It is not commonplace for background performers to star in a movie trailer, but the trailer for 2021 summer blockbuster Free Guy does just that. In a promotional social media video for the flm that features Ryan Reynolds as a background character living inside a video game, two of the movie’s 269 background actors, local members Brandon Scales and Janelle “Elle Brittany” Feigley, were featured.

“There are a lot of hardworking actors and artists [in New England] and I’m grateful to be one of the lucky ones to get noticed,” said Feigley.

For two days, a crew shot Feigley behind the scenes on set and recorded her off set running at home and going through the motions of life, unrehearsed as an artist, entrepreneur and mother.

Added Scales, who regularly works as a stand-in as well as off camera as a content creator, “Background actors don’t often get a lot of credit, but we continuously come back and do this work over again. I love what I do and I think that radiates; I am happy for this recognition for all background actors.” 

This item originally appeared in the SAG-AFTRA magazine fall/winter 2021 issue. 

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