One “refreshing” piece of equipment we suggest as required for a stand-in is a breath freshener.

While the suggestion may seem cute, having some way to freshen your breath while on set ensures a pleasant work environment for those with whom you sometimes work very intimately.

Care For Your Breath

As you may well know, working in close proximity with someone who has halitosis can make for an immediately depressing situation.  The situation only deteriorates when the person is a stand-in and the stand-in gig involves sitting, standing, or lying very close.

As a professional stand-in, you should care for the state and condition of your breath.

  • Consider the food you’re eating in light of your current day’s assignment.   If your day’s work involves being very close to another stand-in, stay away from foods that will “reek” havoc on your breath.
  • Bring a toothbrush and toothpaste to work so that you can brush your teeth after lunch or after “sandwich o’clocks.”
  • Have a breath mint, Listerine strip, gum, candy, or some other breath freshening agent before you step on set as added insurance against bad breath.
  • The craft services table often has gum and breath mints in case you need them.  Be mindful of the rest of the cast and crew and take only what you need from the table.

Care for Other Stand-Ins’ Breath

Bringing enough breath fresheners to share with others will allow you to improve another stand-in’s breath if it’s on the offensive side.  Even if the other members of second team don’t have bad breath, condition the attention to breath by offering other stand-ins breath fresheners when you go to have one yourself.

If another stand-in’s breath happens to be a bit bad, take the initiative to offer the stand-in a breath mint rather than stewing in the odor.  Often enough, a stand-in doesn’t know his or her breath had gone south.

  • Initiate by getting out your mints and offering “Would you like a  mint?”  You’ll usually avoid embarrassing the stand-in.
  • Presented in a shy and friendly manner, offering the stand-in a mint by saying, “Hear, have one of these” will sound like generous advice rather than a rude order.

Each of these ways should make the other stand-in appreciative of your help rather than embarrassed about the inconvenient odor. With a little initiative, you hopefully will be on your way to a more fragrant stand-in environment.

How do you handle the breath of other stand-ins?  How do you handle your own?  Do you have any funny stories with respect to stand-in breath?  If so, post below!