Casting extras in Chicago for 2026 season on Showtime’s “The Chi”.
This page has been updated for the 2026 season 8 of The Chi.
The Showtime series, The Chi, is coming back for season 8 and is currently in production in the Chicago area.
The Chi is created by Boomerang creator Lena Waithe and produced by Fox 21 Television Studios. Lena Waithe won an Emmy for Netflix’s Master of None. Lena Waithe also exec. produces The Chi along with fellow producers, Common, Ayanna Floyd Davis, Aaron Kaplan, Rick Famuyiwa, Derek Dudley and Shelby Stone.
The show is a look into life in a notoriously rough neighborhood of Chicago’s south side and a group of young adults who live there. The Chi stars Jason Mitchell, Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, Jacob Latimore, Alex Hibbert, Yolonda Ross and Armando Riesco.
According to producers, Season 8 is the last season and starts filming on 01/14/26.
See more shows that are also filming in the state of Illinois
About The Show:
The South Side of Chicago carries daily danger, and the smallest and simplest of decisions can have life or death consequences for the residents. Life continues as the kids prep for school and their parents shuffle off to work.
The young adults of the area are trying to scrape a living for themselves, while the elders sit on their front porches and observe the goings on.
The South Side has the potential to crush dreams, and this coming-of-age series focuses on Kevin, a preteen who embraces the normal rites of childhood, Brandon, who makes a leap of faith to succeed in love and life with Jerrika, Emmett, who seeks guidance from his mother, and Ronnie, who is a drifter struggling to be loved. All of them are linked together by sheer coincidence as they seek redemption.
CASTING CALL -THE CHI – Chicago Area ONLY.
PROJECT: THE CHI – SEASON 8
ROLE: NEIGHBORHOOD KIDS
WORKING DATES: WEDNESDAY, 01/14/26
CALL TIME: DAY SHOOT
LOCATION: CHICAGO, IL
RATE: $175/8
LOOKING FOR PEOPLE WHO CAN PLAY THE FOLLOWING:
NEIGHBORHOOD KIDS
AGE: 12 – 16 YOA
GENDER: MALE
ETHNICITY: Black or Ethnically Ambiguous
You MUST HAVE a current work permit for each minor for children 15 and under.
To be considered, you must have an EP Casting Portal Profile for EACH child with separate emails for each separate profile. To create a profile, click the following link and then follow the instructions on sending the submission e-mail:
https://www.4starcasting.com/child-privacy-notice.html
If you already have an EP Casting Portal Profile, you may continue with the submission email.
Send an email to extras4thechi@gmail.com with the role NEIGHBORHOOD KIDS in the subject line:
1) Do you have an EP Casting Portal Profile for your child?
2) Include the following information about your child: Name, DATE OF BIRTH, age, phone, and email.
3) Measurements – What size is your child wearing? Be sure to include Height and Weight, and if your child is in children’s or adult sizes.
4) Attach a CURRENT, RIGHT NOW, candid photo headshot and body shot of your child. Make sure the photos are taken in decent lighting.
5) Please let us know a brief idea of what kind of availability you would have with your minors: open, limited or rarely. This is because a guardian must be present during filming.
6) Do you have a current work permit for your minor? If yes, please attach your child’s work permit with the submission.
If your child is 16 or older, a work permit is not required.
Our website will show you the current version of the work permit.
If you have not obtained a work permit for your minor and are having issues, please let us know for help.
We will be in contact with you via EMAIL if you are in consideration or we need additional info. Your child’s submission must have all the answers and photos from the post to be considered.
If you have kept up to date with us, please also check your Spam/Promotional folders to make sure we haven’t already sent your child an availability check.
P.S. The show will have a lot of minors of all ethnicities this season, so if you have not updated your child’s work permit or obtained one yet, please visit our website at www.4starcasting.com for the necessary paperwork.
To Whom it may Concern:
My name is Coach Haki McLaurin ,
currently work with at risk youth in Chicago Illinois. I also coach a plethora of sports. For the teacher (extra position) but I didn’t see it offered on the website only on the Instagram post are you guys still accepting tryouts. Will bring the authenticity to the roll with a natural feel for any situation. Working with kids that do not listen I work with kids that use a plethora amount of curse words and I also work with some angels. I just said that to say that I think I’ll be a great fit please let me know if there is still an opening.
Best Regards,
I love acting, hard work and working with people.
Extra work is the foundation of bringing a scene to life. Those who Love acting will put as much heart and sole into their background role as their foreground roles. The joy of storytelling and being around other artists in the industry is like a drug. Enjoy and act your parts well family.