Being a tv corpse

[Idontknowhatnametochoose]

Bit of a silly one...

Watching a tv drama and wondering how easy is it to play a corpse? How is it actually done? Just lay still, no blinking etc.. I couldn't do it. I know it's probably done in takes so the actor doesn't need to stay still for long, but even so.

In autopsy scenes, I'm assuming its usually a dummy as skin is shown with incisions etc.

I know I'm naive but I'm generally interested.

You don't have to lie that still. They take a shot of you lying still with maybe your eyes wide open and then overlay this in post production. I saw it on The Rest Is Entertainment podcast but the video of the podcast. I find the whole thing fascinating.

Ah interesting. So they use the one shot for the whole thing? I often wondered how the actor manages to not blink for so long!

Corpses are quite often played by stunt body doubles.