A man who has appeared on-screen more than 2,500 times as the UK’s most prolific extra revealed his secret weapon that kept casting agents calling.
John Walker has appeared in countless beloved projects – all while largely maintaining his anonymity.
Whether in soaps or Hollywood films, he featured as a background artist AKA an ‘extra’ in numerous productions over the years.
Writing for The Guardian, John explained how his journey as a background artist began in 1998, with Doctor Who spin-off Auton.
He soon signed up for an extras’ agency, hoping to land an occasional role – only to unexpectedly find himself booked and busy.
John explained: ‘My look at the time – skinny, mid-30s and not too good-looking – was in high demand to play doctors, gentry in period dramas, police officers and journalists.
John Walker has appeared on-screen more than 2,000 times as an extra – seen here with David Tennant
John and wife Neilum are prolific extras – they met on the set of Doctors in 2008, where they played husband and wife, and reality soon imitated art
The couple have appeared on countless show together, and played police officers in TV murder mysteries
‘I was cast as a newsreader so often that I started signing off with the same name every time – Peter Sommers has announced headlines in at least 30 films and TV shows, and he started being requested by directors.’
Among his many appearances were stints on three major soaps – Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks – where, for a short while, John simultaneously played a GP on all of them.
In addition, John was also part of a group of extras who regularly played detectives in four different police shows.
He quipped: ‘We joked it was a wonder any cases ever got solved, given our vast workload.’
John expanded into feature film background roles, including as Daniel Radcliffe‘s butler in A Woman In Black, as well as playing an assassin in Sherlock Holmes 2.
His most notable project – for multiple reasons – is perhaps the now-ended BBC medical soap opera Doctors.
He met his wife Neilum, a fellow background artist, on the show – describing this as ‘the greatest day I ever had on set.’
In perhaps a hint of things to come, the pair were playing a married couple in their first meeting.
John recalled: ‘I fell head over heels for her immediately, and told her I’d marry her for real one day.
‘She told me afterwards she thought I was quite strange, but I must have grown on her as we tied the knot in 2013.’
Two years later, they welcomed daughter India, who dabbled in background work as a younger child.
As a result of his many on-screen appearances, John said his friends had spotted him on TV many times.
However, only once did a stranger clock who he was – with a woman asking if he was the man who ‘raced in a child’s go-kart in a Pontins advert.’
With John having ambitions to direct, he put money into making his own film which later ended up on Netflix – but to limited fanfare.
Meanwhile, John’s life took a major turn after a friend offered him a few days’ work as a runner – on none other than Doctors.
A ‘runner’ is an entry-level member of a film crew who typically carries out duties like running errands, fetching drinks and providing general assistance.
As John himself explained, runners are usually in their early 20s – while he was 47 at the time.
After meeting on set, in November 2009 John proposed on top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, but the pair didn’t get married until November 2013 while they saved up for the big day
Following these beginnings, he worked his way up to a first assistant director on Doctors – but the show concluded last year after almost 25 years on-screen.
Of course, John isn’t the only person to have worked as an extra in major projects.
Iustin Costinesti featured in this capacity on season one of Netflix hit Wednesday, where he portrayed a werewolf character.
Speaking to Curiously, Iustin discussed his experience on set of The Addams Family-inspired show, confirming he had the opportunity to interact with main stars.
He said of series star Jenna Ortega: ‘She was very shy, she was always with headphones and I think she was always in character.
‘She was lovely though, she was kind to all of us and she was saying hello to all of us.’
