EXTRAS CASTING, AUSTRALIA

MULTIPLE SMITHS

MATRIX: How did you go about finding dozens of “Agent Smiths”?

TIM: Originally we were told that we needed a hundred and fifty, so I was very pleased when the numbers started to come down. We basically put ads throughout the city, and held a public casting call where we asked for any men between six foot and six foot two (Hugo Weaving [Agent Smith] is six foot two and we thought we’d fudge it from six foot up). That resulted in about two thousand people showing up to a theater in Newtown, stretching round the block for about seven blocks. We would get them in and put them up against a full-size cardboard cut-out of Hugo so we could figure out if their shoulders were at the right spot, if their head was at the right spot, and if they stood on their toes, if they’d still fit.

From that casting we really only ended up with possibly one hundred who were the right measurements. Then the Costume Department looked at the individuals and said things like, “The shoulders are wrong. One slopes down too much, one doesn’t slope at all.” So we whittled it and whittled it until we held a final day where we needed to find out whether people would fit a mask. When we found out that many didn’t fit the masks, we lost a few more that way.

Ultimately we ended up with sixty who fitted masks, and twenty whose heads we shaved and stuck a wig on to be Smith doubles.

MATRIX: When you called for people between six foot and six foot two, did they know which film they were lining up for?

TIM: We made the decision that it was necessary to actually name the film. There were a number of films shooting at the time, and we wanted to pull in on the cache of the film. We took a risk that that was going to give away some element of the plot, but it was the best way we could ensure we had the largest pool possible. And as it turned out, we needed that large pool of two thousand, because from two thousand we only ended up with about one hundred and fifty to two hundred people.

So they knew which film, but they didn’t know which character they were coming in for until they’d signed confidentiality agreements, which was before they were even allowed up the stairs. We needed to take their photo next to a full-size cutout of Hugo Weaving, so it was pretty obvious to them then who it was we were looking for.

MATRIX: What sort of outline did you give to the extras wearing the masks?

TIM: Firstly, we had to check that no one was claustrophobic - often you don’t know until they put a mask on and have a panic attack. We had to check whether anyone was suffering from asthma or epilepsy, because the lighting effects in that scene were quite strobey and flickery and could have brought on an epileptic attack.

We held a day using six guys (who were troopers) who sat on set freezing in the pouring rain, and from that we learnt a lot as to what people could stand and what people couldn’t stand. A decision was made after that, that everyone would have to wear a wetsuit. It was also decided that mask wearers would need to have hand signals - having done tests with the masks, we couldn’t hear what they were saying. So they all had scuba diver hand signals to let us know when they weren’t feeling well, or when they needed to step off set. Safety was a big issue. There’s a nurse on set to watch them, and we drilled them and drilled them to let us know if something is wrong.

MATRIX: Did you have to do tests for other sets like the ‘sitting in freezing pouring rain’ test?

TIM: No. The degree of preparation that needed to be done for this particular scene was impressive. There were so many camera tests, tests with some extras, tests with other extras standing there, and tests with just one guy who stood there for eight hours getting rained on constantly. He was fantastic. He was in a mask to determine what he could stand, what he could see, and what he couldn’t see, all of which helped us to know what we needed to change in terms of the sixty who were coming in.

MATRIX: Besides the safety issues, what else did the “Smiths” need to learn?

TIM: They had to practice on their dummies, learning how to make the heads turn [each ‘human’ had to operate two mannequin “Smiths”]. There was a bit of military style drilling down at the set until they got those moves just right. It was a very freaky thing to watch all those “Hugos” suddenly turn around and look at you, and their heads follow you down the set. After that they were tested in their masks to see what differences that made, because the mask is a little limited in terms of vision, particularly once they’ve got sunglasses on, it’s raining, and the water is pouring through their eyeholes.

MATRIX: What is your take on the sequels?

TIM: I think you ain’t seen nothing yet. If you thought the first film was mind blowing, it gets a thousand times better. Follow it very closely. It took me a long time to figure out the first film - a number of readings - this one is similar. The stunts are huge and much better, and the special effects are much better. It’s bigger in every way, and it rocks along at a really fast pace too… just like the first one but better.

MATRIX: Thanks Tim.


CLICK HERE TO READ TIM'S FULL INTERVIEW

Interview by REDPILL
December 2001