Few answer TV casting call

As a sudden wave of thunderstorms rolled through Brownsville Tuesday, staff with the Los Angeles-based, On Location Casting shook their heads in disappointment.

The crew, a casting director and assistant, flew into Brownsville Monday in hopes of finding extras to cast on the NBC series, “Friday Night Lights.” Only a handful of TV hopefuls showed up for the audition.

“As soon as I saw the gray clouds I thought, ‘OK, people are not going to come out in this weather’,” said Tina Kerr, extras casting director for On Location Casting.

“We just have to hope it’s not like this when we’re filming.”

The series, which debuted in 2006, is centered on a high school football team in the fictional town of Dillon, Texas. It’s inspired by H.G. Bissinger’s book of the same title, which documented the championship hopes of the Permian High School Panthers in 1988. The book was later adapted for the big screen in 2004.

Extras are needed for upcoming episodes set to film in Brownsville and South Padre Island next month.

The show deals with premise of Friday night football in small-town Texas, a familiar atmosphere for Celina Barrera-Scott of Port Isabel.

Scott, 52, is a retired educator and counselor with the Port Isabel School District and has attended Friday night football games in the area for more than 35 years.

An occasional viewer of the television series, Scott said she could not pass up the opportunity to be part of the show that connects with her life and memories.

“It’s very typical of a lot of these small communities in Texas I think, even ours,” Scott said. “If you played football in high school then your son plays football, and all the siblings, everybody … It’s a family thing because it goes down generations.”

Still, Scott was only one of 95 people who applied for the more than 200 paid positions the casting company made available to local residents.

Producers of the show said they held the casting call in Brownsville in hopes of finding Hispanic men, women and children for episodes where the main characters visit Mexico.

Kerr said the scenes would be filmed in Brownsville and South Padre Island on Sept. 10-12.

“We’re going to schedule another round of casting calls for next week,” Kerr said. “We’re probably going to need about 400 people while we’re here.”

CASTING CALLS

What: Extras needed for NBC’s “Friday Night Lights”

When: Noon to 8 p.m., Thursday, Sept 6

Where: Sunrise Mall Food Court

Applicants will be photographed as part of the selection process and can submit a photo of their vehicle to be used on the show.