Paula Spurr is used to being herded together with co-workers on the job.

As a background performer in film and TV, the Burnaby, B.C., actress has been packed with colleagues in groups under tents outside, sometimes for up to 14 hours, while they await their scenes.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e very tight together; weB次元官网网址檙e used to it, itB次元官网网址檚 how we usually exist in that world,B次元官网网址� says Spurr, whose credits include the series B次元官网网址淪nowpiercerB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淪ee.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淏ut thatB次元官网网址檚 not possible anymore.B次元官网网址�

With many productions limiting the amount of people in scenes and on set to create physical distancing to decrease COVID-19 infection risk, Spurr says her already unpredictable line of work has B次元官网网址渂ecome very uncertain.B次元官网网址�

Showrunners have been changing scenes to have little or no background performers, she says.

SheB次元官网网址檚 even heard of some smaller-budget productions using mannequins B次元官网网址渋n the deep backgroundB次元官网网址� these days.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 like, B次元官网网址極h great, weB次元官网网址檙e being replaced with dummies,B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� Spurr says with a laugh.

Background is usually a non-speaking part that helps fill out scenes surrounding main characters.

For stories set in a fixed place, such as a small town or a B次元官网网址淪tar TrekB次元官网网址� ship, some background performers are recurring faces to add continuity.

But often they do one-off gigs and donB次元官网网址檛 know the details of their next job until the night before, says Spurr.

Productions in Canada usually first hire veteran background performers from the ACTRA union, who are known as full members, before looking to the less experienced membership tiers and non-union workers.

B次元官网网址淪o if youB次元官网网址檙e not a union background performer, your chances of working now are slim to none,B次元官网网址� says Spurr, who is a full union member.

B次元官网网址淎ll those spots have to be filled by a union performer. ThereB次元官网网址檚 not that many to go around, and IB次元官网网址檓 not sure how many of us can continue to do it as a sole method of income, which it was for me.B次元官网网址�

Jason Boyd, who lives in Brantford, Ont., says he works primarily in background performing because B次元官网网址済etting acting gigs on a regular basis in Toronto isnB次元官网网址檛 as simple as people seem to think it is.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淢ost of the larger roles or continuity roles are filled in L.A.,B次元官网网址� says Boyd, a full ACTRA member with credits including the Disney film B次元官网网址淶ombiesB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淭he HandmaidB次元官网网址檚 TaleB次元官网网址� series.

Boyd notes there are hardly any productions happening in Canada right now, so work is scarce for everyone in an industry thatB次元官网网址檚 inherently fraught with uncertainty.

And the size of casts is getting smaller in every category, from background to principal actors to stunts.

But heB次元官网网址檚 happy to see precautions being taken and is willing to lose out on a few days of work to ensure safety.

B次元官网网址淢y expectation is that weB次元官网网址檒l get back to a reasonably normal amount of work,B次元官网网址� Boyd says. B次元官网网址淏ut the work on set is going to be different.B次元官网网址�

When Spurr worked on a recent production in B.C., the background performers had to wear masks when cameras werenB次元官网网址檛 rolling and werenB次元官网网址檛 packed tightly together, even in the scene, she says.

B次元官网网址淭he holding area where they kept us was very safe. They had set up a bigger tent than they normally would. And we were only allowed to two to a long table.B次元官网网址�

ACTRA Toronto president Theresa Tova predicts more productions will start using the same background performers in multiple scenes for a longer period of time to keep the same germ pool on set.

In pre-COVID days, background performers were often hired for just one day and worked on multiple productions a week.

Tova says producers used to be worried the high-definition cameras made background performersB次元官网网址� faces too identifiable to reuse them.

B次元官网网址淲hat I see is the producers maybe going back to the way they used to cast background, where you would have folks brought back again and again and again, and put them into different wardrobe, put them in a wig, put them in glasses,B次元官网网址� says Tova.

She points to her days acting on the Canadian series B次元官网网址淓NG,B次元官网网址� which used the same 15 to 20 background performers every week during its run from 1989-B次元官网网址�94.

Boyd says he knows a veteran actor who worked on a show in the B次元官网网址�80s that used crafty ways to make background actors look different in street scenes.

B次元官网网址淗e says they would, at the beginning of the scene, have the performer put on eight shirts and they would walk by,B次元官网网址� Boyd says.

B次元官网网址淎nd then they would get off camera, boom, take off a shirt; walk back, put on a hat and take off a shirtB次元官网网址� They would walk differently and have different gaits, and instead of hiring 40 backgrounds, they only needed seven.B次元官网网址�

But productions need to be inclusive and representative with those roles, to ensure stories B次元官网网址渞eflect the composition of society that we see on our streets,B次元官网网址� Tova adds.

Spurr says one of her best background-actor friends was recently hired for an entire season on a series with guaranteed pay for five days a week, so TovaB次元官网网址檚 prediction might be right.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 unheard of in the background,B次元官网网址� Spurr says. B次元官网网址淪o that kind of thing would be great.

B次元官网网址淏ut I donB次元官网网址檛 think thatB次元官网网址檚 going to happen for a lot of people. So everybody else is nervous and looking for alternate streams of revenue.B次元官网网址�

Victoria Ahearn, The Canadian Press