Column Chronicles: Accidental actor achievements

Accidental actor achievements

Frank Cotolo
July 30, 2026

There are incidental actors in every motion picture. Sometimes they are merely extras not credited for their performances. Or their ideas. We talked with small part actors to give them a chance to brag about their true influences on a film where they appeared.

Signor Wallencraft played a soldier in We Were Soldiers (2002). He said, "The script I saw took place in the Korean War. I told the director we should make the scene Vietnam." It worked.

Pete 'The Brickhouse' Duggan was a stunt double for one of the slaves in 2015's Mad Max: Fury Road. He said, "I was among a hundred male wrestlers supposed to be slaves until I told the producers, 'These kinds of slaves could beat anyone up. Why not make the slaves pretty girls?'" It worked.

Briggs Convoy was the lead in the 2017 hit titled The Greatest Showman until extra Wally Runt told the director that a big name would be a better sell to star. Runt was given no credit or money for the idea which led to the hiring of Hugh Jackman. Convoy quit acting after losing the part and was last seen fishing for shrimp off the coast of Spain.

Betsy Ulander was supposed to play a major role in 1999's The Green Mile but was fired when she mentioned to the screen writers that the part she was hired to play - that of the mysterious prisoner with supernatural powers - was not a thin white girl with an Italian accent. It worked but she was still under contract to be in the movie so the screen writers added the role of a prison nurse which was cut from the movie.

Actors playing zombies in The Walking Dead series went on strike once the show became a huge hit. They formed the Zombie Actors Are People Union.

Frank Cotolo can be found hosting the talk and interview programme Cotolo Chronicles. You can send him an e-mail at this address: frank@148.ca.