Pilot Grove woman breaks into show business

Linda Perkins of Pilot Grove always wanted to be a in a movie.

She got the chance sooner than expected when she was cast as an extra in “Saving Grace,” a movie that was filmed in and around Boonville last month.

Set in 1950s-era Boonville, “Saving Grace” is the story of Bea and Landy Bretthorse, played by Penelope Ann Miller and Michael Biehn, and the struggle they go through when Landy’s sister Grace, played by Tatum O’Neal, comes to live with them after being released from the local insane asylum.

Perkins read in the Boonville Daily News that director Connie Stevens was starting to film the movie and wanted local actors as extras.

“I went on the Web site and sent an e-mail to the lady who was hiring the extras,” Perkins said. “She told me to send her a head-shot and fill out some paperwork and I was hired, just like that.”

“Linda has a bit of an adventurous streak in her,” said Teresa Hoy, a friend of Perkins.

“I’ve known her for six years and she’s always been very confident. She’s very outgoing and always trying new things.”

Perkins’ first scene involved her climbing out of a sinking car and flagging down a passerby for help. She said she was scared of doing the scene, but the curiosity of being in a movie motivated her to stay.

“I was so nervous. I imagined them driving the car into the Missouri River and me having to break the glass,” Perkins said. “But they were very nice about it; they told me the car would be in a sinkhole and they’d tie a rope around my waist.”

In the end the director decided to cut the scene, Perkins said.

She was relieved she didn’t have to get into a sinking car, but she still wanted to be a part of the movie, so she e-mailed the casting director and asked if there was another scene that needed her.

“The second day of shooting was in Arrow Rock, and I was part of a church congregation,” Perkins said. “I just sat there and at the end of the preacher’s sermon, I had to get up and leave. I have no acting experience whatsoever, so I knew it wouldn’t take a lot of talent to sit and stand.”

Perkins said the most interesting part of filming was seeing how the cameras were set up.

“It was fascinating to see everything because it’s all so foreign to me,” she said. “There was a rain machine used during that scene, and it was very realistic.”

Perkins said at one point she got to sit with Stevens and watch the film on the director’s monitor.

“In one scene, the two principle actors were supposed to be alone and all the extras had to crowd to the sides of the church,” she said. “One of the cameramen said he could still see two extras, and of course, I was one of them. So Connie told us to come sit by her and we could watch the filming; it was like watching an old-time movie.”

The final scene Perkins was in involved her and her fellow extras coming out of their homes and looking shocked.

“We didn’t really know the whole story of the movie,” Perkins said. “Just bits and pieces, but I knew in that scene we were supposed to be reacting to the main character taking his sister back to the insane asylum in a cage.”

Perkins said she had a wonderful experience as an extra in “Saving Grace” and if given the opportunity, she would do it again.

“I think Linda would do it again in a heartbeat,” said Hoy. “I know she very much enjoyed being an extra.”

“It was amazing,” she said. “I have a new-found respect for actors; all the waiting and patience and re-shooting the same scene again and again. I wouldn’t be disappointed if my scenes weren’t even kept in. It was well worth it.”