Stand-In Central recently interviewed Kat Murello on this very topic, and we’re excited that Kat and SAG have opened a dialogue on this topic very important to us.

In her letter to the editor, Kat writes:

There are times I watch the list of names at the end of a film and see a mention of every single person all the way down to a single-day intern production assistant receiving a credit, while the stand-ins remain unacknowledged. Is there a legitimate reason for this and is there anything that can be done to give credit where all credit is due?

The editor replies, “[S]creen credit for any performer is always a matter of individual bargaining.  The Guild has attempted to negotiate better provisions regarding screen credits but the Producers are very resistant to additional obligations when it comes to this matter.”

Links to Kat Murello’s Letter

• Click here to read the letter on page 4 of the Fall 2011 issue of Screen Actor Magazine.
• Click here to view the digital version of the Fall 2011 issue of Screen Actor Magazine.
• Click here to download a PDF of the Fall 2011 issue of Screen Actor Magazine.

If you’re a stand-in interested in receiving credit for the commitment you make in working on a television or film project, we encourage you to keep the dialogue current by contacting the Screen Actors Guild.

Letters to the Editor
Screen Actor Magazine
5757 Wilshire Boulevard, 7th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90036

Fax: (323) 549-6500
Email: screenactor@sag.org

Furthermore, if you have experience in procuring credit for yourself as a stand-in in the end credits of a project, please comment below or write Stand-In Central.

We welcome your comments on this topic below.

I have known Milton Dawes for a number of years.  Milton is a Jamaican-born man of numerous claims to fame with a diverse array of talents and experiences.  We first met in 2000 in New York City at a conference for general semantics, a field in which we are both very active.  Since then, I’ve come to know Milton better, paying him visits at his home in Montreal, Quebec, and serving as webmaster for his website.

But it struck me as odd the other day that after editing Stand-In Central for nearly two years, I never thought to interview Milton on one of his standout résumé footnotes: His stand-in experience on the first film of the James Bond franchise, Dr. No (1962).  Back when I first learned about his appearance in the film, I looked up the trailer on Netflix, and there was Milton, among the very first people I saw in the trailer.  This implied to me that Milton Dawes might be one of the first people viewers ever saw as they became acquainted with what would become a franchise still thriving fifty years later.

Milton accepted my offer to interview him for the Stand-In Central Interview Series.  Here’s what he had to share.

- The Editor

Milton Dawes

SIC: What’s your name and what do you do?

MD: Milton Dawes. I study, “teach”[*], and practice general semantics as “Advanced Thinking”–a way to make sense of things (including ourselves) and a general method for improvement.

SIC: You’ve also stood in before.  How many times have you stood in in your lifetime?

MD: Just once, in 1961 for the film Dr. No. I was also slated to take part in [the TV series] Father of the Bride around 1962 or so. The film might have been Bringing Up Father. Anyway I am sure “father” was in the title. It could have been the case that only a small part of the film was made in Jamaica.  Not acquainted with the film environment, I got tired of waiting so I left the production.

SIC: As a longtime friend, when I first heard that you’d stood in on Dr. No, the very first James Bond film, I was very excited to hear this information. How did you land the role of a stand-in on this film?

MD: I was a member of the National Dance Theatre of Jamaica. I think the director of the studio (Rex Nettleford, who died a few years ago) was asked for recommendations.

SIC: I understand you worked not only as a stand-in for the film, but also as a photo-double and stunt-double. On YouTube there is a clip of your scene in the first 5 seconds of a trailer for the film. You’re the guy in the red shirt.  Walk me through your memories of doing this scene.

MD: This part of the film took place in Port Royal, the famous pirate and Buccaneer haven, and from which Captain Morgan sailed to attack Panama City. Port Royal, across the harbor from Kingston (which I once swam across in a “cross the harbor” race), was once considered the wickedest city in the world. It was destroyed by an earthquake in 1692.

I was standing in for the bad guy who was waiting in a basement with knife in hand. The bad guy was supposed to have valuable information for Mr. Bond. Bond was sent in the basement by a not-so-trustworthy bartender.  (I knew this person. He did manage a bar in Kingston.)

There were a lot of boxes in the storeroom. They were carefully set up beforehand in preparation, so that when Bond kicked the knife out of my hand, I would fall back into the boxes which would fly all over the place. There was no rehearsal. I was simply told what would happen and how I was expected to react.

If I remember correctly this was done in one take–and lasted just about 10 minutes from Bond’s entry, setup of lights, to the kick and fall. The filming done, Bond left immediately, and that was that. I left right after and went back to my work at the biochemistry lab in Kingston.

