Woo hoo! Stephen and I made it on ABC’s Nashville last night! We were super bummed last week because most of the screen time we should been in got sent to the cutting room floor. Stephen was supposed to have an up close scene with Rayna’s character, only to get cut. And while you saw us as a blur in the background at the bar in the Bluebird Cafe, it was mostly neck down as you can see here (Stephen is bartender in flannel shirt, I’m holding a drink and clapping above Rayna’s head in cheetah top):
But THIS week, we got actual screen time! Several times! For 2 days, Stephen and I played “Backstage VIP” at the concerts of Luke Wheeler and Scarlett O’Connor. You can see Stephen walking behind Rayna and Scarlett in this shot:
Here was the best shot of me in focus from the whole night. As background actors, we weren’t allowed to actually talk, but instead do a trick called “pantomime” with each other, i.e. fake talking, ha!
The director told me to walk up to the stage entrance and take a selfie of my walking partner and I as Rayna walks past us. It’s kind of blurry, but it was cool my selfie made the shot!
More pantomiming to the right below as Gunner walked by. This episode was supposed to be two different nights, so I guess my VIP role got double the special treatment in the fake media world.
Hanging out watching the concert behind Gunner and Jeff. I got to talk to Sam Palladio, who plays Gunner, a lot, and he was super nice. In real life he is from England, and it’s crazy how he can switch from his natural British accent to Southern for the show. It was also surreal standing behind Oliver Hudson who played Jeff, because I couldn’t help but think of him from my Dawson’s Creek obsession days.
Now the episode has aired, I am allowed to post some behind the scenes shots! We weren’t allowed to take that many, and we definitely weren’t allowed to ask the actors for a photo, but here’s a few I could sneak in to show you what it’s like being on a television show set.
Below was my perspective of hanging out behind Gunner. As you can see, the “stadium concert” was not actually a stadium. It was a sound stage that they filled a few rows of people, and then green screened in the whole stadium. TV magic.
My exclusive Luke Wheeler VIP pass. So special. Ha! But I know, most of you girls are thinking, “If only it said Luke Bryan!”
The result of my “selfie” the director asked me to take as I walked up and past Rayna in a backstage shot. In the shot you see the cameramen doing their thing.
So we filmed a lot in this tunnel that lead to the stage, but it got cut out of the episode. These were my cool peeps I chatted with though in those scenes.
For a few scenes, I moved from backstage to the concert area to view it from a new perspective. 
The director in action giving his next instructions to Rayna and Maddie in this scene in the Bluebird Cafe from the first week we were on the show. We didn’t film in the real Bluebird Cafe, they recreated every bit of it on a sound stage in a big warehouse on the outskirts of Nashville where most of the show is filmed.
The rustic boots the wardrobe department made me change into. I personally liked my gold glitter heels that I arrived in better, but these boots grew on me.
The “private jet” most of the stars take on the show.
Rayna’s glam squad in between takes. Those curls you see? Yeah, not real. They get curled literally in between every take. And I mean, every take. If only we had someone there to blot our oil and curl our hair every few minutes in real life…. ahhhhh a girl can dream.
And my name twin, Scarlett O’Connor’s red streaked hair. I really liked her poofy red skirt and Steve Madden heels.
That’s all I got! Being on the show was such an incredible experience. As a professional photographer, it was fun to study the camera work they did with all the different shots, as well as squeal inside as a huge fan of the show when I saw certain actors. Stephen and I also got to meet some incredible people and make lots of new friends here in this city we are so new in. These are the only 2 episodes we’ll be in for now, but thanks for watching along and all the shoutouts online and texts when you saw us on the big screen.
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