List of Extras characters

The British television sitcom Extras centres on the main characters of Andy Millman, Maggie Jacobs and Darren Lamb, in addition to several more recurring characters.

Main characters

Andy Millman

Portrayed by Ricky Gervais, Andrew "Andy" Millman is the lead character of Extras. Andy's dream to become an actor – he left his steady day job at NatWest in Wokingham in order to pursue it – is endlessly thwarted by the fact that his agent Darren Lamb is incompetent, circumstances seem to conspire against him, and the only work he can get is as a film extra. His best friend is fellow extra Maggie Jacobs, but her staunch desire to help, coupled with a lack of tact and intelligence, means that she more often than not causes him just as much trouble.

At the end of Series 1, Millman successfully managed to sell a sitcom called When the Whistle Blows, which proves to be a commercial success but a critical failure.

In contrast to Gervais' other famed role as David Brent, who, through his desire to be liked by those around him comes off as pathetic, Millman often makes little or no attempt to be liked – often being a downright curmudgeon – but frequently comes across as being a much more likeable character than Brent. This may be due to his increased sense of self-awareness and respect; when compared to Brent, Millman is fully aware of when he has stepped over the line and become genuinely offensive. Also, unlike Brent, who was largely in denial about the world around him, Millman is a more depressed and misanthropic character with a more realistic understanding of the world and how it works. Whereas Brent was based on a former boss of Gervais, Millman's personality is more autobiographical in origin.

A running joke is that Millman did not lose his virginity until the age of 28 (although the first time this is mentioned, Maggie says he was 22), and to a woman who looked like Ronnie Corbett (who turns up in a later episode as himself).