My lasting memory of that event was that Sean Connery did not fake the kick. It did hurt my hand for several days. (It wasn’t a soft shoe.)

SIC: Ha!  I imagine for the stunt your physical fitness played into being cast.  What was your physical fitness like at the time?

MD: I imagined that the requirement was for someone who physically looked like the bad guy. I was training at a bodybuilding gym at the time and was developed enough to enter several regional bodybuilding contests–and eventually Mr. Jamaica. (I won the Best Abdominal and Best Chest awards in that event.) I was also fit enough to do limbo dancing on shows at hotels in the Ocho Rios area.

Milton Dawes, Limbo Champion, limboing underneath the height of a Coke bottle

SIC: How were you treated on the set of Dr. No? Whom did you meet?

MD: I was around for only about an hour or two. I met only four persons. The bartender, the director (don’t remember who), the bad guy, and Connery in the basement for a few minutes.

SIC: This scene was shot in 1961. How much were you paid for the role at the time?

MD: I don’t remember this. I think if it was an unusually outstanding amount I probably would have remembered.

SIC: How did the experience shape you afterwards? Did you realize the film was going to be the start of a franchise still running 50 years later?

MD: I had no idea that the film would be a start for such a long-running franchise. As I had no intention to be in films, this was just a little adventure for me.  Once, with some other school mates I took acting classes with Lady Jeanne Campbell  (granddaughter of Lord Beaverbrook). It didn’t work out. I couldn’t get over my self-consciousness.

SIC: What are you up to nowadays?

MD: Writing, thinking, exercising, “teaching,” keeping healthy. And I still do my weightlifting exercises.

SIC: Anything else?

MD: Read some of my thoughts represented in articles I have written over the years at http://www.miltondawes.com.

SIC: Milton, thank you very much for taking the time to share your stand-in experiences.

MD: Thank you, Ben.

Milton Dawes lives in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.  His website is http://www.miltondawes.com.

[*] Milton puts scare quotes around the term “teaching” when he uses the word. Specifically, Milton sees what he does in general semantics as talking-lecturing instead of teaching. He explains: “I see talking-lecturing about the principles [of general semantics] as a very small part of internalizing the system. As such I do not think I teach the discipline.”

Stand-ins appear from time to time in popular culture. In this entry of Stand-In Central, we look at an appearance of the stand-in in the television show H.R. Pufnstuf.

- The Editor

In the first season of 1969’s children’s television show H.R. Pufnstuf, Episode 5 titled “The Stand In” has a movie come to town to film, and the main characters want to get involved.

The Great Toadenoff offers Jimmy a role in his movie, and Witchiepoo is given the role of the star’s stand-in.

The characters help define a stand-in for the audience.

Freddy the Flute: What’s a stand-in?

H.R. Pufnstuf: She gets pushed around pretty good while the star takes it easy.  It’s a rough job.  And take it from me: It’s gonna be even rougher on her.  I’m really going to sock it to her!

Witchiepoo disguises herself as Lola Lollapalooza and is subjected to makeup abuse (not something you’re going to see on a set!).

Rarely are you going to see stand-ins given makeup, at least in the way that Witchiepoo gets powdered in the episode.  But it’s interesting to see how the role of stand-in was presented and perceived in 1969.

Do you know of other emergences of stand-ins in television shows? If so, reply below.  Even better, write to Stand-In Central with a review of an episode!

The Stand-In Central Interview Series have given readers insight into the unique experiences of several types of stand-ins.  Standing in for a lead actor on an entire film shoot can be one of the most exciting and rewarding stand-in gigs.

In this interview, Stand-In Central’s very own editor Ben Hauck shares his story about standing in for Jason Bateman on the upcoming romantic comedy The Switch, and he tells us about his other ventures including the creation of StandInCentral.com.

The Switch hits theaters Friday, August 20th!

- Sara DeRosa, Contributor

Ben Hauck

SIC: What’s your name and what do you do?

BH: Hi!  I’m Ben Hauck.  I’m an actor, athlete, and improv comedian based in New York City.  I also work as a stand-in in television and film, and edit Stand-In Central, this very website about the job of the stand-in.

SIC: Who are some actors for whom you’ve stood in?

BH: Probably of most note, I’ve stood in for Jason Bateman in the film The Baster, now titled The Switch, and for Peter Facinelli on the second season of Nurse Jackie.  I’ve also worked regularly as a back-up stand-in on the television shows Gossip Girl and Mercy.  Way back when, I even stood in for Leonardo DiCaprio in the re-shoots for The Departed.  Scorsese!

