BY trade he is a joiner but Mick Fryer-Kelsey’s other work as a film and television extra has led him to some amazing experiences in recent years.

He has rubbed shoulders with some of the best-known actors in the world and now he is looking forward to appearing in the soon-to-be-released Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Although he has not seen the finished version of the film, he is hoping it will give him one of the highest-profile pieces of his career so far as he was given prominence as a priest who carries out a marriage ceremony.

For Mick, bumping into actresses such as Emma Watson, who plays Hermione Granger in the blockbuster films, has become a normal part of his working life.

It was nine years ago that the Elmstead Market grandfather was carrying out his day job when he was asked by a customer if he had ever thought about going into film and television.

That woman, who suggested he had a “character face”, also happened to be a television executive and the rest, as they say, is history.

The 63-year-old’s ever-growing list of credits includes playing Dewey Largo, the music teacher, in the “real life” introduction to The Simpsons, previous Harry Potter films, The Wolfman, Shaun of the Dead and Run, Fatboy, Run.

Many of his roles have seen him having to grow his facial hair, adding to the character face which he has used to get roles.

Mick told the EADT people spot him and often do a double-take, trying to think where they recognise him from.

He said: “We go places and I do get people looking at me very oddly.

“Me and my wife were at a car auction and the chap in front kept turning round and finally said ‘do you live near me’?

“Well, he lived miles away and it was only when I told him that I did television work that he realised that was where he had seen me.”

Mick has five agents who work to put him in a variety of different roles although much of his experience has come in historical, costume dramas including Cranford, Little Dorrit and Bleak House.

At the moment he can be seen in the Christmas Argos television advert which features a re-worked version of White Christmas.

However, despite all the work, he does not think a break into the big time as a leading actor will be coming about anytime soon.

“It is very rare for an extra to be picked to do something on the level of a big actor.

“Between the top actors and the extras, there are hundreds, thousands of actors coming through from places like RADA.”

Mick said his wife, Liz, was now used to him having to grow his hair and beard for parts but said she was growing a bit tired of the fame going to his head.

“She does not mind the hair – it’s the way I am but she does get a bit annoyed when I say ‘there I am, on TV again’.

“We went out for a dinner this weekend, for the Girl Guides down in Brightlingsea, and she was saying to me ‘remember, it’s about the Girl Guides, not you’.”

Mick’s acting abilities have been passed down the generations and now even his granddaughter, Sally Alford, has been getting a taste for life as an extra.

The four-year-old from Colchester has already appeared in the drama Miss Austen Regrets, proving it really does run in the family.