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Jackson girl, her dad to appear on 'Dawson's Creek' |
Maribeth Ayers
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Stephen Michael Ayers |
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The good news for Maribeth Ayers, a June graduate from Smoky Mountain High School, is that she's landed her first network television role on "Dawson's Creek," one of TV's popular shows.
The bad news is that Maribeth will have to share the spotlight not with young hunk James Van Deer Beek, but with dear ol' Dad.
Her father, Western Carolina University theatre arts professor Steve Ayers, has a recurring role on The WB network's "Dawson's Creek." Father Ayers plays an English and drama teacher at Capeside High School, while daughter Ayers will portray a student auditioning for a role in a school play. The two members of the acting Ayers family were both in Wilmington, where "Dawson's Creek" is shot, in late November, with two episodes scheduled to air sometime in mid-January. Unfortunately, the availability of "Dawson's Creek" is limited in Jackson County. The signal for WBSC-TV, the WB affiliate for this market, is not received here making over-the-air viewing impossible. Mediacom, the area cable company, cannot receive WBSC and does not offer a WB superstation. Some satellite services, including Dish Network and Primestar, do carry WB superstations. Ever since UNC-Greensboro freshman Ayers was a little girl, she's "gone to auditions in different places." Home for the holidays on Monday, she said, "I've never auditioned for anything this serious before." Although father and daughter have auditioned for the same shows, this was the first time both had been called for the same auditioning. The irony is that neither knew the other would be there. "I had just finished my auditioning and gone outside when I saw my father pulling up," she said. "I had no idea what he was doing there. When he told me, all I could say was 'break a leg.'" Western Carolina's Ayers, who has had multiple roles on TV and in movies and is no stranger to the entertainment business, said he knew nothing of his 18-year-old daughter's efforts to land a role on "Dawson's Creek" until he arrived at the Wilmington studios. "I had no idea she was doing this," said Ayers. "The producers don't exactly call me in for casting advice, I'm so low on the totem pole." Appearing with her dad caused mixed feelings for the daughter. "When it comes to acting, he is such a genius. Everything I've ever done, he's helped me, and I learn so much from him. His opinions are important to me. But, at the same time, I wanted to break out on my own." As luck would have it, she got to have it both ways. "When we filmed for the first episode, my father was there with me those three days. But for the second episode which was four days of filming, he wasn't there for those scenes," she said. Although the younger Ayers would like to branch out on her own, she said, "I know I won't be able to perform with my father for much longer in my life, so I better take advantage of it while I can." Their "Dawson's Creek" episodes center around Capeside High School's festival, or Cape Fest, with daughter playing Corey, the female lead in the play. "My father's role was Mr. Broderick, the over-dramatic, hypochondriac English/drama teacher who directs the play. I have to say, he played that role well." She described "Dawson's Creek" as a "teenage trauma, almost a soap opera, but not quite. Everything generally ends up happy and wonderful, with little life-learning lessons thrown in." The "Dawson's Creek" episode will mark only the second time that the dad and daughter have will acted together. "The very first thing she did was play my daughter in an estate and retirement planning commercial when she was 2," Ayers said. "Now here we are acting together again, 16 years later." Maribeth Ayers, who played numerous lead roles in productions at Smoky Mountain High School, is majoring in what else drama. She just auditioned and was one of only 10 students accepted into UNC-Greensboro's prestigious bachelor of fine arts program this year. |
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