Becoming a Co-star and Earning Residuals

I have been on national television! Okay… that might be true many times over, but this time you can see my face instead of just a corner of my shirt in the background! And, you can hear my voice! And I’m getting paid as an actual grown-up actress!

Several months ago, before this Rona stuff hit and before we had baby (which we will now refer to as Pandy – thank you Robin and MarkandTerry), I saw a job posting for a SAG-AFTRA pregnant woman to be in a Lamaze class. Hey, hey! I was pregnant and could totally play that role, so I sent in my picture and crossed my fingers.

I received a call that afternoon from a casting director at Central Casting asking me if I was indeed pregnant. “Yes, I am.”

“And you’re okay to work?”

“Yes, I’m not due until April. I just look ready to pop.”

“Great! Do you have a spouse that’s registered with Central Casting?”

“Yes I do.”

I proceeded to give Ben’s information to him. And by that evening we were both booked for the show “Young Sheldon.”

Now… Ben and I do take jobs together sometimes. Typically, we don’t work on the same day though. We have such a hard time finding people who we trust enough to watch our four homeschooled children. This one was particularly difficult because it was on Adrie’s birthday. But, jobs were scarce and we needed to take any job we could get.

I love working with Ben. We were on “All Rise” last year sometime. We got to play an engaged couple waiting to be married at the courthouse. It happened to be shortly after our anniversary so when bystanders at the studio told us congratulations (not realizing we were in costume) we simply said, “Thanks so much” and smiled like newly weds. While on that show I also got my first stand-in opportunity. I’ll tell you more about being a stand-in in another post. If you’d like to watch that episode you’ll see us several times. (Here’s the link to the IMDB page- it tells you where you can watch it Devotees in the Courthouse of Love)

Since working on “All Rise” we hadn’t attempted to work together. This time though… we wanted so badly to make it work. We were so grateful that my grandmother was in town and willing to watch the kiddos. She even planned to throw a small family party for Adrie’s birthday that evening.

When we received our details for the job I was surprised to see that they referred to us as “The Lamaze Couple.” As in… the only ones. That was a pleasant surprise, as we expected to be in a big group. Usually that means we will actually be seen on screen.

When we arrived to Warner Brothers Studio (where we also filmed “All Rise” in the fall of 2019) we were sent to the costume building for a fitting. Usually we’re sent to a trailer so that was an interesting change. While there we tried on several 80s outfits and had two options for the director to choose from. We were then sent to hair and make up. On our way we were introduced to Iain Armitage who plays Young Sheldon. He was playing hacky sack in the hall like a normal ten year old boy.

After getting gussied up, we were invited to join the cast for a lunch break and special showing of the episode that would be aired that evening. Now, usually extras don’t have that kind of treatment. Don’t get me wrong, we usually have amazing treatment. But this time, we were being escorted to private dressing rooms, hairdressers and makeup artists that work on the leads, and getting invited to have lunch with the stars. How awesome was that?!

Ben and I got our lunch and watched as people slowly trickled in and the episode was announced to begin. Because of the false facial hair they added to Ben’s beard, he wasn’t really able to open his mouth wide enough to eat the sandwiches that they had available. He decided to save his food for later. During lunch we got to be around many of the leads as well as the directors, producers, make-up artists, hair dressers, set designers, camera crew and more. The crew dynamics were fun to witness. They joked around with each other, role played, celebrated the month’s birthdays with cupcakes, and handed out awards. What a fun place to work!

Later as we were waiting to be called on to set, we were hanging out near the make-up rooms. As background actors we are at the very bottom of the totem pole. I mean, even the custodians and security guards have a consistent gig and rapport with the actors. But as extras we’re usually put with a big group of people in a place called “holding.” So that we aren’t in the way. We were standing on the side, trying to stay out of the way of the leads when we were invited over to sit with Montana Jordan who plays the role of Georgie Cooper (Sheldon’s older brother). While we were sitting there, in comes Raegan Revord (Missy Cooper) with her dog, who stayed and chatted with us a bit. Still later, the director and producer came out to meet us. Iain Armitage also came over and hung out a bit. Everyone was super friendly.

When we finally got called in, I was asked to sit on a yoga mat with some pillows around me and do some Lamaze breathing. Ben was my “support person” and was positioned behind me with his hand on my shoulder. Poor guy, after all that facial hair was glued to him, they never even filmed his face.

The lady that was hired to be the Lamaze instructor was scripted to say, “Breathe in and out hee-hee-hoo.” As we were filming, it wasn’t working out the way the directors envisioned. They had us look at the monitors to watch how Iain had done his part and attempt to mimic him. After several tries I could hear the director say, “Can I talk to her?” After getting permission from the producer the director headed over and talked directly to me and asked me to do the Lamaze breathing a certain way. Seeing that I could do it, they shifted the cameras to face me directly instead of the Lamaze instructor. They filmed from many angles and then wrapped everyone (meaning the day was over and people could pack up and go home).

As I attempted to lift my 7 month pregnant body from the yoga mat on the floor, the producer came over and helped me up. For Ben’s sake I will say, Ben was also there making sure I got up okay. I felt very cared for. Like I was saying, the producer helped me up, than as he was holding on to my hands he said, “You did great. We wanted to let you know that we bumped you up to day player. For the baby.” I thanked him. “I’ll have someone bring a contract for you to sign.” Then he walked away. I turned to look at Ben to ask him what that even meant. Ben was geeking out.

Day player is also known as co-star. Being bumped up to co-star meant that my day rate went up from about $250 to $1000. It also means that I get listed on the credits and I get residual income. Being bumped to co-star from being a background is rare and Ben had every right to be super stoked.

This is my first ever co-star role. Ben likes to point out that I got co-star before he has. I have since made $1400 more since being on “Young Sheldon.” I could get used to this. Every time the show is purchased, whether for TV or Netflix or DVDs or Amazon sales, I make money. Yay for residuals. So… everyone start watching Young Sheldon so I can make lots of money!!! Go team!!! In fact, let’s play “Where’s Cindy?” I won’t even tell you what episode I’m in (unless you call me in person- I’m an open book if you ask me direct questions). Just watch it! It’s quite a cute show! Here’s the link. Young Sheldon Let me know when you find me! 🙂