I Was an Extra! Brian Cox Turned 70 on Set of Netflix's Movie 'Churchill'

Sir Winston Churchill, the man, the myth, the legend, has been brought to life on-screen over the years by a variety of actors. Back in 2016 I got to be a background player for two days on the drama epic CHURCHILL starring Dundee born actor Brian Cox. How was my experience you ask? Stick around and I'll tell you my tale. I even made it into the trailer below, around the one minute fifty mark if you're in a rush...

Get to The Church-Hill On Time!

So I accepted the role of "Extra Soldier" in Churchill from my agency and had very little time to actually get down to the costume fit. I put peddle to meddle and drove as quick as I could but still arrived an hour later than I had expected. As I arrived in the car park of an industrial estate I spotted a group moving into one building so I quickly followed behind them. Before I knew it I realized I was in some sort of church and was approached by a bible toting priest. He said welcome brother and shook my hand, I replied "sorry I'm looking for the film production office" and was told that it was next door. Feeling a fool I hastily left only to get next door and be told I had arrived too late for the fitting. My details were taken quickly and my picture snapped. I left minutes later with the realization that I'd probably lost out on being in the movie. Bugger!

A week or so later I got a text saying I was requested on set for two days and I packed a bag containing useful stuff like spare pants/socks, snacks that sort of thing. This would mark the second time I had appeared in a REAL movie and I couldn't wait! With a very early call time (the 'norm' for most of these jobs) and several hours driving to the set the following day; I got to bed.

In The Trenches

So the first day on set is the usual type of get-to-know your workmates and find out where you can get food and use of a toilet. The movie scenes I was involved with were shot on location at a national park area and the weather was (luckily) beautiful. As I was put into my army costume I recounted my tale of woe getting down to the original fitting. My army boots were a tad too small leaving my toes squashed up at the front. The costume lady said they'll have to do and because I didn't want to cause a fuss I said they'd be fine. This was something I'd later regret...

Shortly after arriving on set in the middle of the woods I already had squashed toes from those damn boots. Fast forward to a few hours of marching up and down over uneven ground and hidden tree roots, my feet felt swelled and achy. To make things worse, between takes there was n0where to actually sit down and after being told to shift as I perched on the side of an empty camera dolly; I had to console myself by leaning against a spiky tree. Whoever said movie-making was glamorous has never actually been near a real film set I can tell you. At least you get well-fed for your troubles, that's one thing that rarely changes.

After a long twelve hours of filming I retired for the night at a nearby hotel I'd booked. I grabbed a quick takeaway and was in bed sleeping pretty quickly. I did, however, take a picture of the room as It had a strange shape to it and I wanted to show a friend. In the morning, after I'd left, I looked through my phone and found the picture had a very odd-looking blue orb on it. Being a horror movie fan I was glad that I hadn't looked at the picture before I bedded down for the night. I'm pretty sure I would have kept the lights on and not slept a wink. The question I kept thinking after was, did I share my room with a ghost? Probably not but who knows.

Brian Cox's Birthday!

So my second day on set was a less hectic affair since their was a much smaller group of extras around. Our bigger scenes had been shot the day before and you could sense everyone was working at a slightly lesser pace. Accordingly I was placed all over the set during takes as we were down to maybe three soldiers, I even got to guard the tent that 'Churchie' was in. To my surprise, after the scene was completed, a bunch of crew members appeared with a cake and ushered us all into the main set tent to sing happy birthday to a VERY surprised Brian Cox. He grinned ear to ear and thanked us all for making his day. Well, I think he thanked us or he could have been thanking the bottle of whisky he was also presented with, but I choose to believe it was for the singing...

Made It!!

All in all, it was a good experience as I got to be on the set of a REAL movie and I even appeared in the finished product. That last statement may sound strange but after being in many different film and TV productions I know that extras aren't the main stars and your part can (and will) be cut entirely out of the finished product. I got my fifteen minutes (or seconds) of fame in this one as I was featured in the official trailer and also in the closing speech Churchill gives to the D-Day troops during the climax of the movie. Not too shabby for someone who barely made it to the original costume fitting I'd say. My only war-wound was sore feet and my big toenail went black from being squashed.

Would I do it all over again you ask?

YES SIR!!

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