Celebrity
Melissa Gilbert’s Painfully Awkward Career Moment Has Fans in Stitches
Melissa Gilbert reveals her most embarrassing moment, which involved an audition for a show she loved and a run-in with a large metal sculpture.
Melissa Gilbert has spent decades in front of cameras, but one audition from years ago still makes her cringe. The Little House on the Prairie and When Calls the Heart star just shared the hilarious story behind what she calls one of her most embarrassing career moments.
On July 27, fellow Little House co-star Patrick Labyorteaux (Andy Garvey) released a new episode of his podcast, which features Gilbert. He asked her to share her most embarrassing moment, and although she had to think for a minute, she came up with a great one.
Over 20 years ago, an audition that had Gilbert both excited and nervous ended in a truly unexpected way. It involved a collision with a large metal sculpture and deep embarrassment that still makes her chuckle two decades later.
The moment happened when she was auditioning for a guest role on the FX series Nip/Tuck. Gilbert explained she was a huge fan of the series, so when she went in for her audition, she was extremely nervous.
Despite her nervousness, Gilbert felt the audition went well. After she was done, “I got up, and as I was backing away, I was saying, ‘Thank you so much for having me in. I hope this works out. If it doesn’t, you know, I’m still gonna be a fan, I’m always gonna watch.'”
She then turned and walked right into a big metal sculpture. Gilbert knocked the sculpture over and even cut her face.
Afterwards, Gilbert remembers thinking to herself, “Oh, my God, I’m such an idiot. There’s no way” she would get the part.
To her surprise, Gilbert’s agent called her before she even made it home. Not only did she get the part on Nip/Tuck, but they needed her to jump in and start preparing immediately.
Gilbert didn’t even know the storyline for her character when she auditioned, and it turned out it was a bit wild and left her a little flustered. Despite that, fans loved it and felt she did a great job with it.
On Facebook, one fan commented, “Melissa’s reenactment of the [sculpture] and the sounds it made had me HOWLING. You are both such great storytellers!!”
Another added, “Melissa’s story is HILARIOUS! She’s got the sound of the metal plant down perfectly.”
Despite leaving the audition convinced she’d ruined her chances, Gilbert landed the role. Now, the story has become one of her favorite self-deprecating memories.
