Why people dressed as grass during Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show

WASHINGTON — Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show had no shortage of spectacle, but one of the most viral moments came from something unexpected.

Viewers quickly noticed that the tall grass covering the field during parts of the set wasn’t a stage prop. It was made up of people in full-body costumes in formations to create the look of a field.

The  “grass performers” brought some clarity to a question that had been circulating online for weeks: why did the halftime show casting call have such strict height requirements?

Ahead of Super Bowl LX, screenshots of listings for on-field halftime roles spread across TikTok and X, sparking frustration, jokes and disbelief, particularly among Bad Bunny fans hoping to take part in the performance.

A listing for the Field Cast required participants to be between 5-foot-10 and 6-foot-1. The role involved performers learning and executing synchronized movement as part of the show’s visual production. It also required the ability to wear costumes weighing up to 40 pounds for extended periods, stand and move for long durations, learn and execute precise movement under time pressure, and commit to an intense rehearsal schedule leading up to game day. 

The role paid $18.70 per hour and did not include tickets to watch the Super Bowl. Now, we know many of those participants were likely part of the grass scenery during Bad Bunny’s set.

In an Ask Me Anything post on X, one participant said he ” flew all the way from Philly to be grass” in the halftime show, adding they had to wear the costumes for five hours and were told “to not move because ‘there’s no wind in Puerto Rico.'”

According to Wired, Levi’s Stadium limits the number of carts allowed on the field to protect the real grass, forcing Bad Bunny’s production to get creative with on-field visuals.