Sports

Why Did Bad Bunny Use Real Actors To Play Grass In Halftime Show And How Much Were They Paid?

#Super Bowl halftime show
by Last Updated

© Kirby Lee-Imagn Images


Bad Bunny’s halftime show at Super Bowl LX was one of the most discussed in recent memory. Much of that had to do with storylines that surfaced prior to the performance.

When the artist finally took the field on Sunday, he was met with both praise and criticism. Viewers pointed out a number of interesting observations, one of which involved the extras surrounding the singer.

The show was undoubtedly a spectacle. It’s said to have had the largest pyrotechnic display of any Super Bowl across the last 20 years. The show likely cost north of $10 million to put on.

An actual wedding took place during the concert!

In large part, the show was viewed as a success. There were some, however, that chose to tune into Kid Rock’s Turning Point USA show instead.

Those in attendance at the game pointed out some behind-the-scenes intel that might not have been visible to folks watching from home.

Bad Bunny used real actors to play grass in halftime show.

It was hard to see on the live broadcast, but the stalks of grass throughout the production were actually real people. Why were actors used instead of props? The venue forced the hand.

Here’s more on the decision to use costumed extras in the place of typical props.

For Sunday’s performance, situated in the middle of the Seattle Seahawks’ rematch against the New England Patriots, the issue was horticultural. Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, wanted his show to have the same look and feel as his recent Puerto Rico residency, which covered stages in palm trees and sugar cane to re-create the environs of Vega Baja, where he grew up.

In a different stadium, that could be done by rolling carts covered in those plants onto the field. But Santa Clara’s Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers, uses natural grass; the National Football League’s guidelines don’t allow that many carts onto the field, as they’d tear up the grass. The max the team could use was 25, and they needed those for the stages and other props.

(The) fix was simple: dress people up like plants.

-WIRED

A limited number of carts could be used in show setup. The crew got creative in order to follow NFL guidelines. It made for a comical pre- and post-show scene as extras ran on and off the field.

What were the demands and how much were performers paid?

Content creator Andrew Athias from Philadelphia signed up to be a stalk of grass in Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show.

He detailed his experience after the fact.

I was one of the 500 bunches of dancing grass at Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show. I got paid $18.70 per hour for the gig, but I would’ve done it for free…

The requirements for the role were pretty basic. You had to be no taller than six feet, no shorter than five feet seven inches, and of an athletic build.

We had to be able to wear a 40-plus-pound costume and to be comfortable dancing in proximity with other performers for long periods… The suits were heavy and uncomfortable…

There were definitely times when we were wearing the suits for about six or seven hours because they had to make alterations. There were about eight practices in total, with the last three lasting 12 hours each.

The requirements for the gig included being between 5-foot-7 and 6-foot. Actors needed to be able to wear the near-50-pound grass costumes for hours at a time.

Athias said he was paid $18.70 an hour for his time. As a Bad Bunny fan, he described it as the opportunity of a lifetime, saying he would’ve done it for free.