‘There’s no extra who doesn’t get a thrill out of seeing themselves on a big screen’

Peter Bergman, 72, works as a film extra. He lives in north-west London and has two daughters, 25 and 21.

Ihated retirement. I was 57 when I closed my bookshop, which I had opened in London’s Camden when I was 20. I loved that job, and I was quite successful. Then along came Amazon and things got difficult. I didn’t want to see the shop go down gradually so I thought it was time to go.

I’ve worked all my life and enjoyed it and I didn’t want just to stagnate at home. So a year after I retired, in 2006, I joined a friend of mine who renovated old vintage cars. One day in 2011, a customer came in and said, “I’ve just been a Roman soldier up in Park Royal.” I got him to explain – he meant he had been an extra in a film – and he said it was fun, so I started to put my foot in the extras game. I’ve now been doing it for six or seven years as my main job.

I have been all things to all men. I have been a blur at the back, I have been sat between two big actors, watching each one do their dialogue head-to-head. In Rocketman, I was on the table behind the principals with a couple of ladies. I’ve also been in Mission: Impossible, Enola Holmes, Kingsman, The Crown, among others.

Half the fun of it is the people you meet. Particularly my demographic – we’ve had lives and we’re lucky because we can do it for fun. If it ever became a chore, I wouldn’t do it.

What I really love about being an extra is, as long as you are reasonably fit, there is no age limit. I know a couple of extras in their 80s. It’s just something to get up for in the morning, it gives me motivation and it makes me smile.

I’ve always loved film. When I was about 12, I used to sneak into Elstree [studios] and they used to give me a clapperboard. I never lost that. There is something very special about watching films develop. I did a film called Judy, where Renée Zellweger played Judy Garland, and she sang whole songs, filmed in real time, and we were the audience. That was a privilege. We did four or five days on that and by the end, we were all invested in it. When she broke down, we broke down. It wasn’t a film any more, it was the real thing.

I’m not saying it’s all wonderful. There is a lot of hanging around and incredibly long hours – such as night shoots in London at 3am in November. You’re not relaxing while you wait – you’re tensed up in case you’re wanted, waiting for your moment of glory, which isn’t usually glory, but there you go.

If you do it for the money then it’s a very tedious business because it’s very erratic and you can’t rely on it. But if you do it for the fun then that doesn’t matter. Extras won’t always admit this but there’s no extra who doesn’t get a thrill out of seeing themselves 40ft up on a cinema screen, even if it’s only for a millisecond. My finest hour was when I got called to be the train driver in Dumbo. If you watch the film, I’m the silhouette in the cap. I get such a kick out of that.