From ambo to orc, the role of a television extra is nothing if not varied, writes Matt Cleary.

I'm dressed as an ambulance man and barging a hospital gurney through a pair of swinging doors as a man with burnt feet screams: "Jonesy! Are you all right? Jonesy?"

A nurse looks at the man and says: "Dancing on hot coals, eh?" She turns to me and says: "Take him over there." I nod and mouth "Rightio" (I'm not allowed to speak) before wheeling the rolling bed down the corridor as the man continues to scream.

"Jonesy!"

Then a man says "Cut!" and we're instructed to do it again "from the top". We do this six times, for such is life on the set of hospital drama All Saints. And such is the work of an extra - one week a bustling ambulance man, the next a murderous orc.

A few days before what I came to call "the Jonesy scene", I'd signed up with Extras Agency in Sydney's Bathurst Street. Work as an extra seemed a fun way to complement my freelance journalist income. I had photos taken and filled out some forms and a few days later got the call - turn up to Seven studios in Epping at 9am. You'll be ambulance man "Glen Dalglish".

"Most people we sign up we can put to work straightaway," David Cushen from Extras Agency says. "Once you've been booked on the job, you'll be given the details: the hours, location, parking, maybe what to wear. You'll turn up, sign on and be directed to wardrobe. And away you go."

Along with staying in touch with the agency by phone, Cushen says "reliability and flexibility" are the most important factors in gaining work.

Extras Agency says it has "shift workers, taxi drivers, students, policemen, firemen, the self-employed, waiters and mums on the books. Some are interested in acting as a career; others are interested in the industry. Others just want to make extra money. Some people want to meet new people. We've had two weddings!"

Extras work is casual and varied. One week you're an out-of-focus coffee drinker on Home and Away, the next you're swinging a lightsaber in Star Wars. A lot of it is waiting for the crew to set up camera angles and the actors to get made up. Seasoned extras bring something to read. It's turn up, dress up, shut up (at least when you're on the set).

Assistant directors tell you what to do - walk here, point there, fake a silent laugh. You can't talk, so miming is a skill. I've had pretend conversations as a concerned parent, a policeman and a strip-club attendee. I've peered into cars, drunk water from beer bottles and turned sausages on a barbecue.

Another payoff comes when your show turns up on television. Four months after Glen Dalglish barged his gurney through those doors, his appearance on All Saints was greeted with howls of laughter from the gaggle of friends and family I'd invited over for popcorn.

In the only talking gig I've landed - as a Victorian detective on Crime Investigation Australia: The Disappearance of Donald Mackay - I was paid $250 for a few hours "grilling" a "mafioso supergrass". Watching myself in that smoky room, asking him, "Do you mean, you actually know where Robert Trimbole is right now?" is a gift that keeps on giving - each time it's on, my phone is full of texts.

When my father-in-law saw it - not knowing I'd moonlighted as an "actor" - he almost fell out of his chair. All up, I was onscreen for 20 seconds.

Fast facts:

Requirements: Availability. What casting agents most want is people able to turn up. The work would suit shiftworkers, students, the self-employed or unemployed. Jobs can last several weeks (feature films) or four hours (kick a tyre in a commercial).

Pay: The hourly rate is between $24 and $28, though speaking roles pay more.

Costs: Agencies charge a minimum 10 per cent commission and have annual fees up to $300. It pays to shop around. Some agencies include professional photographs in their costs; others add them as an extra cost.

Hours: Various but usually during the week in the daytime.

Good bits: Laughing at yourself on television, looking at famous actors in their habitat, being paid to pretend.

Bad bits: Boredom, award rates of pay.

Travel: Usually within greater metropolitan areas.

Agencies
Sydney Extras Agency (extras.com.au, (02) 9267 2577); PG's Agency (www.pgsagency .com.au, (02) 9773 1666); MCTV (mctv.com.au, (02) 8270 8111).
Melbourne Ripley's Management (ripleysmanagement.com.au, 1300 882 422); Keleidoscope (keleidoscope.com.au); Epic Talent (epictalent.com.au, (03) 9428 0999).