming "The Devil Comes Dressed For Church Too" with Planet Muzick Studios. This wraps up Season 2 of my podcast, but I will be back next year (2023) with a potentially new format focusing on interview with...
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S2 E09: Malcolm The Jokester
In this episode, I talk about my new Film I class at The Alliance Theatre, making a commercial for the drug BIKTARVY, auditioning using my perfected ZOOM technique, an in-person table read in Birmingham, and my usual experiences on "The Resident." I tell a story about how Malcolm Jamal Warner...
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S2 E08: Febreze & PSAs
In this episode, I talking about filming a Febreze commercial with a SCAD student, filming the PSA portion of a music video, and my usual experiences on "The Resident." That includes almost cheating and executing a complicated walk & talk. I also talk a bit about physical headshots, and my...
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S2 E07: The Resident
In this episode, since I've been doing nothing but The Resident for two months now (mid-July to mid-September), all I talk about is this TV show. But I do cover some new learnings, including multiple start marks, auditioning for a sleeping role, set grafitti, misinterpreting marks as a stand-in,...
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S2 E06: Snake Creek Salvage
In this episode, I talk mostly about my first month as core background on Fox’s hit TV show, The Resident, Season 6. Yes, I am rubbing noses daily with Leela, Padma, Devon, Conrad, Cade, Billie, and Dr. Voss. I haven't worked with Dr. Bell just yet. And, I've been spending an average of one day…
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S2 E05: Somewhere In The Middle East
This episode is a bonus episode created using a video of part of Season 1, Episode 15: SAGgy White Eve. I'm experimenting with video podcasting, which is available on the Spotify platform. I simply upload a video on Anchor.fm, and the audio portion appears on all the platforms except Spotify…
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S2 E04: Cold Reads
In this episode, the golden nugget is cold reads, which I've now done in my Acting III: Scene Study class at the Alliance Theatre. I also cover why a live audition beats a taped one, recording auditions with friends, my most recent monologue from "Up in the Air," and being a supporting actor in…
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S2 E03: Eight Monologues (April 2022)
Here are 8 monologues I recorded in April 2022 as part of one of my acting classes. Until I have a reel with footage from speaking roles, I at least have monologues to submit to agencies and/or casting directors. If you like this podcast, please provide a rating on whatever platform you're...
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S2 E02: Swiftly Patrolling Doom
In this episode, I primarily talk about some of the featured roles I've played lately, how synchronicity plays a role in where your acting career goes, how easy it can be to find yourself in the finished product, the unique and somewhat peculiar way Tyler Perry makes his TV shows, giving people a...
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S2 E01: Monologues, Taping Auditions, and EcoCast Lives
In this episode, I primarily talk about Monologues, Taped Auditions, and Live Auditions, to the extent that I have done all 3 of these. I'm just a beginner, but I think you'll glean some valuable points by listening to what I've done and learned in the process. I include some actual monologues I...
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S1 E23: What's On The Landscape
Here's what I talk about in this episode: I talk about scams, taping auditions, some shows I've recently worked on such as Monarch and The Wonder Years for the sixth time, some movies I've been involved in recently such as Creed III and Landscape with Invisible Hand, as well as a student film I…
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S1 E22: P-Valley, Monarch, and Zoltar
Here's what I talk about in this episode: Perseverence, Networking, Actcicles, Feedback, Medical Emergencies, and Auditioning for roles. I'll use recent acting experiences to support my message so you can clearly see how it's exemplified. And I'll attempt to sum up the moral of each story for you...
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S1 E21: The Deep South
In this episode, I talk about doing a bank robbery scene, standing in for an actor on Ordinary Joe, a garden party in Buckhead, playing a lawyer in a courtroom, and how much I really loved how Hawkeye came out. I am clearly seen as a threat walking past Jeremy Renner and Hailee Steinfeld in the...
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S1 E20 Being Brad's Dad
This episode is chock full of more stories of my life on set over the past month and what I've learned. I did The Game, Ordinary Joe, The Walking Dead, The Wonder Years, and cancelled The Staircase. If you haven't heard, Netflix Released their most expensive movie ever, Red Notice, at theatres on...
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S1 E19 No Ordinary Joe
Ozark, Ordinary Joe, The Wonder Years, and The Staircase. You'll see a pattern here. I'm leaning more towards television lately because it's easier, more predictable work, and you get to see the results fairly quickly. Like 4-8 weeks vs. the year or more that a film takes. Yes, Red Notice, which…
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S1 E18 Specialty Roles and Mute Principals
This episode is primarily about what it's like to play a featured background role (sometimes called a specialty role) as well as playing a role that's almost a principal role, except it has no lines. I cover the complexity of driving your car on set, how driving a manual transmission complicates...
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S1 E17 Crimson and Charlock
This episode is primarily about the seven-day job I did on a Marvel production recently and what I learned from that experience. It's about ghost passes and clean plates What it's like to dance to no music or to music that won't actually be in the scene. How inclement weather impacts production...
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S1 E16 Rise of the Dynasty
This episode is about how doing background work can ruin your viewing experience, what core stand-in means, director-selected roles, how establishing scenes work, and making yourself heard when you're given no lines. Although many background jobs can have hundreds of people, I talk about doing...
