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HILLSBOROUGH: Fulfilling a dream: HHS alumna pursues acting career in L.A.

Jayme Lynn Evans lands role in TV movie premiering Saturday night on FOX

By Andrew Corselli, Staff Writer
   Come Saturday, many more people will know the name Jayme Lynn Evans.
   The former Hillsborough resident recently landed a role in the two-hour made-for-television movie “Change of Plans,” which airs on FOX TV at 8 p.m. Saturday.
   ”I went through the audition process for it out in Los Angeles,” said Ms. Evans, who graduated from Hillsborough High School “not too long ago,” adding she wants to keep her age under wraps for career purposes. “I got the call from my agent that I got the audition. I had to go through about five different rounds of auditioning before I officially got the part. I’m not sure how many started out; I know that at the end they did a mix and match and it was down me and one other girl.”
   ”Change of Plans,” the pilot for a potential FOX series, was filmed in Toronto in the late summer and early fall of 2010, and even though the filming sessions for the comedy were long and grueling, Ms. Evans said, she took what she could from the experience.
   ”It took seven weeks and we shot a total of 19 days out of those seven weeks,” she said. “Toronto was really cool, it’s a pretty amazing city. People there are so nice. I stayed at a hotel when I was there and we’d have really early call times, sometimes 5 o’clock in the morning.
   ”Some of the days we were shooting for 13 hours, some days I was only there for six hours. But being on set is just the best thing for me. Even when I wasn’t filming or didn’t have scenes I would still hang out on set to watch and learn. I would just do everything I could to be involved and watch the process.”
   Depending on how the pilot is received, “Change of Plans,” which centers on a childless married couple who become the legal guardians for four children, could get picked up by the network to become a series. However, the decision might not be made anytime soon, so the actress now must play the waiting game.
   ”It could be another six months before we find out if it’s been picked up as a show,” said Ms. Evans. “So there’s this long waiting process, which is hard but at the same time it’s exciting. I’m just putting my faith out into the universe that however it’s supposed to work out it’s going to.”
   Ms. Evans has been on television before. In addition to appearing in a few episodes of the soap opera “All My Children,” she was in two episodes of the Nickelodeon show “Big Time Rush” in 2009.
   ”’Big Time Rush’ was really cool because I only had to audition once for it,” Ms. Evans said. “I went in, met the casting director, they put me on tape and then they sent it to the studio to get approved. Then I got the call that I was hired when I was back in Jersey for Thanksgiving. I flew back on Sunday and had to be at work on Monday. I filmed a total of six days over the course of two weeks for that. That character (Sandy) was really fun because she was out-of-her-mind insane.”
   Like most in the business, Ms. Evans had to pay her dues upon moving out to Los Angeles a few years ago. While attending a two-year acting program at the Joanne Baron/D.W. Brown Studio, a program specializing in the Meisner acting technique, she worked a catering job to help pay the bills. But she had something some aspiring actors and actresses do not have — a pair of loving parents for financial and emotional support.
   ”I’m excited now that (her career) is finally taking off,” said Jayme’s mother, Vicki Evans, of Amerman Lane. “It’s been a tough road but as a parent you always want your kids to pursue their dreams. I hope this is a big break for her, she’s been working really hard. It’s looking good now; I am happy when she’s happy.
   ”It was hard. It wasn’t easy sending her across the country but people send their kids to college all over the place. It’s interesting because some people think it’s so far away but cell phones have definitely made it easier.”
   Getting a role on “Change of Plans” couldn’t have come at a better time for the aspiring actress. Right when Ms. Evans was about to lose faith, and possibly her home, she got her potential big break.
   ”Right before I booked ‘Change of Plans’ I looked at my bank account and said ‘either I’m going to book this show and everything’s going to be fabulous or I’m not going to be able to pay rent this month,’” she said. “I got really lucky, I couldn’t believe it. You just have to put your faith out into the universe and trust that everything that’s supposed to happen is going to happen.”
   In addition to working with well-known actors such as Joe Flanigan, of “Stargate Atlantis,” and Phylicia Rashad, of “The Cosby Show,” on her current project, Ms. Evans has met many stars and had many once-in-a-lifetime opportunities while in California.
   ”I got to go to the Oscars one year (2007),” she said. “It was really cool because I got to be one of the Best Costume models and wear this dress from the movie “Marie Antoinette.” I was backstage and Gwyneth Paltrow, who I love, walks up to me and said ‘you’re so beautiful.’ I just wanted to die right then and there.
   ”Living in L.A. there’s celebrities everywhere. I was walking in Venice with my friend and she saw this cute dog and we started petting it. Then we look up and it’s Norm MacDonald’s dog. It’s bizarre because you’ll see someone and be like ‘that looks like Jack Nicholson.’ Then you realize it is Jack Nicholson.”
   Regardless of the run-ins with idols, Ms. Evans is glad she is finally getting a chance to fulfill a lifelong dream. She is continuing to do all she has ever known and all she ever wanted to do.
   ”I’ve been acting my whole life, it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do,” she said. “I saw ‘Roger Rabbit’ when I was a kid and for some reason Jessica Rabbit made me want to be an actor. I told my parents I wanted to be an actor and my mom helped me get involved with acting classes in New Jersey and then eventually she would go into New York with me and I’d take classes in there. When I got old enough to move out of the house I was like ‘OK, I’m going to L.A.’
   ”It’s kind of surreal, I’m excited about it. We wrapped shooting at the beginning of October (for “Change of Plans”). It’s been a few months and now it’s getting closer to the show airing so it’s exciting, but at the same time you don’t know what to expect.
   ”It was an amazing experience but I haven’t even seen a cut of the movie yet, so I don’t know what it’s going to be like. It’s kind of exciting and scary to watch yourself. The fact that we’re on FOX is really cool.”