These background artists all absolutely stole the show.
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00:00From that time, a mesmerizing wedding guest completely overshadowed one of the MCU's most
00:05powerful heroes, to the moment audiences found themselves being hypnotized by a brusher in the
00:12background. These are some more utterly wonderful pieces of extra work. I'm Gareth, this is What
00:18Culture, and here are 10 more of the greatest movie extra performances ever.
00:2310. Sweeping His Way Into History – Quantum of Solace
00:27Throughout his time playing the most iconic secret agent on planet Earth, the blonde Bond shell known
00:33as Daniel Craig rarely found himself being upstaged by anyone he was sharing the screen with.
00:38However, there was a moment during easily the least adored of his 007 flicks, when one hilarious
00:44extra did exactly that in Quantum of Solace. As James Bond sits on his motorcycle and unleashes
00:51his best broody stare, it's simply impossible not to turn your attention to the bloke to the left of
00:56Craig doing a bit of sweeping. Only this particular quick brushing down of the dock floor bizarrely
01:02appeared to involve the scrubbing of thin air. Maybe that dude was just practicing his cleaning
01:07technique in the middle of his shift. Perhaps he was simply rehearsing a dance number for a musical
01:12he was about to star in. Either way, this guy managed to become a background superstar through
01:17his curious sweeping method, with his strange brush with Bond being one of the most memorable moments
01:22to come from the otherwise forgettable 2008 feature. And while we're on the subject of Bond,
01:28what is your favourite Bond film of all time? It's probably not Quantum of Solace,
01:32but you let me know what is in the comments section down below.
01:369. Hey Malkovich, Think Fast – Being John Malkovich
01:39Contrary to popular belief, the wonderful moment when John Malkovich gets rocked by a beer can sent
01:45flying out of a car by a passenger was not a completely improvised one. But that still doesn't change the fact that
01:52it's one of the finest extra performances ever to speed past a camera. According to the titular star
01:57himself, director Spike Jonze actually almost deleted the throw in the script due to time constraints.
02:04However, after claiming no one would be able to nail Malkovich in the head with the tin in a moving
02:08vehicle, a number of folks nearby offered to try, with John Cusack's writer partner then eventually
02:14being given the chance to hit the actor. And on top of the brilliant delivery of Hey Malkovich,
02:19Think Fast, followed by the terrific sound of the can connecting with an infuriated Malkovich's noggin,
02:26that this chucking was actually brilliantly captured on the first try, simply makes an already superb and
02:32quite iconic moment that little bit more fantastic.
02:358. The Force Kick – Return of the Jedi
02:38There are some out there who would have you believe that the visual of a dude on Tatooine being seemingly
02:43knocked over by a gust of wind during Star Wars Episode VI Return of the Jedi was little more
02:49than a combination of bad choreography and camera positioning. But they be wrong! Instead, when Luke
02:55Skywalker lets loose his boot whilst attempting to fight his way through Jabba the Hutt's goons,
03:00what you were actually watching was the result of one particularly committed extra making the
03:05absolute most out of a ridiculously powerful Force Kick, folks. Hell, Mark Hamill himself even
03:10confirmed it. And this Jedi Master wouldn't lie to his Padawans all over the galaxy now, would he?
03:15You know you've accidentally produced a special and properly unforgettable Star Wars moment when folks
03:20are talking more about you being Force-booted in the face than Boba Fett being sent flying to his
03:25Sarlacc Doom. And after taking one of the silliest looking kicks in movie history, it's safe to say this
03:31extra will be remembered for a long time. A long time.
03:35Number 7. So many, we're gonna need a bigger entry. Jaws.
