By Beverly Washburn
I had the good fortune of working on the pilot TV show called, “Las Vegas” It ran for 4 seasons from 2003-2008. It starred James Caan and Josh Duhamel (pronounced DUMELL).
I played the role of “Mrs. Johnson”, a tourist who was celebrating her anniversary with her husband but every time you see them, they’re arguing! Mr. Johnson was played by a wonderful Vegas actor named Frank DeAngelo.
We filmed for a few days at Mandalay Bay. The TV hotel/casino name was called “The Montecito.”
In the last scene, we are stopped by Danny McCoy (Josh’s character) and he tells us how we should be nicer to each other and appreciate the fact that we are celebrating, since not everyone gets to do that.
On the first day of the shoot, Frank and I were having lunch in the hotel employee cafeteria, when Josh walked over to our table and asked if he could join us. We were so surprised, as we hadn’t even met yet.
He was one of the sweetest people I had ever met. Josh was so excited about doing the pilot and told us he was hoping it would sell.
I really wasn’t familiar with him even though he had done a couple of soap operas. He also had done some modeling and was Male Model of the year in 1997. By the way the runner up that year was Ashton Kutcher.
He had also won an Emmy in 2002 for his supporting role in the soap “All My Children.” He was so down to earth and humble, that Frankie and I didn’t even know who he was at first and were so surprised (and happy) that he wanted to sit with us.
Most of the cast and crew were from Los Angeles and everyone was hoping that the show would sell and then be filmed here. The good news was that it was picked up as a TV series, but the bad news was they decided to only come to Vegas occasionally.
I’m happy to see that Josh is a big star now and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.
I was lucky to have had the pleasure to work with him. I am truly grateful.
Until next time, remember…Faith is holding on tight when the going gets windy. ISI
