by Reilly Wilmit. @reilly.wilmit
NEW YORK, NY - The Broadway Beat's top investigative journalists have uncovered a startling statistic: 94.3% of all viewership of the Amazon Prime series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is comprised of New York-based background actors searching feverishly for the backs of their heads.
“The secret is out! I’m so honored to have played a part in the creation of this absolutely wonderful show! #NYC #actor #nonunion #Maisel #Midgemaisel #Rachelbrosnahan #steinerstudios #brooklyn #tv #television,” posted 26-year-old Betsy Laughlin alongside a screenshot of the show, where four pixels (presumably Betsy herself) were circled in the crowd of a dimly-lit comedy club.
We interviewed Betsy to hear more about her time on the hit Amazon Prime show.
“I will always carry a piece of Myrna in my heart. That’s what I called my character on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel… or ‘TMM’ for those of us in the biz,” said Betsy, cropping the footage to add to her reel. “As much as I loved my brief stint on the small screen, my heart will always belong to the stage! I can’t wait to sink my teeth into another juicy role: Gertrude McFuzz at the Steak & Stage Dinner Theatre in Wheatland, Wyoming this summer, June 1st through the 2nd!”
The Broadway Beat also spoke with Benjamin Schwartz, aka “Central Park Pedestrian #346.”
“Yeah, I’ve definitely been getting recognized more…mostly by other Maiselers who notice my Amazon Studios-approved 1960s haircut in Pearl Studios.” Benjamin said while submitting to UNTITLED HBO PROJECT, AVAILABLE 7/10-7/15 on Backstage. “I think the biggest thing I took with me was the sense of community. All 400 Central Park Pedestrians are like one big family…also the pocket square I stole from Tony Shalhoub. That’s pretty cool, too.”
We sat down with the head of marketing on the show, Felix Birmingham, to hear more about this shocking statistic.
“These little freaks will do anything to see themselves on TV. Why do you think we had so many crowd shots in the first place? For realism? Absolutely the fuck not. It’s so every dope with a BFA and a dream will tune into at least one episode per season,” said Mr. Birmingham, gnawing on a 14-inch cigar. “We’d gone through the roster of every recent Tisch alumni at least twice before the series ended. Worked like a charm every time.”
Sources tell us that background for the next large-scale period piece Amazon produces will be cast using a subscription-based service where actors pay $4.75 per second of screen time. Chief executives are in talks with SAG-AFTRA at the time of publishing.
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