SIC: The Switch comes out this Friday, August 20th! What was the interview process like for the job of Jason Bateman’s stand-in?

BH: I’m glad you asked that because it was quite memorable to me.

About a month prior, a casting director called me out of the blue saying he’d like to submit me for the job of Jason Bateman’s stand-in on the film.  I thought, Hey, I guess I am a decent match for him.  Eventually I got the call that I landed the interview.

The morning of the interview, the subways were not working in my favor, and I had to sprint to the studio from the subway station so I didn’t blow my chances.  Fortunately for me, the production assistant who welcomed me was more interested in making me feel good about being there than feeling bad about being a few minutes late and out of breath.

I met the three other candidates for standing in, who bonded all very well while I talked to one of the four interviewees for the job of Jennifer Aniston’s stand-in.  Talking to her helped me take my mind off of the nerves the experience raised.  All of the other Jason Bateman candidates seemed to me quite able to book the gig, and I felt a little voice in my head thinking I probably would not get it in light of the others.

Suddenly, the four interviewees for Jennifer Aniston’s stand-in were called down to set.  Almost as immediately, they returned to where we were holding.  Surprisingly, the woman who landed the gig was the least like Jennifer Aniston.  I would later learn from this woman that she found out she did not land the gig, but they would be using her for the day.

Then, the Jason Bateman candidates were called down.  Soon after arriving on set, we were lined up on the stage they were using for camera testing.  Jason came out and stood in the center.  Two of us flanked each side of him.  The director of photography, Jess Hall, directed us to face forward, then turn profile.  He also had us switch places with the person next to us.  Jess then suddenly removed two people, then another, and I was the one left standing.  I felt as if I’d entered a tunnel.  Jason shaked my hand, referring to me as his doppelgänger.  For all intents and purposes, I’d landed the gig.  Jess asked if I’d stood in for anyone else before, so I mentioned standing in for Leonardo DiCaprio.  And we were on our way.

I was used for the camera test that day as Jason and Jen tried on various wardrobe options, and I took time learning about standing in from the experienced stand-in who’d booked the Jennifer Aniston gig for the day, as well as the names of the crew members with whom I’d be working in the next two months.

It wasn’t until a day or so later that I got a call confirming that I’d landed the gig.  And let me tell you, I was calm that morning, but come 2pm my anxiety was so intolerable I forced myself to nap to put the gig out of my mind.  If memory serves, casting called around 3pm, waking me up, confirming that I’d booked the gig.  The casting director explained it would be an 8-week gig and that Jason worked nearly everyday.

SIC: What did you like best about your experience working on The Switch?

BH: Oh goodness, the experience was rewarding in so many ways for me.  I’m very proud of my work as a stand-in on this film, and I learned so much about standing in from the experience.  I also learned a heck of a lot about filmmaking that I hadn’t picked up from a day here and a day there on other sets.  I’ve met a tremendous amount of crew and actors whom I continue to see to this day.  I feel quite networked now, and I love being able to say hi to so many people when I work.

But even though we shot in Spring 2009, the experience is still ongoing for me: I’m really curious to see how The Switch turns out!  I worked all 39 days of principal photography.  I keep saying to people that I imagine watching it will be more like watching “a schizophrenic documentary” than a story.  I imagine I’ll be saying to myself, “Oh, I remember that day!!” and then “I remember that day, too!” probably more than following the storyline.  At least the first time watching it!

SIC: Did this stand-in gig lead you to other opportunities?

BH: Yes, it did.  The stand-in job on The Switch helped me develop a relationship with the casting director, for whom I was never a source of problem or stress.  After the filming was done, I eventually found the same casting director calling me regularly for stand-in opportunities on projects he was handling.  I found myself standing in with some regularity on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Mercy, and The Big C.  I believe these opportunities came from the casting director’s having had positive work experiences with me.

My work on The Switch developed a trust that I can stand in and do it well.  After The Switch, I pursued stand-in jobs with more fervor, eventually landing the job of Peter Facinelli’s regular stand-in on the second season of Nurse Jackie when a hole opened up.  In the pursuit of mastering standing in, I “geeked out” a bit at the job, continually thinking of ways to do the job and do it better.  This geeky interest in standing in led to another opportunity: Stand-In Central.

SIC: You’re involved with several creative projects and other activities. Tell us more about your other pursuits.

