San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
‘Walker’ rounded up area actors for auditions
The original “Walker, Texas Ranger” came by its Lone Star flavor honestly: The long-running TV series was shot and cast in the state.
That created opportunities for a lot of Texas actors, some of whom were based in San Antonio, during the show’s 1993 to 2001 run on CBS. That approach continues in The CW’s reboot, which stars native San Antonian Jared Padalecki in the title role originated by Chuck Norris.
Back in the day, Mollie Gilley was among the actors who tried out for a role.
Gilley doesn’t remember whether she drove to Austin or Dallas to audition or the specific part — at the time, her agent usually sent her out for cutesy, cheerleader-type roles — but she has vivid memories of the casting director.
“Everyone said she was grouchy all the time, so I wasn’t looking forward to it,” said Gilley, 47, who now is based in Austin. “I think we had a minute to prepare, and then I went in and read it, and the first thing she said was, ‘Quit acting, just say the line.’ ”
The casting director also asked Gilley to stop wrinkling her forehead, a lifelong tic she can’t control.
“Needless to say, I did not get the part,” Gilley said, laughing.
Carrie Rodriguez, 63, tried out for the show in Austin, reading for the role of the mother of a gang member. She had a positive experience with the casting director, though the end result was the same.
“I was totally wrong for the role, but the casting director loved my reading,” Rodriguez recalled. “The part went to the woman who played Ritchie Valens’ mother in ‘La Bamba.’ ”
Rodriguez had hoped the casting director might remember her and cast her in a role better suited for her, but that didn’t happen.
Bailie McLendon Mylnar and her younger sister, Tyler, also auditioned for the show when they were children.
Their father, Keith McLendon, had a friend who worked at a TV studio in Dallas, where they lived, and heard from him about a cattle call to cast extras
in the show.
Bailie, who has been acting as long as she can remember, was eager to audition, and Tyler was happy to come along and try out, too.
“They asked us to look surprised or look scared,” said McLendon Mylnar, 32.
Ultimately, nothing came of it for the girls, although the casting folks were interested in putting their dad on the show, she recalled.
“They offered him a role because he was such a cowboy type,” she said. “He was a very strong, 6-foot-4 cowboy type with the voice of Sam Elliott. They wanted to offer him a featured extra role for a few episodes.
… I was 8 or 9. I remember him laughing about it so much.”
Her dad was a fan of the show — he even hurt himself trying to pull off one of Norris’ signature roundhouse kicks after watching an episode — but he turned down the role, she said, because he was busy with his business and it wasn’t his kind of thing, anyway. He had only gone to the auditions to spend the day with his daughters.
Keith McLendon died in October, and that day he spent with McLendon Mylnar and her sister trying out for the show stands out among many treasured remembrances.
“It’s a wonderful memory for me,” she said.
The new series also is being shot in Texas, and San Antonio actors are auditioning.
Nicole Erwin, 50, had her partner film her audition for a role as an arms dealer who is pursued by Rangers in November.
“I did a ton of takes,” Erwin said. “My agent looked at them, and she picked the ones to send.”
She wasn’t cast this time, but if other opportunities arise, she’ll try again.
“The more you do it, the better you get, and you get exposure to the casting agents,” she said. “You never know what you’re going to get.”