How to be an extra in Mortal Kombat reboot

It’s the dream for many gaming and martial arts fans — scoring a part in the Mortal Kombat reboot being shot in Adelaide. Here’s how to get in on the action.

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New Line Cinema’s plan to film Mortal Kombat in Adelaide has brought gaming and martial arts fans to fever pitch, with hundreds registering their interest to get in on the action.

The South Australian Film Corporation and Heesom Casting, which hopes to win a contract to supply actors for the rebooted film this year, say their phones have been running hot since Tuesday when news broke about the production being based at Adelaide Studios.

Wrestler and security company owner Wayne Mattei grew up playing martial arts video games, winning his first job as a 13-year-old at Glenelg’s Magic Mountain.

“Mortal Kombat was probably my favourite one — all the kids used to come and play against me,” the Seacombe Heights man says.

As an actor, he now hopes to revisit that childhood fantasy world through a role in the film.

“I jumped on it straight away — I contacted everyone that should be related to the film,” Mattei says.

He’s been acting for about 10 years after being picked up by a casting agent before he even made it inside the door of SA Film Corporation’s former Hendon office to drop off a show reel.

“This lady was staring at me, and as I walked across the street, she came running over to me and she says, ‘Who are you and why are you here?’.

It was a brilliant stroke of luck — the woman headed up Heesom Casting and was interested in Mattei’s unique tough-guy look.

Actors Ruth Fallon and Wayne Mattei both hope to be a part of the Mortal Kombat reboot to be shot in South Australia this year. Picture: Matt Turner.

After telling her his plan to get into the acting, she said, “I’m Angela Heesom and you’re mine — come with me’.”

His first role was in Broken Hill playing a prison inmate, and he wasn’t too nervous about remembering his few lines following years of performing in wrestling competitions.

Since then, the 45-year-old has appeared in The Boys are Back, Never Too Late and one of the Pirates of the Caribbean films and met stars including Clive Owen and James Cromwell.

Wrestling helped him get his foot in the industry’s door — and he hopes the same will be true with the new Mortal Kombat film.

The Mortal Kombat video game is widely known for its extreme violence.

Amid huge interest from those wanting to be extras, Mattei says that role can include early starts, very long days and a lot of waiting around.

“But the time comes where you get to be on set and it’s really exciting to be there.

“You see some of the famous people in the film and you’re only inches away from them.”

A background in the industry and previous training is not necessarily required.

“When they look for extras, it’s all shapes, sizes and nationalities — it doesn’t matter what you look like or who you are,” Mattei says.

Also hoping for a spot in the film is martial artist and actor Ruth Fallon, of Broadview.

She says cutting her teeth in the industry as an extra was a great way to meet like-minded people.

“When films like this come to SA, it provides huge opportunities for anybody interested to put their toe in the water and see what it’s like,” Fallon says.

“I grew up playing games like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter and when you get involved with all forms of martial arts you nerd out on all of those characters.

“I’m just excited to be living in the city where it’s (Mortal Kombat) being filmed.”

Angela Heesom …

… and Sub Zero.

She encourages anyone interested in being part of the movie to register their interest with a casting agency and keep abreast of news on social media.

New Line Cinema — a subsidiary of Warner Bros — will base itself at SA Film Corporation at Glenside, and is currently scouting set locations for the film.

Production will begin later this year, and is expected to bring $70 million in investment to the state.

SA Film Corporation chief executive Courtney Gibson says the reaction to the news this week has been “enormous”.

“There’s a huge fan base here for the game and the idea of the film,” she says.

“We’ve had hundreds of calls. There's been so much enthusiasm for it and from people of all ages.”

The film’s move to Adelaide is “a real vote of confidence” for Adelaide as a production destination, Ms Gibson says.

“If a company like New Line, and Warner Bros, finds that Adelaide has exactly what they need for a production like this, other studios and producers from around the world will, and already are, starting to look at us more.”

Those interested in being part of Mortal Kombat can register their interest at [e-mail].

Resources for people interested in getting involved in the screen industry are available at safilm.com.au/filming-in-sa/getting-involved-in-the-screen-industry/

Q&A WITH HEESOM CASTING OWNER ANGELA HEESOM

What does extra work involve?

■ Being organised. Making sure you set your alarm and a back alarm so you can rise early, very early most times and get yourself to a film set often before sunrise.

■ Preparing to work very long days, sometimes 10 hours or more, often in the elements in the middle of winter or the searing heat of the outback in the height of a sizzling summer.

■ There are long waits, particularly for extras, from one set up to another. And then, being at the ready when the director and camera need you to spring into life with the action required.

■ Being prepared to have your hair cut in a period style or even coloured if required, wearing clothes you’d never dream of getting around in, and sometimes being asked to do very brave things, like our Deadline Gallipoli soldier extras who needed to drop their guns, strip naked and run into the icy cold shores of Maslin Beach in the middle of winter. Or worse still, being a dead body in the mud.

What are the fun aspects?

■ Sitting opposite Charles Dance at a dinner table acting as one of the gentry. Or watching Tim Minchin as some of our extras recently did, in a big scene for his upcoming TV series Upright.

■ Getting to play drug lords, or villains, or being allowed to steal stuff from a servo without actually being arrested for it! There are so many unique and incredible experiences are to be had for the unwitting extra.

■ Being among a group of creative collaborators all working towards one goal — make everything between ‘action’ and ‘cut’ absolutely wonderful and to help tell an amazing screen story.

What training and skills are required?

■ Often people get work on a film set because they have specific skill, like wrestling. For Deadline Gallipoli, we scoured for skinny surf life savers or row club enthusiasts to perfectly and ably row the period boats used in the series so it looked totally authentic, or specialist extras who ride horses and so on.

■ There are some film basics we fully brief new extras on so their first day on set is not too daunting and that they know what is expected of them, how to behave on set, what to expect and so on. One of the most important things to educate them on is not to look at the camera!