Tulsa stage actor's car gets her close to 'August: Osage County' film stars

BY MICHAEL SMITH World Scene Writer
Friday, September 28, 2012
9/28/12 at 7:15 AM

Read the Tulsa World’s continuing coverage of the filming of “August: Osage County.”

Peggy Spence Fry, a longtime veteran of the Tulsa stage, went to Tulsa Promenade call for extras for the filming of "August: Osage County," now taking place in Osage and Washington counties.

She didn't make the cut - at least not yet. But her 1996 Toyota Avalon did.

Here's her story: "I went to the cattle call for extras and got signed up for the casting company's email notices as a result. They had a call for pre-1998 cars, so I got a picture taken and sent it in. My car is black and they asked me if I'd like to have it be an extra for an exterior scene. So of course I said yes."

She drove to the tiny Washington County town of Ochelata, south of Bartlesville on Tuesday and parked in front of Ochelata First Methodist Church. While she provided her car for on-camera purposes, she was taken inside the church along with other "car extra" owners.

"I got to see all the leads, even walked right by (producer) George Clooney and Julia Roberts near enough to almost brush them as I passed and didn't geek out. I didn't even look at them - they were busy working and didn't need an extra gushing at them.

"Oh, the control that took," said the star of several stage plays at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center, including her multiple appearances as the co-lead (She played the super-fan.) in "Always... Patsy Cline."

She and others were asked to not take photos, but she can remember the other stars she saw: Meryl Streep, Abigail Breslin, Juliette Lewis, Chris Cooper, Ewan McGregor, Dermot Mulroney, Julianne Nicholson and Margo Martindale.

"I spoke to Margo Martindale (a film veteran and an Emmy-winner last year for "Justified") because she was friends with another of the car extras, Steve Raiford (another Tulsa resident and past theater performer). She was really friendly, and I told her that I really enjoyed her work."

She was hoping to see cast member Benedict Cumberbatch ("I loved him so much in the 'Sherlock' series."), but he was not present, and neither were Sam Shepard or Misty Upham, the remaining cast members.

"I was just happy to be able to see them and let my excitement be internal," she said. "When the extras were gathered in a room of the church watching through the windows, we did get a little goofy about it.

"Everyone involved was so nice and totally professional. It was a very well-oiled machine and completely fascinating to watch. The only thing that would have made it perfect for me was to have been on camera. But at least my old car got to be!"

On this day, the car was the star.

Original Print Headline: Tulsa actor's car gets her close to film stars

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Associated Images:

Producer George Clooney and director John Wells, were filming a portion of the movie "August: Osage County" in Bartlesville on Thursday at a house on Dewey Avenue. Crews were on the set for several hours on the second day of filming in the city this week. Wells told neighbors and onlookers that the scene being shot involved the character being played by Julia Roberts looking out of a window of the home but that they would not see her looking out the window from across the street. STEPHEN PINGRY / Tulsa World