BH: Apart from Stand-In Central, to date, I’m very fortunate to be making a living as an actor.  Most of my weekdays are filled with acting or stand-in jobs, and from time to time I fit in a go-see, an audition, or a callback when I don’t have acting work.  I’m a trained stage actor, so I feel the need to get onstage from time to time.  For that reason, every month or so I make a point of performing improvised sermons at variety shows when I’m invited.  I perform as The Reverend Raymond Nader these audience-inspired Pentecostal sermons, and the experience is a lot like jumping off a cliff or riding a roller coaster.  The results are usually uproarious.  I have videos of many of my improvised sermons on my website.

Improv, specifically long-form improv, has been a long-time interest of mine.  For a number of years I developed my own approaches to teaching and directing long-form improv with an independent improv group in the city.  More recently I’ve developed and directed a multinational improv training program for a corporate client that had me teaching long-form improv in NYC, Toronto, and London.  Currently a book I’ve been working on for six years on long-form improv is under consideration for publication with a major university press.  Fingers crossed!

When I’m not acting, I’m probably training for a marathon.  I have two marathons scheduled for this November, and I’m qualified to run the Boston Marathon in 2011.  Basically, about all I can fit in a day is an acting job and a training run, with maybe an hour or two for catch-up on other things before going to bed.  Unfortunately, though, the acting gigs have been so long and so frequent, my training has been suffering.  I need more time to rest and run!

Apart from acting and running, I also am involved in the field of general semantics.  General semantics is the study of the ethical use of language.  It’s a field not so much interested in speaking correctly as it is in speaking properly.  General semantics has been an interest I’ve cultivated since college when I first stumbled upon it, and it really improved the quality of my thinking.  Since moving to New York City I’ve been able to connect with people involved in the field.  I now serve on the board of trustees for the Institute of General Semantics and the board of directors for the New York Society for General Semantics, and I webmaster both of their websites.  Most of my published work has been in the journal for general semantics titled ETC: A Review of General Semantics, but I also keep a blog on general semantics titled Off the Map: Notes from the Territory.

SIC: How do you manage all of these endeavors? What helps you to balance your life?

BH: Ha!  I don’t!

Nah, I do okay.  Priority tends to go to acting work.  In theory, my day will be spent with 12 hours of work on a set, two hours allowed for the commute to and from, and two hours dedicated to a run in Central Park.  Then sleep.  However, when I’m working on different sets, turnaround times for me between productions can mean that I have to sacrifice a run.  While I don’t usually get too neglectful of things in my life as a result of being so busy, some things I used to do immediately get pushed to Sundays when I tend to have more time.  I keep a to-do list with many items on it, and it really keeps my life in order.

Balance is not really possible in my life given that my kind of work is not very balanced and most of my projects require a lot of time to complete.  Balance is not as key in my life as is coordination. Sometimes I just don’t have time to coordinate everything I want to do in a day.  I have to look at weeks at a time to plan when something will happen. It’s a pain to have to suffer a bit with an untidy bedroom because I don’t have even a few minutes to, say, put away some clothes.  But the work I do makes me happy, so it’s a small price to pay.  I plan on putting clothes away on another day when I know I have some time.

Ben Hauck

SIC: What inspired you to produce the website Stand-In Central?

BH: The opportunities I had standing in on The Switch led to the creation of Stand-In Central.  The first day on set of The Switch, the 2nd 2nd AD slapped down a sheet of paper in front of me, on which was defined the term “stand-in” and an outline of the job responsibilities.  He’d co-written it with a production assistant we both knew.  My first reaction to receiving this sheet was offense!, but secretly, I was so relieved to receive this overview.  The job–for which up until this time I had been grabbing at straws to understand fully–was now structured for me.  I knew what was expected of me, and I wouldn’t have to be continuously thinking, “What should I be doing now? Now? And now??”

I thought such a clear outline of the job would benefit not just me, but also other people who found themselves thrust into the job of stand-in.  Less than a year later, I put my understanding of the job into a website at little cost, beta-tested it with the contributions of other stand-ins and production people, and here it is today, helping people to understand the various things stand-ins experience daily.

SIC: You’ve given a lot of great advice on this site. What are your favorite topics that you have highlighted so far?

BH: I set up this feature on the site and called it “Ask Stand-In Central.”  It was intended mainly for people who work as stand-ins to seek answers to questions they might have about the job.  There isn’t much online about the finer points of standing in, so when you have a question, you can feel quite lonely.

Recently I got an email at 11:30pm from someone with a stand-in interview the next day.  She wanted to know how to handle the interview, so she’d been searching online and found the website.  Minutes later I emailed her some perspective on stand-in interviews, and I passed along a blog post about how interviews can go.  She replied the next day with a comment that she’d landed the gig and that the site was helpful for her.  That felt great!  It’s just what the site is for!

