The Retired High-School English Teacher With 45 IMDb Credits

"In 2016, after nearly 30 years teaching high-school English in Queens, Robert Gold retired and set three goals for his new life. "I wanted to go to the gym more often and work in an animal shelter, but those things never happened," he says. "And then I wanted to do background work." As a child, he'd dreamed of being an actor but never pursued it. This time around, he registered with Central Casting and Grant Wilfley Casting, the two main clearinghouses for movie and TV extras in New York, and crossed his fingers."

"He picked a good time to launch a second act in show business. The streaming boom was in full swing, fueling a surge in TV shoots across the city and the demand for background extras. Many are local retirees like Gold, happy to collect the modest pay, enjoy the free lunch, and have somewhere to be before noon."

"Gold landed his first gig in 2018, at 57, on a movie shooting under the code name Romeo. When he arrived at Steiner Studios the first morning, a production assistant was corralling extras into different groups and handed him a sticker that said JP. "I was like, 'What is this?'" he recalls. "And the PA said, 'You'll find out.'" Gold was seated in the audience of a talk-show set. "There was a really good-looking guy in the row behind me, and suddenly, he disappeared and this scrawny, weird-looking guy took his place," Gold says. It was Joaquin Phoenix, in character as Arthur Fleck. Romeo, he later learned, was Joker."

After retiring from nearly 30 years teaching high-school English in Queens, Robert Gold set goals including working as a background extra. He registered with Central Casting and Grant Wilfley Casting and began booking gigs as streaming production increased in New York. He landed his first role in 2018 at age 57 on a film shot under the code name Romeo and later recognized Joaquin Phoenix on set. Since then he has appeared in over 40 background roles on television and film, portraying a wide range of New Yorkers and enjoying modest pay, free meals, and daytime routine.

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