04/16

#ThrowbackThursday: Las Vegas

Can I let you guys in on a little secret? I wasn’t born with the talent of being natural in front of the camera. Once I decided to take my career beyond modeling, it was a wake up call. I went through years of frightening auditions, went to media training, and took loads of criticism.

While I was still studying acting further in LA, I got the call to audition for a television pilot called Las Vegas for the role of Delinda Deline. At this point, I had tons of hosting experience but never something like this. I was so nervous! I did my best. And after a whole lot of acting audition no’s, I finally got a big YES! Gary Scott Thompson, the show’s creator and director, knew I didn’t have much acting experience, but he somehow knew I could do it.

What’s crazy is that the role was supposed to be a one-or-two episode arc. After the pilot got picked up, Delinda was made a series regular. I had landed a serious acting job but it was a huge risk for me. I had to sign a six-year contract which meant that I had to leave modeling mostly behind. I also had to physically move from New York to LA permanently. I was scared sh*tless!

As a matter of fact, the very first scene I EVER shot was a sex scene with Josh. Now that might sound exciting to some, but I was petrified. I was wearing pasties and Josh was wearing almost next to nothing—in front of two-dozen people. We had to get frisky in front of everyone…and we actually fell off the bed. Can you imagine!? Total nightmare!

And of course there were some intimidating moments while first on set, too. James Caan, the realest-deal actor you could ever meet—who’d frankly been acting longer than I’d been living—could be SO hard on Josh Duhamel and I. We were very inexperienced compared to him. We had to prove ourselves. But that made us better actors. And I thank him endlessly for that.

Throughout it all, I still feel lucky for the opportunity to have been on a great show like Las Vegas. Not only did it have a five-year run (which was basically unheard of) but the cast also became like family to me. I feel forever blessed!

In honor of #ThrowbackThursday, here are some more pictures from my time on set: