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IT’S 5.45am on a dark October morning and I am sitting on a bus bound for the Kilmainham Royal Hospital. I am to be an extra in a scene for The Tudors. As a novice I am lucky to be sitting beside Gene, an old pro who is doing his best to initiate me into the hidden world of the extra. As the bus picks up more people, he remarks that there are no women on board.

“So, it’s a battle scene?”