TVSquad

Ever wanted to know what life is like as a "That Guy" in Hollywood? You know who I'm talking about; he's one of those actors that you seem to see as a guest actor on every TV show that's on the air, but you wouldn't recognize his name if you were just looking at the episode listing in IMDb. It must be an odd life; you're on TV or in movies, and you're making enough money at acting to be comfortably middle-class, but no one outside a casting office knows who you are and everyone tells you that your destined for bigger and better things but it never seems to happen.

Peter Birkenhead is one of those "That Guys", and he gives Salon readers a little insight into what his life is like in an essay that was posted to the site on Saturday (if you're not a subscriber, you'll need to watch a short ad before viewing the entire essay, but the effort is worth it). It's funny and a little introspective, and if you're an aspiring Hollywood actor, it'll give you some pause, especially when he tells the story of how he finally got a recurring role on Becker (yeah, I know), only to have the part axed after four episodes.

Oh, and here's an indication of how anonymous Birkenhead is: I had to crib this photo from Salon because I only found three pictures of him, and they were all group shots. That's on the entire Internet, folks. I think there are more pictures of me out there than Peter.