Jason Brown has given up his job and is working hard to achieve TV stardom. The Derby man is doing the rounds as an extra, mixing with the stars.
WALKING down the cobbles of Coronation Street was a surreal experience for 26-year-old Jason Brown. He had given up his job at a call centre so he could be available for more extra work.
In the next few days he would find himself filming with the characters Gail Platt and Jason Grimshaw. Now he was mixing with soap veterans who have been watched by millions of people for decades.
Jason got into acting by being involved in amateur productions in Derby. His enthusiasm was picked up by TV casting bosses who have employed him in several shows.
Jason said his dream would to be a full-time actor and he believes a strong grounding in extras work will give him the chance to follow in the footsteps of other actors who have done the same thing.
Jason, of Wilson Street, said: "A lot of extra work is about being available at the last minute. That is really important. I started with some student projects when I was at the University of Derby. But then I did things further afield.
"My first paid work was for the BBC series Truckers, which was quite good."
Jason then got stuck into something bigger when he was cast as an extra in Sherlock, the British crime drama which stars Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch.
Jason appeared as a photographer and said the experience was thrilling.
He said: "Sherlock was the second show I'd done and it was the programme which really started me doing it more regularly.
"It's quite entertaining watching a scene in real life and then seeing it on TV is quite weird. Sherlock is the biggest show I've been on and it was very fun.
"Just being there was a really great feeling. On Sherlock I walked past Martin Freeman, which was very good.
"It's very important as an extra not to look at the camera because that will ruin everything, so there is quite a bit of pressure. We can't take any photos on set because that could mess with the continuity if changes have been made since it goes out. For the same reason we can't eat in our costumes because if we spilled something like curry on it, then it would change things.
"My main advice is just to be polite and friendly to everybody on set. We are not allowed to hassle the actors for tips or for selfies, but they do often talk to us.
"We have to be very quiet so we don't interrupt or cause problems with the sound.
"I feel sorry for the females with their high heels."
One of Jason's biggest credited shows is the BBC soap Doctors in which he has appeared nine times in various different scenes.
He said the sitcom TV series Extras, about extras working in television and film sets, has been an accurate portrayal of what life is like in the industry.
The show, starring Ricky Gervais, charts his character's rise from extra to TV star who mixes and dines out with Hollywood A-listers.
Jason said: "I think the show is hilarious and also quite an accurate setting of what happens. The pay is not great as an extra but it's a good job and I really love it. One of the great things about being an extra is everybody is quite open with each other and people can be themselves."
Working on Coronation Street has given Jason a special insight one of TV's most famous sets.
Jason has filmed scenes with Helen Worth, who plays Gail Platt, and Ryan Thomas, who plays Jason Grimshaw.
Keen fans of the show might be more familiar with the bar of the Rovers Return, or the living room of the Grimshaw family, than they are with the homes of some of their friends.
Jason said: "Walking on the cobbles was fantastic and surreal. It was like 'these are real cobbles' and it was really weird."
