OLLIE Simmers usually spends his days fixing air conditioning units – but has boosted his income with a second job that’s far more glamorous.
The 39-year-old from Hampshire has earned £6,000 appearing in Hollywood movies and top telly shows as an extra.
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Blink and you’ll miss it, but the engineer can be spotted in dozens of well known films, like 1917 – the Oscar winning World War I epic directed by Sam Mendes and starring Benedict Cumberbatch.
And his name appears in the credits of high profile Amazon Prime series Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
Ollie said: “I started around October 2017. A lot of my friends think I’m a pretty animated guy and one said I’d be good on TV.
“She got back to me and said she’d seen an advert for an open casting in Reading. It was for ITV’s Vanity Fair.
“They were looking for a huge number of people to play soldiers.”
Ollie signed up, and within weeks was heading to a week-long army boot camp to learn how to act like a Napoleonic soldier.
Then followed two weeks of filming where he got paid a day rate of around £150.
Since then, Ollie has worked on the Angelina Jolie led Maleficent 2: Mistress of Evil, pocketing £200 a day.
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He’ll soon be rubbing more showbiz shoulders this summer, as he has more jobs lined up for next month – but remains tight-lipped on the top movies he’s working on next.
The extra cash comes in handy “filling in the gaps” of his main salary as an air con engineer.
“I can do it because I’m self-employed. In the winter time when air conditioning work is quieter, it pads out those months,” he said.
Ollie still gets a buzz when stepping on set – the novelty has not worn off since he started six years ago.
And he’s even made lifelong friends along the way.
“It’s a bit of an adrenaline rush when the projects come through,” he said.
“It’s fun when you come to shoot and to see how films are made.
“A great deal of people take a lot of pride in taking it seriously and doing the best they can do because they love film and TV.
“I’ve been lucky to meet people and film with them again and again.”
How you can make money as a film extra
You can easily sign up for extra work on a number of websites.
Ollie recommends www.wegotpop.com where you can register your details and casting agents then pick from a pool of actors.
You can try other websites like www.pieceofcakecasting.com too.
It only takes a few minutes to sign up, then you’ll start getting jobs filter through via email.
There aren’t any up front fees for signing up to WeGotPop, but you do have to pay agent fees when you get accepted on to a job.
You will be charged between 5% and 15% of your earnings depending on the job, plus VAT.
Meanwhile, PieceofCakeCasting deducts 15% from what you earn plus VAT.
There’s also an annual administration fee of £75 taken from you after your first job.
If you’ve got any special skills, such as knowing sign language or being able to use a bow and arrow, it’s definitely worth mentioning that too.
Ollie said: “Extra work is useful for people with all sorts of skills, and if you’ve got a unique feature about yourself it could pay significantly more.”
While extra work is ideal for Ollie as it can fit around his flexible schedule and affords him the chance to travel to new places, he admits there are some downsides, and it might not be for everyone.
It can often involve early starts and late finishes, having to stay outside during scorching or freezing weather and you’ll usually need a car or other vehicle.
Depending on how far you live from the film set, you might have to fork out for accommodation too.
However, Ollie said most productions offer you free food throughout the day to keep your energy levels up.
Plus, most production companies lay on transport costs, so if the filming is outside London they’ll ferry you to and from a central London station.
That said, if you don’t have a car and live outside London, this can leave you a bit stuck.
Ollie also said extra work isn’t something you can approach light-heartedly either.
“You have to treat the job very seriously, eat a balanced diet so your energy levels are right, ” he said.
“It can be constant but if you’re willing to stick it out you can make some good money.
“You have to treat it seriously because if you don’t pull your weight they will drop you or they won’t look for you on set.”
Bear in mind too that as an extra the money you get paid will have to be reported to the taxman.
Any money you earn outside a main job over £1,000 will also be taxed.
You can also make money from your spare change as a coin expert has revealed the exact code to spot on a rare 2p worth up to £1,000.
Plus, we have explored a high street shop you’ve probably never heard of that’s cheaper than Boots and sells top brands including Lancôme and Rimmel.
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