03:39The folks of Amity Island could regularly be seen gathering and sprinting for their lives
03:43around the likes of Martin Brody and the rest of the memorable characters found in Steven Spielberg's
03:48horrifying 1975 blockbuster Jaws. And with so many extras being needed to fill out these beach town
03:55crowds, a few of those background artists diverting attention away from the main figures in front of the
04:00camera was pretty much inevitable. Sure enough, on multiple occasions in Spielberg's classic flick,
04:06extras stole the spotlight in various different ways. There was the bloke who decided to wear a
04:11blatant smile across his mug during one of Bruce's first attacks, while the rest of the folks at the
04:16beach were losing their minds over the shark. Then you have the peculiar guy in a bucket hat,
04:21trying to squeeze his way into as many frames as possible when Brody and Hooper are checking out
04:25the tiger shark. Mayor Larry Vaughn regularly finds himself having to deal with a few background
04:30performers attracting viewers' wandering eyes, too. A young child works his way into shots with a
04:36noticeable frown, as Larry asks why someone isn't going for a dip. And one particularly excited extra
04:42also steals all the attention away from the mayor, when he's letting folks watching the news know that
04:47Amity means friendship, giddily waving her arms and distractingly throwing up a peace sign during her
04:52big moment. Put simply, none of these extras wasted their opportunity to be remembered in what turned
04:58out to be one of the most famous movies of all time.
05:016. Stealing the whole damn scene
05:03Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
05:05There was only one cameo MCU fans couldn't stop talking about after last year's Doctor Strange in
05:11the Multiverse of Madness. Sure, the arrival of a certain Reed Richards in full Fantastic Four
05:16attire was a fun addition to the multiversal mayhem, but John Krasinski's brief performance as the
05:21famous Marvel figure paled in comparison to one outstanding wedding guest. As the titular
05:27sorcerer waited for Christine Palmer to walk down the aisle on her wedding day, Stephen Strange
05:32began chatting with his fellow Doctor Nicodemus West. And it's here when the two docks were
05:37completely overshadowed by one absolutely hypnotic extra perched on the bench behind them. Rather
05:43than taking the safe approach of just having a basic conversation with another guest, this background
05:48performer shines during the moment she knows she's in shot, pulling many an expressive face and just
05:54generally being as hilariously animated as possible over Strange's shoulder. Sure, her colourful display
06:00ever so slightly undermines Strange's serious chat, about his part in causing half of life in the universe
06:05to be dusted away for five years before Thanos was ultimately defeated, but she certainly made the
06:10most of her MCU moment. And then some. And also, just a quick thanks for making WhatCulture a part
06:16of your day today. And if you like what you see, then go and tap on that subscribe button, you lovely
06:21person. Number five, the goon who kicked their own ass, The Dark Knight Rises. Keeping in the world of
06:27superheroes for this next tremendous piece of extra work, Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy possesses
06:32some of the most gripping fight sequences ever to grace the genre. But while The Dark Knight Rises in
06:37particular certainly boasted some of the more brutal and jaw-dropping punch-ups the franchise had to
06:42offer, that threequel also contained one of the funniest mid-fight moments too. As Batman and Catwoman
06:48kick and thump their way out of trouble, Bane's henchmen find themselves being taken out one by one by
06:53the hard-hitting twosome. Well, most of them do anyway. One over-enthusiastic baddie appeared to have
06:59strangely got a little lost in the moment, and simply threw themselves to the ground whilst the bat was
07:04occupied with a few other goons. Maybe the fear of tangling with the caped crusader was enough to
07:10make this Bane soldier crumble to the ground. Or perhaps one of the stunt workers involved in the
07:14multi-person skirmish simply forgot a piece of the fight routine, and this awkward tumble was the only
07:20way to save the rest of the take. Whatever the reason, the henchmen who conquered themselves quickly
07:25became a legend in their own right after this silly moment. Number four, Batman. Yeah, Batman forever.
07:31That stumbling Dark Knight Rises background performer wasn't the first extra to make a noticeable impact
07:37during a bat film. Back during the far more cartoonish era of Dark Knight pictures, Joel
07:42Schumacher's Batman Forever included a scene which involved Batman crashing through the ceiling
07:47before hunting down Two-Face. And while that may initially sound like your average moment of
07:52caped crusader crime fighting, one side-splitting extra ensured that this specific bat arrival would
07:57never be forgotten. In the seconds before slow-mo Batman touches down on the floor,
08:02one carefree party guest can be found pointing up to the sky and letting out an exuberant Batman.