I also like the convenient section “What Is A Stand-In?“  The section provides a nice overview of standing in and structures the job so that someone can read it and feel relatively prepared to stand in.  Not all stand-in gigs are a matter of standing in place with next to zero responsibility; many stand-in jobs are demanding and that section can help people new to more demanding stand-in jobs understand their responsibilities.

And there’s a soft spot in my heart for the interviews with professional stand-ins.  A lot of traffic comes to the website from people interested in the interviews with particular stand-ins.  I’m sure it’s fun to read up on this “secret society” of sorts.

SIC: Anything else?

BH: I guess I’d like to say that the opportunity to stand in can be a precious one.  If you’re an actor like me, with the job of standing in can come immediate and eventual acting opportunities.  You get to watch principal actors as they go through their processes and develop their characters, which can inform your own professional acting.  You get to meet a number of professional actors and crew, some of whom may develop into people you work with later and may be in a position to request you for work.

But you also may have acting opportunities yourself.  Aside from the occasional time you might get thrown a role when you’re standing in, you might get to do offcamera acting.  For The Switch, one of my most memorable times was when I was reading Jason Bateman’s lines in order for the camera crew to shoot reaction shots of the featured background actors.  For The Switch there were two directors, and one director felt the featured actors in the first take had acted their reactions too much.  This director wanted to see more genuine reactions of awkwardness from the actors, so he came up to me and whispered, “Okay, start the dialogue, and a few lines into it, say ‘Fuck!’”  I was up for this challenge.  I told only Jennifer Aniston’s stand-in and the DP that this was going to happen.  The director confirmed with me privately that he wanted me to do that.  No one else knew.  Away I went …

We rolled.  I did as the director asked, then also started talking rudely to the background actors to Look at me! as I was talking.  One featured actor actually responded verbally during the take to my rudeness.  I stumbled over lines (intentionally), complained how hot it was, and even tried to get the crew to cut, mumbling that I’d probably just lost my job in light of this “bad take.”  Upon hearing cut from the director, the other stand-in erupted in laughter, the DP was all smiles, and the first director was pleased … though the second director, who had been sitting about 4 feet from me, hadn’t been clued in!  The second director eventually complimented me, all smiles about what had just happened.

I later learned that a) the directors’ assistant, who was also reading lines in the scene, texted the whispering director during the take that “Ben’s lost it” or something to that effect, and b) the background indeed thought I’d lost it, because word spread for a few days that I’d melted down in a take!

The next shot, not minutes later, I had another acting opportunity: To deliver a heartfelt monologue for more reaction shots.  This time, I was on the verge of tears when delivering it.

I wasn’t “just a stand-in” when booked as Jason Bateman’s stand-in in The Switch.  I was still an actor, and these acting opportunities were chances to practice my craft in the big league and also show my stuff.  It was such a satisfying day.  (On that same day, I just remembered, I got to deliver a heartfelt monologue offcamera but directly to Jennifer Aniston in reading another character’s lines.  To think that I could be working a 9-5 job instead!)

When you stand in, great things can happen.  You’re often a witness to cinematic history.  Better put, you’re a part of it.

SIC: Thanks so much, Ben!

BH: Sure thing!  Thank you!

Ben Hauck is currently playing FBI Agent Graham on the second season of White Collar.  His website is http://benhauck.com.

Stand-ins appear from time to time in popular culture.  In this entry of Stand-In Central, we look at an appearance of the stand-in in song.

- The Editor

 “Standing in for Joe” is a pop song cut by the band fronted by Andy Partridge known as XTC.  It was written and composed by Colin Moulding and appears on XTC’s 2000 album Wasp Star (Apple Venus, Volume 2).

While the title explicitly references the job of the television and film stand-in, the lyrics are merely suggestive of the job.  The song tells the story of a man who does a friend named Joe a favor by entertaining Joe’s girl while he’s away.

Joe called round to ask me, Would I do a favor?
While he’s gonna be out of town
He says his girl needs company, she gets so restless
Would I keep her safe and sound?
Softly, softly in the night
Why, you can guess the rest…
Now these shoes fit all too well
Standing in for Joe

The man ends up taking Joe’s place in their relationship!

While the phrase “standing in” in the title might not reference the job of the stand-in, the theatrical reference  later in the song suggests otherwise.  Partridge sings:

This actor he plays all the parts
Standing in for Joe

suggesting the shadow nature of the television and film stand-in.

It would be a mighty surprising outcome for a second-team stand-in to take the place of a first-team principal actor.  It’s a concept that keeps the song is light and funny.

Preview the song on Amazon.com by clicking here.

Do you know of other emergences of stand-ins in song?  If so, reply below!