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S1 E15 SAGgy White Eve
This episode is about SAG-AFTRA, divorce, and finding yourself in the middle of a foreign city that doesn't really exist. No airlines fly there; you have to take a shuttle bus that seats only 8 people, and there's only one of them, so getting a hundred people there can take as long as a...
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S1 E14 Up All Night for Iowa's Big Caucus
This episode is about being part of a large caucus and working all night long. More specifically, a one-day job on Season 2 of The First Lady with Viola Davis. And an all-nighter on the remake of a movie called The Valet. It's about what happens when you don't carefully read your call-time email....
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S1 E13 Roadkill
This episode is about roadkill. Yes, those dead animals in the road and my reaction to them when driving down local roads to get to my background jobs. Especially those an hour away south of the city. I also make a revelatory discovery that a finished product can be so good that people find it…
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S1 E12 Being Featured (Right This Way, Mrs. Ford)
This episode is primarily about The First Lady (a new Showtime series) and about being featured, which is when a scene clearly shows you, the background actor, versus having you appear in the background, possibly not visible at all. I discuss getting feedback as a featured actor and some of the...
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S1 E11 The Wonderful Games Naomi Plays
This episode is about getting excited about opportunities but then getting rejected or cancelled by the production at the last minute. About rushing out for last minute calls and getting COVID tests. About how 12 hours on a project translated to mere seconds or minutes in the finished product....
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S1 E10 Complexity & Simplicity
This episode is about the complexity and simplicity of making shows and movies, eavesdropping on famous people and then researching them online, running into old friends, and making new ones. Most of all, it's about meeting and connecting with people on the set. It's also about doing period work...
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S1 E09 Fake vs. Real
Is it real or is it fake? The film and TV industry's job is to entertain you with productions that look as real as possible. And in order to do that, they have to create reality with a lot of fake things. In other words, nothing is filmed without creating the right set, whether it's built from...
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S1 E01 What is BG?
Some call them "extras," but BG (or Background) is the industry term for people hired to work on a film or TV production that aren't the main actors. They're those people literally in the background that you don't even really notice, but they play a very big and important role in creating a…
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S1 E08 The Culture
The film and TV industry is probably unlike any other, and it makes sense to explore this a bit if you're considering background acting. I've done close to 40 jobs at this point and have been exposed to all kinds of things that are quite different from the cultures of Corporate America and real...
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S1 E07 The Money
S1Making money is one of the primary reasons for doing background acting. Yes, it's fun and exciting to do this work, but if there weren't money involved, would you offer up your time for free? Some people would, and there are background acting jobs that pay nothing. This episode is about those...
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S1 E06 The Terminology
The film & TV industry has a whole vocabulary of its own, which was the original subject of this episode. I hadn't intended on doing an entire show about The First Wives Club. But I did this TV show three times in the past two weeks, and a number of things happened that I wanted to talk about. I…
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S1 E05 What Can Go Wrong Will Go Wrong
I had a number of things go wrong on a single day on a project in January of 2021, so I recorded snippets that I had planned to intersperse into other episodes, but I very quickly realized I had enough material for an entire episode. So, this episode is dedicated to all the possible things that...
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S1 E04 A Day on the Set
This episode covers things you'll encounter on the set on a typical day of a background job, if there is such a thing, since they're all different. But they all have a set of things in common and generally work the same way. The structure of the day, signing in/signing out, crafty and meals,...
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S1 E03 Fittings, COVID Tests, and Everything In Between
This episode covers everything you need to know and do between the time you accept a background booking and arriving on set the day of the job. This consists of fitting(s), COVID testing, signing a non-disclosure agreement, getting the final logistics the day before, and packing what you need for...
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S1 E02 Finding Background Jobs & Submitting Yourself
In this episode I cover how to find background jobs and how to submit for them. There are many companies hiring in Atlanta, and most use websites and Facebook to advertise these jobs. Most are totally free. I describe what to expect to submit for a job, what pictures you'll typically need, and…
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The Background Scoop
Here’s a taste of what this podcast is about. No pun intended.
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
This podcast will to help you understand the ins and outs of background acting, what it takes to get started, and how to manage the complexities of making a living or just some extra cash. My goal is to educate you based on my personal experience as a background actor here in the ATL, where I did 30 projects in my first six months after stumbling into the industry in October of 2019. So, sit back, listen, and learn. On your own time. At your pace. Whenever you want to. I'm hoping you enjoy it and can learn from what I have to say. It's my own personal scoop on the world of background acting. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thebackgroundscoop/support
HOSTED BY
D. J. Stavropoulos
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Background Scoop have?
The Background Scoop currently has 41 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Background Scoop about?
This podcast will to help you understand the ins and outs of background acting, what it takes to get started, and how to manage the complexities of making a living or just some extra cash. My goal is to educate you based on my personal experience as a background actor here in the ATL, where I did...
How often does The Background Scoop release new episodes?
The Background Scoop has 41 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to The Background Scoop?
You can listen to The Background Scoop on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts The Background Scoop?
The Background Scoop is created and hosted by D. J. Stavropoulos.
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