08:08Yeah! That drunken wonder in this extra's voice as Val Kilmer's superhero slowly dropped out of the
08:14sky, combined with the hilariously dramatic stare Nicole Kidman's Dr. Chase Meridian shoots the badass,
08:20as the guest's arm remains awkwardly aimed at his favorite hero, makes for one of the most glorious
08:25pieces of silly 90s action you'll find in the otherwise quite disappointing flick.
08:30And after catching this wonderful moment of strangeness for the first time,
08:34you'll likely struggle sitting through your next viewing of Batman Forever,
08:37without letting out your own random party extra, yeah! During his shot-stealing performance.
08:43Number 3. Oh God, I Can't Feel My Legs, Spider-Man
08:46When the scene which sees Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker giving that professional wrestling stuff a try,
08:51during Sam Raimi's first Spider-Man Comes Up In Conversation, most folks will be quick to
08:57remember the brilliant performance given by real-life wrestling icon, Macho Man Randy Savage.
09:02Oh yeah!
09:04But before Bonesaw McGraw was ready to murder Spider-Man in the middle of the squared circle,
09:10a wonderful wrestling extra came along and offered another comical moment,
09:14in the wake of being sent flying by the aforementioned Macho Saw.
09:17As Parker makes his way to the ring for his debut as the amazing Spider-Man to the sound of
09:22booze, Bonesaw's last victim, a luchador who'd been smashed through a table,
09:27let Parker know what hell could be heading his way.
09:30Oh my God, oh my legs, oh God, I Can't Feel My Legs were the memorable words that left Pete
09:35wondering whether he'd just made a monumental mistake, choosing to take a few bumps for some
09:39dollar. Macho Man and Maguire certainly provide their fair share of amusing moments throughout this
09:45much-loved wrestling superhero mashup, but it's this extra superb commitment to flailing around
09:50on a stretcher like he'd just lost a fight with King Kong that still sticks out as one of the
09:54funniest of the entire sequence.
09:56Number 2. Hold Your Horses, The Last Samurai
09:59Animals, like children, are known for being somewhat unpredictable on a film set,
10:03and that's something you definitely don't need to tell one of the unfortunate extras pretending to
10:07be a soldier during one rather awkward scene in The Last Samurai.
10:11As Tom Cruise's Captain Nathan Algren dismounts his steed in the middle of some nearby troops,
10:16said horse suddenly decided it had a problem with one of the extras just trying their best to stay
10:21as still as humanly possible. Rather than throwing a tantrum, dropping his spear and demanding a word
10:26with the director after being kicked by the agitated animal though, this nutcracked soldier kept his
10:32composure and resisted the urge to fall to his knees in agony. You can hardly blame the horse for
10:37being a bit freaked out by the sight of so many armoured blokes holding weapons around it, can ya?
10:41But that doesn't change the fact that in the time it takes to lift your boot off the ground,
10:45this extra likely went from being excited about the idea of possibly sharing a frame with the
10:50mighty crews, to cursing the moment they were nudged to the front of their particular unit in the
10:54first place.
10:55And number 1. Running Away With The Sword, Raiders of the Lost Ark
10:59Easily one of the most iconic pieces of action in big screen history,
11:03The visual of the legendary Indiana Jones deciding to simply gun down a giant sword-wheeling enemy is
11:09cinematic perfection, and the fun simply does not stop after a genuinely sick Harrison Ford fires a
11:16bullet through the intimidating man in black, with one side-splitting extra adding another magical
11:21detail to the already stellar scene. Keep an eye on the folks surrounding Indy's fallen foe in the
11:26seconds that follow the pistol being fired, and you'll spot one of the overjoyed civilians reaching
11:31right for the baddies' massive weapon.
11:34Instead of suddenly taking the scene down a much darker road by seizing the weapon and turning on
11:39Jones or anyone else in the area though, this extra proceeds to celebrate like they've just won the
11:43World Cup, and runs away with the huge sword waving in the air as the euphoric crowd cheers them on.
11:49It's a little performance that can easily be overlooked during your first few watches of the
11:53effortlessly cool moment. But once you spot it, an already riotous event is made even more
11:59absurdly comical. Lovely stuff.