A photo by a friend of Curtis Windham shows the Lampasas County man in his movie costume, which includes a derby hat and wool suit. W ith his thick mustache and a beard that hung nearly to his belly, Curtis Windham Sr. fit the character of a 19th-century frontier townsman perfectly.

Windham, an equipment operator for Straley Backhoe Service, recently filmed as an extra in a few scenes of the Western “True Grit.”

After hearing about the film’s search for extras, a friend of Windham’s obtained an application and gave it to another friend to fill out on the Lampasas County man’s behalf. Windham later learned he had been selected to play a bystander in a courthouse segment and a hanging scene in the upcoming film.

To match late-19th-century men’s fashions, many extras grew elaborate facial hair, which on-set makeup artists later tweaked into a variety of styles — everything from traditional sideburns to thicker “mutton chops,” Windham said.

Windham didn’t have to change much. He simply delayed his yearly haircut until after the filming.

“As soon as I finished up and got off the phone with them, I called Terry the Barber to make an appointment,” Windham said.

Windham matched the 19thcentury look so well that the woman who styled his beard before filming began said all he needed was a little wax on his whiskers to make them shine.

“She said, ‘There just isn’t anything I can do with perfec- tion,’” he said with a grin.

Film workers also selected extras with “natural” body types, Windham said, rather than overly muscled applicants with “bodybuilder” looks.

Windham was thankful his flowing beard kept him from having to wear a tie, as many characters did. He did experience some of the discomforts of a bygone era, however, as he donned a wool suit, vest and wool pants that were “plenty hot.”

The derby hat he and many other men in the film wore may have been the most unfamiliar part of his attire for Windham.

“That dadgum brim wasn’t any longer than my thumb,” he said with a chuckle. “Why anybody would wear something like that I don’t know.”

Along with period clothing, horse-drawn wagons and a layer of dirt laid over the cobblestone road in Granger gave the town an authentic 19th-century feeling for the hanging scene.

Before cast members dispensed justice, movie crews built a gallows. Cables — which will not be visible in the movie, Windham said — held the “outlaw” actors to safety harnesses, which supported the actors as they dropped during the “hanging.”

As an additional safety measure, the rope used for the scene was cut before being slipped into the noose. In case of an equipment malfunction, the cut rope would have broken and dropped actors to the ground rather than injuring or hanging them, Windham said.

“It’s neat to see how they do all that stuff,” he said. “It’s a lot more work than they make it look like on TV.”

With city blocks closed and police stopping traffic around the filming site, about 300 extras worked at Granger during the two days spent recording the hanging, Windham said. A much smaller group of about 30 to 40 extras occupied the set in Blanco, where filmmakers spent three days staging a trial in the Hill Country town’s courthouse.

Security guards kept people away from the courthouse during film work, Windham said.

Interviewed in Austin before they began their duties, extras — who received minimum wage — learned that strict rules governed their conduct on the set. They could not carry cell phones or cameras with them while working, and asking actors for autographs (the movie’s cast includes stars Matt Damon, Josh Brolin and Jeff Bridges) was strictly forbidden.

“They’ll run you right out of there,” Windham said. “You’re working with them. It’s just a respect thing.”

One extra quickly learned the consequences of violating actors’ space when he lost his job after handing Bridges one of his business cards.

Windham, however, enjoyed an opportunity to interact with Bridges when the actor talked with him for a few minutes about the Civil War.

“He was a nice guy,” Windham said. “Very friendly and very cordial — but I never spoke to him until he spoke to me.”

The filming schedule didn’t leave much time for chatting anyway.

Breakfast was available every day from 5-6 a.m., after which cast members began changing into their costumes. Filming often began about 7 a.m., and on the last day Windham worked it did not conclude until about 7:30 p.m.

The number of retakes — including eight or nine of the hanging alone, Windham said — surprised the Lampasas County man, as did the amount of detail brothers Ethan Coen and Joel Coen considered in making their film. At one point in Blanco — where Windham’s role was to stand among about five people at the courtroom door, looking toward the judge — the filming director approached Windham and told him to move his feet at a slight angle.

“The Coen brothers are real sticklers for detail,” Windham said. “[The film director] said, ‘The way you move your feet may not seem important to you, but it’s important to this film.’ ”

Windham also learned that movie scenes are not always filmed in sequence.

“We hanged them in Granger, and the next week we went to the courthouse in Blanco and tried them,” he said.

With large crews to manage, filmmakers displayed tremendous patience throughout the project, Windham said. While film officials were pleasant, however, they also were guarded, he said. Extras didn’t learn many secrets about the movie, which also filmed in New Mexico.

“They don’t really tell you except what you need to know,” he said.

Windham, who years ago saw John Wayne’s performance in the original “True Grit” movie, said he respects that the Coen brothers are giving their own interpretation to the story, rather than trying to outdo the beloved Western actor. Windham and his family plan to see the new “True Grit,” and the Lampasas County resident hopes he gets “at least one good shot” on screen for his six grandchildren, ages two-and-a-half to 15, to see.

With editing inevitable, Windham — who did not wear a microphone or speak any lines — doesn’t know how many of the several minutes he appeared on set will survive in the final version of the movie. One film official gave him a glimmer of hope, though.

“You’re in front of the camera a lot,” the official said. “You’re hard to miss.”

Back at home and back to his regular job, Windham said he appreciated the support and the time off his boss, David Straley, gave him. Windham also continued to receive a stream of attention — which sometimes strikes him as a little out of proportion.

“People that I don’t even know come up to me and say, ‘There’s the movie star,’” Windham said. “I ain’t no movie star.”

He is, however, a grateful man — one who enjoyed an opportunity most people never have.

“I’m not much of one to brag about these things,” Windham said. “It was just kind of a gift from God. ...If it wasn’t for the grace of God, I wouldn’t be where I am.”

A robust beard never hurts, either.