The Thought Of Using AI For Background Actors Is Infuriating!

All this talk of using AI instead of actual background actors really strikes a nerve in my household.

My youngest son, who's now 17, was a child actor from the age of 7 until the pandemic hit. He worked regularly, as a general background actor and as featured background, in between gigs and auditions. While he isn't acting any longer, hearing the proposed idea to use AI instead of actors for background jobs is super infuriating to me and my kids.

All three of my boys at one point were taking background jobs. My oldest son, JD, did quite a few jobs just because it was easy money and he liked having money. My middle son, Ryder, only did one job, the pilot for "Billions" because when my youngest took the gig, casting asked if I had any other kids who would be willing to work. He hated it, so it was his only job.

But my youngest, Jesse, he was the aspiring actor. At the age of 7, he came to me and told me he wanted to be an actor. So, I told him it's a tough business and he may not get a job right away, but if he's okay with that, I'll submit him for a background job so he can get his feet wet in the industry.

At 7, I wasn't sure if he was going to love the "hurry up and wait" vibe on set. I wasn't sure if he would be okay with the two-hour commute in and out of the city at all hours. Background sounded like the perfect place to start so he can see what it's really all about before we spend time and money on all the things needed to be a working actor.

The day after I submitted him for a background job, casting contacted me and hired him. Just like that! He was so excited and I was too, actually. His first job was a prep school kid on "The Mysteries of Laura" with Debra Messing. There was a lot of "hurry up and wait" going on that day, but Jesse didn't seem to mind at all. At the end of the long day, he said he wanted to do more. So I started submitting him for anything and everything I could find that fit his description. It wasn't long before he was working regularly a few days a week on background gigs. He worked so much he had to be pulled out of school and homeschooled. Then he started to get auditions and indies, but we continued to do background when we could.

His resume is pretty impressive, especially for a young child. He did background on "The Greatest Showman," "The Girl on the Train," "Blue Bloods," "The Knick," "Gothem," "The OA," and many others. He did featured background on "Law & Order SVU," "Royal Pains," and our favorite show and set, "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt."

He actually ended up doing eight episodes of "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt." Production really loved Jesse. One time when we walked into holding, one of the production staff screamed, "Jesse's here!" and I laughed. He told me that not all kids were as focused and well behaved on set all day long and Jesse stood out because of that.

One time on set, I went to grab some water and came back and Jesse wasn't with the other kids waiting around. I found him a few feet away with production learning how to color correct a scene. He was so intent on learning and loved it. Without background jobs, he wouldn't even know what any of that technical stuff is, and especially at such a young age.

Background gigs were the foundation of my son's career. It's what helped him learn about the industry and get to a place where he was getting many jobs and really thriving. If the pandemic didn't hit, I believe he would still be acting and in a great place with it, but the pandemic shut everything down and he found basketball during lockdown. Plus, a year out of the industry meant if would be somewhat like starting over and as an older kid, which I personally think was a bit harder than as a young child.

To hear that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, or AMPTP, proposed such an insane thing just makes me so mad. During my son's acting journey, we met so many people who were full time background actors for a living. Whether they were chasing the dream of being a full time actor or they just really loved it as a side job, these people were all passionate about acting, even doing background gigs. To see that their livelihood could be taken from them is just so upsetting.

And the fact that it's being proposed that background performers will get scanned, get one day's pay (which, by the way, is just under $200 for a union job and just over $100 for a non-union job) and that the company will own the scan and use their likeness for the rest of eternity without any consent or compensation sounds more than just absurd.

SAG-AFTRA took great care of my son on set. He was a "must join" by the time the pandemic hit, but we were able to fly under the radar to buy us some more time before joining the union. I wanted him to join the union and so did he, but as a child, it would have locked him out of non-union jobs and his agent suggested we wait a little longer.

But he did tons of union jobs and received waivers, so he was taken great care of on set. With that said, I'm sure SAG-AFTRA is going to fight to their last breath to make sure their background actors are protected from this insane AI thought.

And will it stop with the background performers, or is AI going to start taking over other jobs as well? It's actually quite scary if you think about it. What are your thoughts on this crazy proposal?