The story of the actress who bought a billboard to get movie mogul Tyler Perry’s attention has an amazing story, one that made national headlines on a few different occasions.
There was the initial story in 2012, when actress Racquel Bailey spent her last to take out a billboard in Atlanta attempting to get Perry’s attention. She must have done it on more than one occasion because this past summer, June 2019, Perry took a picture of the billboard and encouraged other prospective actors not to follow Bailey’s example. He said that there were other, cheaper, more effective ways to get his attention.
“Auhhh…. soooooo…… here’s the deal. This is not the way to get my attention if you’re looking for a role in one of my shows. Please DON’T DO THIS, SAVE YOUR MONEY!! This is the third time that someone has done this. PLEASE STOP! To audition is FREE!! I’m sure you can use that money for a better purpose.
I love that you want to work with me, and I love that you invest in yourself. But when you do things like this it puts my team on high alert and makes me look at you sideways. I know the message that you want to send is a positive one, but this comes across as the opposite.
Again, the best way to work for me is to AUDITION and it’s FREE! We post breakdowns all the time for actors. JUST COME AND AUDITION.
And by the way, you were great in THE NIGHT OF! It was my favorite show a couple years ago. I ALREADY SAW YOU!! So just audition and keep your money!!
Again, I appreciate your effort, but that’s not the way to work for me.
God bless you dreamer. I have no doubt you will make it one day!!”
She surely did make it. Afterward, Perry extended an invitation to Bailey to audition for one of his new series. And Bailey booked the role.
But in a recent sit down with Jimmy Kimmel, Perry shared that when he offered Bailey the role, he had no idea that she was the ‘billboard’ actress.
“That was scary as hell. I was really creeped out about it. She auditioned I didn’t even know it was her because I had separated the two in my mind. She got the job and after she gets the job, they tell me, ‘Oh, that’s the girl from the billboard!’ I go, ‘What? Why didn’t somebody tell me?’”
Still, Perry said that it worked in Bailey’s favor that her talent matched her ability to take risks.
“”It’s good that she’s good, because if you put up a billboard and you suck, it’s not going to work.”
Perhaps the billboard, while directed at Perry, was also a message to the universe about how badly Bailey wanted to work with Perry. Whether it was a case of mistaken identity or whatever, her prayers were answered.
The series, “Sistas” is about four Black women in their thirties dating in Atlanta. “Sistas” premieres October 23, on BET Watch the trailer below.
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