12 (5) of the Most Distracting Extras in Movie History

Background actors, also known as extras, have one of the most important jobs on a film shoot. They contribute to the overall believability of a scene while making it easier for filmmakers to control a set or location. But sometimes, extras draw attention to themselves—either intentionally or unintentionally—and break the main focus of the scene.



1. STAR WARS







When Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, and Chewbacca are trapped in one of the trash compacters on the Death Star, a group of Stormtroopers manage to unseal a blast door to find C-3PO and R2-D2 in a control room. As the Stormtroopers enter, one of them hits his head on the blast door. While this was considered a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment from the original Star Wars, George Lucas added a "thud" sound effect in its special edition to highlight the gaffe.



2. BACK TO THE FUTURE PART III







At the very end of Back to the Future Part III, Doc Brown shows up in Hill Valley 1985 in a brand new time machine made from the locomotive he used to help Marty get back to the future. When Doc is introducing his new family to Marty and Jennifer, you can clearly see Doc's youngest son Verne, played by Dannel Evans, gesturing for help and then pointing to his groin. It appears that the very young Evans needed to go to the bathroom, but didn't want to stop the take.



3. NORTH BY NORTHWEST







Before the iconic chase scene on Mount Rushmore, Eve Kendall "shoots" Roger Thornhill in the National Park's cafeteria. After multiple and noisy takes, you can see a little boy in the background anticipate the shot and plug his ears before she fires the gun.



7. THE DARK KNIGHT RISES







While Batman and Catwoman are on a rooftop fighting Bane's goons, one of the henchmen poses in a fighting stance and then falls to the ground without getting hit.



12. BEING JOHN MALKOVICH







When John Malkovich spills onto the New Jersey Turnpike after being inside of his own head, he gets angry with Craig Schwartz for making a business out of his inner thoughts and experiences. After he threatens to sue Schwartz, an extra throws a beer can at Malkovich's head when he begins to walk away. According to Being John Malkovich director Spike Jones, this moment wasn't scripted and a drunken extra thought up the scenario after multiple long and boring takes.



Full list at the source