Extras

The Lake Havasu News ran stories about the production of Piranha 3D and announced an open casting call for April 18, 2009. The paper said “anyone interested in being cast as an extra in “Piranha 3D,” should e-mail a full body photo, close-up photo, and contact information. The casting company was quoted as saying “they would really like to encourage people interested to show up in their swimming suits — girls in bikinis, boys in swim trunks, although it is not necessary” and “stressed the importance of enthusiasm for the extras, stating they are looking for people who will really act drunk during the party scenes, and who would really act like they are dying when they die in the film.”

“We are looking for hundreds of locals to appear in Piranha 3D,” said Chris Davis with Good Faith.  “A lot of people will have a chance to be on camera,” he said. Good Faith Casting and its owner, Faith Hibbs-Clark, was the only authorized casting director in Arizona working on the remake of Piranha.
The crew looked to pull 1500 extras from the Arizona universities to fill those spots.
Director Alexander Aja wanted the big fish manslaughter scene to look like there were tens of thousands of people on the lake. As the movie takes place during spring break, many of the extras needed to fall in 18-25 age range, or at least look like they did.
“What better way to enjoy another spring break, than to come to one of the most popular spring break destinations, Lake Havasu City, and get paid for it,”  Davis said.

…The Extras and boat owners showed up in Thompson Bay on 1st of June.  Good music, sexy girls, flirting guys, a hot atmosphere, what else does a young party crowd need. Some of the girls had no bra and only pasties on their nipples. They made a hot Arizona day feel even hotter. The crew cruised the lake on jetskis and Zodiac rafts helping background performers and principals get placed on the boats. There were even floating honey buckets (restrooms) in the middle of the lake.  Lake Havasu City got an injection of enthusiasm and cash (By some estimates, millions of dollars) and everybody was talking about the movie.
The frenzied production work continued for three weeks before crew and cast were dramatically trimmed down. Working long hours from 6am to 7pm. the extras earned $7.25 per hour, plus got fed. Some of them were even upgraded speaking roles which brought them substantially more money.

In addition to pay there were also discounts on lodging, two catered meals per day, and raffles for various prizes, including gift cards for an electronics store worth as much as $1000. All in all it wasn’t a bad gig for the young extras.