Looking back at Will Smith's acting history, fans can almost track his upward rise based on both film roles and his income growth. But while Smith was already a superstar by the time he filmed 'The Pursuit of Happyness' in 2006, there were also some lesser-known actors on set.
In truth, they weren't actors; they were actual homeless folks who agreed to appear in the film. It's an interesting move by the cast and crew (Will Smith himself was one of the producers), but hiring homeless people did make the movie more authentic.
After all, the storyline came from the real-life experiences of Chris Gardner, who lost almost everything, became homeless with his son, and then grew his own multi-million dollar business.
As for the homeless actors on set? They didn't go on to enjoy such high heights of fame as the lead actor in the film, but they did earn a wage for their roles.
On IMDb, the people who appeared as homeless characters are credited in roles like "Homeless Guy In Line" and "Homeless Guy," "Homeless Teen," although a couple of the homeless character roles were played by 'actual' actors.
Fans may recall that Will Smith himself started out as an actor with literally zero experience. He does credit one role as serving as his acting school, but he grew into acting after having an impressive stage presence as a rapper.
But for the people who portrayed the homeless folks on film in 'The Pursuit of Happyness,' nothing seems to have come from the gig. That doesn't mean they weren't compensated for the work, though.
IMDb suggests that the extras on the movie who were homeless earned a full day's pay at minimum wage. At the time, that was $8.62 an hour. They also received free catered meals like the rest of the cast.
While that doesn't seem like much to most people -- actors or otherwise -- it was likely a substantial amount for the homeless people, says IMDb. Unfortunately for the uncredited actors, they aren't part of the Screen Actors Guild or any such organization, so they wouldn't have earned the minimum wage that actors normally receive.
Fans can only hope that the homeless people who worked on set went on to get whatever help they wanted or needed after the film wrapped. After all, the movie was all about Chris Gardner's experience with homelessness, and how he was able to succeed in life because of a combination of good luck, hard work, and the support of people in his life.