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Vacation lands SMHS senior job as extra on CW show
By Justin Goble
A Smoky Mountain High School Student took an unexpected turn into acting during a recent vacation in Wilmington.
Jessica Barnes served as an extra on the CW’s hit show, “One Tree Hill.” The series follows estranged brothers Lucas and Nathan Scott around the fictional town of Tree Hill in eastern North Carolina.
The show’s new season started Wednesday night (Sept. 27), but Barnes said she was unsure of when the episode she appears in will air, though it will be one of this season’s shows.
Smoky Mountain High School senior Jessica Barnes recently appeared as an extra in the CW’s hit show, “One Tree Hill.” The show, which airs at 9 p.m. each Wednesday night, follows estranged brothers Lucas and Nathan Scott around the fictional eastern North Carolina town of Tree Hill. Barnes, who’s dual-enrolled at SMHS and Southwestern Community College, where she’s in the cosmetology program, is an admitted fan of the show. She got the opportunity to appear on “One Tree Hill” while vacationing in Wilmington, where it’s filmed.
A cosmetology student (and self-proclaimed “One Tree Hill” fanatic), Barnes said she had never thought of trying out for an acting role. While visiting some of the tourist spots around Wilmington, she heard about the call for extras and other actors and decided to give it a shot.
“The studio was right there,” Barnes said. “People in the shops were telling me how their friends did it. So my mom and I figured we’d ride up there and give it a shot.”
Though initially hesitant, Barnes said the casting process turned out to be simple. She and her mother walked into Thin Cannon and Associates studio, where the series is filmed, and signed up for a spot.
“There were some pretty serious actors trying out for parts, so I just signed up to be an extra,” she said. “I took a couple of my senior pictures in, and the lady in the production office took one and told us she would pass it along.”
Barnes said she did not hear back from the production agency until a week later, when she and her mom were driving back to Jackson County.
“We were around Waynesville when I got the call,” Barnes said. “They told me they wanted me to be in a few scenes, so we went back down to Wilmington a week later.”
Though work as an extra was slightly tedious, Barnes said it was a unique experience. The oddest part was her limited interaction with the other actors, she said.
“Being an extra, they just made us walk across the courtyard, stuff like that,” she said. “They told us we couldn’t talk with the stars unless they spoke to us first. I ended up doing some scenes near them, and that was fun.
“They wanted me to do it again, but I couldn’t because of school,” Barnes said. “The producers told me if I had a break from school and wanted to come back, I could.”
Though hadn’t considered an acting career before she filmed the show, Barnes said her time working in Wilmington has made her think about it.
“It was a cool experience,” Barnes said. “Coming from a small town and going down to Wilmington for something like that, it’s like running with the big dogs. This made me realize acting would be a neat thing to do. Especially on a show like this, which is pretty much about real-life stuff, You can relate to it.”
“One Tree Hill” airs on the CW network each Wednesday night at 9 p.m.
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