The winner of Best Actress at the Oscars for background actors, known as The Blurries, used her acceptance speech to call out industry members who use the term ‘extras’.
Actress Karen Shelton Brown, awarded Best Female Background Actor, urged her peers to abandon the word at the Los Angeles Union Background Actors Awards, colloquially known as The Blurries.
‘Can we please stop calling each other “extras”?’ she said. ‘I am not an extra. We are all actors.’
Shelton Brown joined a growing call for greater recognition of background performers.
For seven years, The Blurries have celebrated background actors in a ceremony unaffiliated with the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), though all nominees must be union members.
The award? A mini Oscar-like statuette known as a Blurry — a small but significant recognition for actors who endure early call times, 14-hour days, and tough conditions.
Actress Karen Shelton Brown, awarded Best Female Background Actor, urged her peers to abandon the word ‘extras’ at the Los Angeles Union Background Actors Awards
Pictured: Background actors in the 1963 film Cleopatra
Categories include Best First Responder Look, Best Background Actor Ensemble and Favorite Casting Director.
This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award honored Patrick Harrigan, a veteran background actor whose career began at age 12 in Hello, Dolly! (1969).
Harrigan took the push for recognition further, calling for a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for background actors.
‘We’ve been in front of the camera for over 100 years, yet we’re barely acknowledged,’ he said. ‘I know it sounds crazy… but stranger things have happened.’
Attendees had appeared in shows like Netflix’s A Man on the Inside, the medical drama Doctor Odyssey and FX’s Grotesquerie.
Conan O’Brien, 61, reported for duty on Wednesday as he helped to roll out the red carpet ahead of Sunday’s 97th Academy Awards ceremony. The comedian stood tall for a salute as he joined workers setting up for the ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood
While far from household names, they gathered to celebrate their craft on a modest red carpet and a simple stage featuring the show’s logo.
Despite its humor, The Blurries carry a serious message — background actors deserve respect.
‘It’s part of Hollywood,’ Harrigan told The LA Times. ‘We’re in front of the camera too, and we play a crucial role in TV and film.’
By design, background actors blend in.
‘It’s our job to be blurry,’ said Vincent Amaya, awards committee chair and a background actor for 17 years. ‘The blurrier I am, the more work I get. If I’m featured, I can’t return to that show unless I play the same character.’
The nominations for the upcoming 97th Academy Awards have been revealed, with Wicked landing nods in major categories
The event is entirely self-funded through ticket sales ($20–$40) and donations, never turning a profit. But that’s not the goal.
‘It’s about recognition,’ Amaya said. ‘We need to show we are professionals and that we matter.’
Meanwhile, preparations for Sunday’s actual Oscars – the 97th Academy Awards – are in full swing. Comedian Conan O’Brien, set to make his Oscars hosting debut, helped roll out the red carpet Wednesday, joking that he had “never even been invited” before.
Wicked stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are among this year’s high-profile Oscar nominees, with their musical earning ten nods.
However, Emilia Pérez leads the pack with 13 nominations, including Best Picture, International Feature Film, and Adapted Screenplay.
The Best Supporting Actress race features Zoë Saldaña (Emilia Pérez), Ariana Grande (Wicked), Monica Barbaro (A Complete Unknown), Felicity Jones (The Brutalist), and Isabella Rossellini (Conclave).
In Best Supporting Actor, Succession co-stars Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain) and Jeremy Strong (The Apprentice) are joined by Yura Borisov (Anora), Edward Norton (A Complete Unknown), and Guy Pearce (The Brutalist).
The Best Actor nominees include Adrien Brody (The Brutalist), Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown), Colman Domingo (Sing Sing), Ralph Fiennes (Conclave), and Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice).
For Best Actress, Demi Moore (The Substance), Cynthia Erivo (Wicked), Mikey Madison (Anora), Karla Sofía Gascón (Emilia Pérez), and Fernanda Torres (I’m Still Here) will compete for the win.
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