19 Secrets Television Runners Will Never Tell You

    We're all extras in our spare time.

    Lucy Jordan
    by Lucy Jordan

    BuzzFeed Contributor

    1. Sitting down is literally a privilege.

    2. Quite often, we haven't read the script for what we're shooting.

    3. We spend a lot of time just hanging around.

    Walt Disney

    We are pretty much experts at finding something to pass the time during the three hours setting up the next shot.

    4. Whenever we go to the cinema, we stay to watch the credits.

    Focus Features

    Seeing our name up there makes us feel awesome. We don't care if the lights come up before our name.

    5. We call our toilets "honeywagons", and when we need to go we say we're "going 10-1."

    6. We drink more coffee than you can imagine.

    Walt Disney

    When you’re getting up at 5am and leaving work at 9pm, coffee is a necessity.

    7. The moment the lunch menu is announced is the most exciting part of the day.

    New Line Cinema

    Sure we might be shooting next year's box office smash, but lunch is still pretty much the best bit.

    8. And the amount of carbs we consume because of crew catering and craft will probably kill us.

    9. Outdoorsy clothing is sort of cool in this world.

    10. And Sharpies are really important.

    11. Aside from being soul-destroyingly rich, producers are actually pretty normal.

    Paramount Pictures

    Actors can be demanding, directors can be eccentric, and producers are loaded. But they all struggle in the mornings, drink builder's brews, and work really long hours. So it's kind of OK.

    12. And wrap parties are actually pretty uneventful.

    Paramount Pictures

    Someone gets with someone they shouldn't, the lead actors have a dance off, and the quiet lady from Accounts is sick everywhere. Our office parties are exactly the same as yours.

    13. We’ve all been an extra at some point.

    14. And even though we might say we are, we're not "passionate" about everything we work on.

    Netflix

    But saying so looks good on our CV, so we pretend we are.

    15. If we're on a big job, we might not be able to see you for 6 months.

    20th Century Fox

    And if we're on nights, we're basically dead to you. But there are other times we won't have work, and we'll be endlessly free to hang out.

    16. The on-set nurse is basically our work mum.

    17. Everyone we've ever fallen out with or dated is guaranteed to pop up on our next job.

    Walt Disney

    It's an incestuous world, and you never know when you're next going to run into an ex.

    18. We might be runners in the daytime, but we do a million things outside of work too.

    20th Century Fox Television

    We probably also direct shorts on the side, spend time writing our first feature films, DJ at the weekend, dabble in stand-up comedy, and produce music videos. Our ambitions lie far further than our jobs.

    19. And even though we moan from time to time, we love what we do.

    Universal Pictures

    That's why we keep going back.